Shed Cleanout case study

The situation

A brother and sister had inherited the family home at an acreage property in the hinterland. They both lived out of town, both worked full-time, and they had one long weekend to get the place ready for the agent. Every room had something in it: stored household overflow, rusted tools and machinery and offcut timber and fencing.

Why the customer needed help

A skip bin was the first thing they looked at, but there was nowhere to put one without a permit, and nobody to fill it. What they needed was shed Cleanout where someone else does the lifting.

What was at the property

By my count there were stored household overflow, rusted tools and machinery and offcut timber and fencing, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from acreage and large-block owners.

The initial assessment

When I got there I didn't start with the rubbish, I started with the customer. I asked them to walk me through what was staying and what was going. Twice they pointed at things I'd assumed were rubbish and said "not that". It's why I never quote from photos alone on a job like this.

How the job was planned

We agreed on an order of work. Heavy items first, while we were fresh and the truck was empty, then the loose material packed around them. Anything worth donating would go in last so it wouldn't get crushed.

Preparation

I parked the truck so the tailgate lined up with the shortest path, laid ply over the garden edge so the trolley wouldn't chew it up, and set out a tarp for the donation pile.

Step 1

Step one was clearing a working space. We shifted the easy, loose items straight onto the truck so we had room to manoeuvre around the awkward ones.

Step 2

Step two was the stuff in the hard-to-reach spots: the top of the garage racking, under the house, behind the water tank. That's usually where the surprises live, and this job was no different.

Step 3

Step three was the final check. I went back through every room and corner with the customer, picked up the small stuff the big items had hidden, and swept up.

Removal, sorting and loading

On the truck, heavy and flat things go on the bottom, long things go along the sides, and anything fragile for donation rides at the front where there's less bounce. Recycling stays in its own section so it can come straight off at the transfer station.

From the truck it went to a licensed transfer station, where recyclables were dropped off separately, and anything usable went to a local op shop before the tip run.

Challenges we ran into

Paperwork was mixed through everything, including old bank statements, letters and photos that needed to be kept or shredded rather than tipped.

How we handled them

We set up a box for anything with a name or account number on it. The family went through it at the end, and we took the rest for secure shredding.

Completion and final result

When the last load was strapped down, the space was empty and swept. The customer walked through with me, signed off, and paid the price we'd agreed at the start, not a dollar more.

What I learned

The lesson I keep re-learning: always walk the access before you look at the load. The rubbish rarely causes the trouble. The doorway, the step or the gate does.