Classy junk removal need?

Question

Hey flippers and rehabbers! Question for yall. How do you deal with waste/garbage/etc when doing a flip or reno?

We have a junk removal buisness but I'm not talking about a guy in a stained T-shirt who smells like cigs, I mean collared shirt, proud to work blue collar with class type of junk removal.

Wondering if this was in your area would you use it? Would you hire someone to come take a garage filled with the stuff you want to get rid of? Or would you prefer a trailer be dropped off in the driveway as you reno and you call when it needs to be carted away? What would make you choose this over a gigantic dumpster rental?

appreciate any and all feedback.

Josh C. · Answer

Unless they suit up those shirts are going to be stained pretty quick. Also, the guys are choose to throw out gross things for living smoke cigs at a significantly higher percentage than the average Joe. Personally, I’d feel like I was being ripped off if the dump guy shows up in a collared clean shirt and fancy truck.

Matthew Paul · Answer

We have a couple of dump trailers . Small rehabs we just bring debris back to the shop and put it in a dump trailer . Larger jobs we leave one on site .

Problem with having someone haul stuff away is it gets handled too often . In a demo it goes straight from the house into the trailer , It doesnt get piled up outside .

We got a price once out of curiosity from a franchise junk hauler , I could get a 20 yard dumpster for 1/2 of what they wanted to charge . (including dump fee) .

" Classy" junk removal is more suited for middle class suburban homeowners

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

I'm jealous of your dump trailer! I should have bought one pre-2020 when they were considerably cheaper.

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Michelle Pepe, a few thoughts:

1. I personally wouldn't want either of those services. I personally don't like to waste.

So, things that have a real value might be sold. Things that can be re-homed get re-homed. Things that can be donated to the Salvation Army are donated. Some things that can't be donated for resale like ratty old clothes get donated to a charity that grinds it into insulation. Metals get taken to the scrap yard and finally loads get taken by the pickup truck load to the transfer station or dump.

2. The reasons for #1 is because it is environmentally friendly to take a little as possible to the dump and also more cost effective. Most stuff doesn't have a disposal cost beyond labor.

3. I generally avoid dumpsters because they often require permits for placement, are more costly than taking to the dump/transfer station, and neighbors will also fill them up at night with their own garbage!

4. Unlike a skilled trade, I would never hire a higher class worker for something like this that is unskilled and where I could easily hire a cheap day laborer.

Richard F. · Answer

Years ago, when the PM co I was working for had an in-house repair and maintenance department for over 800 city-wide units, we had a full time driver and helper for a large, 24 foot, box truck with a tommy gate. That was large enough to reduce the weekly drive time to the landfill vs. smaller vans and pickups. It was very efficient coordinating them with the various jobsites for hauling construction debris, picking up dead appliances, and just monitoring troublespots on larger properties where Tenants would dump bulky items outside of the normal dumpsters. The crew was good about pulling reusable items, although unlike @Kevin Sobilo, we set aside space in our office as a showroom for used items we would sell. That room was right next to the soft drink and food vending machines for staff and visitors to our office including Tenants at the 1st of the month, applicants dropping off additional info (these were primarily low income, Midwestern renters.), Owners stopping in for a chat, and the occasional Contractor (there were certain jobs we would not do, primarily for safety reasons (roofing, carpet installs, or certain major projects)). Another benefit of having our own staff handle cleanouts, was the fact they were trained to spot and timely report issues, or possible issues, such as signs of water intrusion, wood destroying insects or wood rot, and other issues that were hazardous.

OTOH, here, using exclusively outside vendors, and handling a number of midsized condo/HOA projects in addition to rentals, some of our Boards actually prefer the Pro attire and shiny trucks of the 1-800-GOT-JUNK crews for handling unauthorized dumping issues on the properties. From our standpoint, the dependability of the scheduled pickups, along with their ability to take and send pics of the items before picking up, and once loaded, was great supporting documentation for their invoices. Pricing was high, but I can see it's worth, primarily for "retail" customers, however. No way would I pay premium price for a typical, or horrible, cleanout. Maybe for an Executive level home, or high-rise unit, where I'm concerned that they be more conscious of the unit's finishes, and of neighbors/common shared areas they need to transit.

Alan F. · Answer

That biz template is great for regular people (consumers) & selling franchises. I either use my trailer, or for larger jobs, call the roll off driver for a 40/50 cu/yd. I recycle alot as CA has specific requirements.

Michelle Pepe · Answer

@Kevin Sobilo insightful, thank you. I guess I should rephrase into asking would you hire someone to do the dump portion or whatever is inevitably going to be thrown out? I certainly don't expect you to toss perfectly good cabinets that are properly removed, etc. but old gross carpet rolls, etc - as for that stuff... you prefer to do multiple loads of pickup truck yourself to bring things to the dump rather than hiring someone for that job?

Classy junk removal need?

Most Popular Reply