Tradies - disposal of stuff

[zanadoo_56]

You get a tradie in to fix or replace something, you ask (in advance) that they take all the old stuff away with them....and they agree. 

Then you find that apparently this promise only applies to extremely large items.  The rest has been jammed in your household waste wheelie bin on the tradie's way out  Grrrrrrr.  Or the alternative is...if the bits and pieces are not to be put on the recycle or garden waste bins then that's where they will be.

Is there a solution for this issue?  I don't have any extra storage space (ie no shed or garage). I don't want to get in trouble with the council, and I'm not at all impressed to find my bin is already sometimes already more half full when I go to put rubbish in it.

[purple_haize]

I have never had this problem.

Where do you live?

[the_hawk*]

Check that they have cleaned up and taken rubbidsh before you pay, until clean up is complete job is not compleated

[i-need-a-martini]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

You get a tradie in to fix or replace something, you ask (in advance) that they take all the old stuff away with them....and they agree. 

Then you find that apparently this promise only applies to extremely large items.  The rest has been jammed in your household waste wheelie bin on the tradie's way out  Grrrrrrr.  Or the alternative is...if the bits and pieces are not to be put on the recycle or garden waste bins then that's where they will be.

Is there a solution for this issue?  I don't have any extra storage space (ie no shed or garage). I don't want to get in trouble with the council, and I'm not at all impressed to find my bin is already sometimes already more half full when I go to put rubbish in it.

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The solution is to get a skip bin for them. I always organise a place in the garden/house to store the waste and then get a skip bin in at the end of the job that they can throw everything into in one go.

It's not really their fault as it costs them heaps to dispose of their waste (which is really your waste). They will usually organise their own bin for large jobs but most people baulk at adding that extra few hundred dollars to their trade bill which means the trades have to somehow dispose of the stuff themselves.

[purple_haize]

When we have had anything done, hubby always asks them, do they take it away, or should we get a skip, best to find out these things, before they start any work, that way you will know where you stand.

[newstart2380]

Having been in the building industry for many years we learnt that a big sign is put in clear view at the front of the job, each subbie is given a note explaining that they must remove all their own rubbish to leave free for the following subbie no matter how many times they have to come and go. If this is not adhered to and the olabourers have to clear up to allow the next subbie to work the subbie who leaves the rubbish will be charged and this amoubt deducted from their quote...............worked every time as it is just laziness like not cleaning and flossing your teeth properly.

[zanadoo_56]

The work I'm talking about is not skip bin size.  These are small jobs where a tradie could easily take the smaller stuff with him along with any agreed bigger items.

On one occasion (a window replacement) I watched the glazier carefully put the broken glass pieces in a largish bucket he'd brought along.  In the time I went back indoors to get my purse to pay him while he 'cleaned up' and went to his van to get a business card, unbeknownst to me he quickly tipped all the broken glass from his bucket into my wheelie bin.  I was very shocked when the next day I went to put some kitchen rubbish in the bin and I was confronted by large jagged pieces of glass.

[j*oono]

They need the job so they will promise anything basically.

We hired a demolition company for our old house and also told them that we wanted not only the house gone but also the septic tank and the asbestos sheet fence that split the back and front garden.  Asbestos is very hazardous and needs to be disposed of carefully and legally.  They promised the lot as long as we gave them free pickings of the house.  Old floor boards, bakelite fittings etc.

They took the fence down but did not remove it and they didn't remove the septic tank but they did take all the antiques.  I just paid them once they had done the job.  How silly of me, but I wasn't living there obviously and I just used to believe people at that time.

[i-need-a-martini]

As I said, I am sure you would not have paid him the extra money to get the stuff disposed of properly. Most people baulk at the cost of rubbish removal  so most tradies won't take your rubbish with them.

A tradesman has to pay to get your waste disposed of. He doesn't have a skip bin waiting for him at home that he fills up every night. He has to make a trip to the tip (that might be 2 hours of his time if it is nearby) and then he has to pay disposal fee (our local tip had a disposal fee of $340 for dry material under 500kg regardless of what it is). That's roughly another $600 on top of your invoice. Would you have paid that? I doubt it.

I expect tradies to keep the site safe and clean of their waste. But now that I understand what it costs to dispose of rubbish, I either pay for the disposal or happily allow them use of my household bin if possible. It's unfair to expect them to pay for rubbish removal.

[the_hawk*]

A good tradie will leave the site as they found it, any thing less is just doing a half **bleep** job.