Preparing for your skip

So, you’ve had a big clear out or you’ve gone to work on a massively overgrown garden, and now you have a huge amount of rubbish to get rid of. So much, in fact, that only a skip is going to be big enough for the job.

You’ve estimated the amount of waste you need to get rid of and you’ve booked an appropriately sized skip – perhaps using our skip size calculator to help you. That means that all you need to do now is sit back and wait for it to arrive, right? Well, not quite.

If you’ve not hired a skip before, there are a few things you need to do before it arrives if you want it to all go with a minimum of fuss and worry. So, in this article, we’re going to explain how to best prepare for a trouble-free skip hiring experience.

How to prepare for a skip

Check if you need a permit for your skip

If you don’t have enough room for the skip to go on your own land, it will usually have to go on the road directly outside. If that’s the case, you’ll probably need a permit from your local council. That shouldn’t be a problem, as we can make all the arrangements on your behalf, but we will need to know in advance so we can make sure that there’s a permit already in place when we arrive with your skip. 

Make sure there’s enough room for the skip

Once you know where the skip is going, you need to ensure that we can get the skip into position. 

The first thing you’ll need to check is that your road is big or wide enough for a large truck with a skip on the back to actually get there. Most of the time, there shouldn’t be a problem because we’re used to manoeuvring our trucks in restricted areas! But if you’re in a remote location only accessible via particularly narrow roads, or perhaps on a no-through road with lots of on-street parking, we may struggle to get through.

If it’s going on the road outside your home, it might be a good idea to leave your car where the skip  will be going the night before and then make space for us when we arrive. Otherwise, you might get up in the morning to find that someone has parked their car in the way and can’t be found to move it.

Wherever it’s going – whether it’s on the road, on the drive, or on your front garden – you’ll also need to check we can actually get it off our truck and into position. Look for potential hazards, such as tree branches and power lines, that might get in the way.

If you’re at all worried, just give us a call to advise us of a potential problem and we’ll see what we can do to work around it – these things are always better sorted in advance rather than on the day!

Notify the neighbours that a skip is being delivered

If your skip is going to go on the road, then it’s always a good idea to let the neighbours know that it’s going to be there (if for no other reason than to make sure they don’t park in the way!). A skip in the road can sometimes lead to disruption, particularly if it’s going to slow down traffic, so it’s only polite to let those living around you know what’s happening.

Even if you’re keeping the skip on your own land – particularly if it’s going to be on a shared driveway – it’s still a good idea to let immediate neighbours know that there’s going to be a big lorry delivering or taking away a skip so that they can move their own cars away if they’re nervous of them getting damaged.

Make sure you’re only getting rid of permissible waste

Skips can take a lot of waste, but they can’t take all waste, because there are some things you’re not allowed to put into them. We’ve detailed what you can and can’t put in a skip in a previous article and you can find further information on what’s not allowed in our FAQs. So make sure you only have permissible waste put by to load into your skip.

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Here at Enfield Skips, we’re committed to making your skip hire as straightforward an experience as possible. If you have any questions or worries ahead of your skip delivery, just contact our friendly team and we’ll do what we can to help. And once you’re ready to go, you can quickly and easily order your chosen skip online.