Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
A family at a property in Pacific Pines were getting ready to put in a pool. Before the excavator could come, the whole back corner had to be cleared of sand and gravel, clay and fill and turf offcuts, and the pool builder needed it done by Monday.
Why the customer needed help
They'd rung a couple of other outfits and got vague answers about price. I told them I'd come and look, give them a figure on the spot, and they could decide from there.
What was at the property
By my count there were sand and gravel, clay and fill and turf offcuts, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from homeowners regrading garden beds.
Working in Pacific Pines
Pacific Pines is a large family suburb of master-planned estates. Pacific Pines is full of newer family homes and growing estates, so we do a lot of moving-in packaging, garage clear-outs and backyard rubbish here. Estate streets are wide, but we watch for parked cars and estate rules on bin and truck times.
The initial assessment
I did my usual lap. I check what's heavy, what's sharp, what's reusable and what might be hiding something underneath. A redback in the bottom of a pile isn't unusual on the Coast, so gloves and a torch come out before anyone reaches in.
How the job was planned
The plan was simple: protect the route, clear a path, then work from the far end back towards the truck so we never had to climb over what was left.
Preparation
We put drop sheets down through the hallway and taped corner guards on the door frames. It takes ten minutes and saves arguments about scuff marks.
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 loose material. Bags, boxes and odds and ends went into the truck in layers, packed tight into the gaps around the furniture so we weren't carting air to the tip.
Step 3
Step three was the clean-up. Once the last item was out, we swept the floor, raked the ground where needed and walked the customer through the space to make sure nothing they wanted had gone.
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
The palm fronds were wet and full of spikes, and a lot of the cuttings were tangled with old wire and garden edging.
How we handled them
Heavy gloves, long sleeves and a lot of patience. We stripped the wire out first so the green waste could be recycled properly as mulch.
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
I came away reminded that a fixed price agreed up front takes all the stress out of the day, for them and for us. Nobody's watching the clock or arguing at the end.