Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
A real estate agent at a property in Tallebudgera had an open home on Saturday at 10am and the vendor's back patio was still stacked with furniture and appliances, building offcuts and general rubbish. She rang me Friday at about four.
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 skip Bin Alternative where someone else does the lifting.
What was at the property
By my count there were furniture and appliances, building offcuts and general rubbish, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from time-poor renovators.
Working in Tallebudgera
Tallebudgera is a semi-rural suburb of acreage and family homes. Tallebudgera 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
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 the bulky stuff. My offsider and I took the largest items out first, tilting them through the door frames rather than forcing them. With furniture and appliances, building offcuts and general rubbish in the mix, there was no point clearing small things while the big ones were still blocking the way.
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 loading the donation pile carefully, strapping it separately at the front of the tray so it would arrive at the charity in one piece.
Removal, sorting and loading
I'm fussy about the load. A well-packed truck means one trip instead of two, and that's the difference between a fair price and an inflated one. We netted the top before we drove off.
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
Time was the whole challenge. We had a hard deadline and a load that would normally take a bit longer to do properly.
How we handled them
I brought a third person for the hour. More hands meant we could do it properly without cutting corners on the clean-up.
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.