Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
A family of five at a property in Currumbin Waters were halfway through a big declutter. They'd done the sorting themselves over three weekends and had a spare room packed with carpet rolls, trampolines and play equipment and mattresses and bed bases. What they didn't have was a ute, or the backs for it.
Why the customer needed help
They'd tried doing it themselves the weekend before, got about a quarter of the way through and realised the rest needed a truck, two people and a plan. That's where hard Rubbish Removal comes in.
What was at the property
By my count there were carpet rolls, trampolines and play equipment and mattresses and bed bases, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from households that missed the council collection.
Working in Currumbin Waters
Currumbin Waters is a residential suburb along Currumbin Creek with homes and light industry. Currumbin Waters has a mix of older family homes, units and holiday rentals, which means plenty of furniture swaps, end of lease loads and yard rubbish. Some streets are narrow and busy in holiday periods, so we bring the right size truck and time the job well.
The initial assessment
First look, it was bigger than described, which is normal. People size up their own clutter by memory, not by volume. I measured it roughly by truck-loads, checked for anything we can't take, like paint tins or gas bottles, and found two old cans tucked at the back that we left aside.
How the job was planned
I split the job into zones in my head: what could come straight out the front, what had to come through the house, and what would need two of us and a trolley. That way nobody was waiting on anybody.
Preparation
Before lifting anything, we moved the cars, opened every gate wide and propped the screen door. A clear route is half the job.
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 heavy lifting. Anything over about forty kilos went on the trolley or got a two-person lift with straps. No hero stuff. A strained back on the first job of the day ruins the week.
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
We loaded by destination rather than by size. Metal on one side for the scrap yard, green waste kept clean, cardboard flattened and bundled, and general rubbish packed into whatever space was left.
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
The hallway had a tight dog-leg that the larger furniture simply wasn't going to get around in one piece.
How we handled them
We took the legs off the bed base and split the modular lounge into pieces. Ten minutes with a drill saved a doorframe.
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
It reinforced something I tell every new offsider: ask before you lift. Two minutes of questions at the start saves throwing out the one thing someone really wanted to keep.