DIY demo, professional clean-up in Hope Island

I'm in Hope Island, and I'll be honest: I put this off for far too long. We did the demolition on our kitchen ourselves to save a bit of money. Taking it all apart was surprisingly fun. Getting rid of it was not.

Broken tiles, an old cast iron bath, a vanity, a toilet, plasterboard, and a mountain of empty adhesive buckets and packaging.

Hope Island is gated golf and canal estates with strict presentation standards, and getting things out isn't always simple. Gate passes and estate speed limits are arranged before arrival.

I half expected to be put on hold, but it was the bloke who'd actually be doing the job. He asked about stairs and parking, which made me think he'd done this a few times.

Two of them turned up right on time in a tipper truck. Before they lifted anything, they walked the route from the pile to the truck and pointed out a couple of spots where they'd put down protection.

The splashback glass was what worried me most. The crew wrapped it in an old blanket and carried it flat between two of them. Nobody got cut, and they didn't break it until it was safely on the truck.

When they were done, they swept up and walked me around to check. I paid the price we'd agreed, and that was it. The whole thing took less time than I'd spent worrying about it.

My advice to anyone in the same situation is not to wait as long as I did. The relief was worth more than the cost.