Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
A woman at a property in Chevron Island had friends arriving from overseas that weekend and had promised them the spare room. The spare room, and the garage beside it, were full of single items, garage clean-up loads and garden waste. She rang on Thursday afternoon.
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 weekend Rubbish Removal where someone else does the lifting.
What was at the property
By my count there were single items, garage clean-up loads and garden waste, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from weekend renovators.
Working in Chevron Island
Chevron Island is a small island suburb of units, homes and cafes. Chevron Island homes often back onto water, so we carry loads carefully past pools, pontoons and landscaped gardens. We protect paving and lawns on the way to the truck and work within bridge and street access limits.
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
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.