Garage, loft and shed clearance
The awkward spaces most people put off for a decade. Seized up garage doors, lofts with a hatch and a stepladder, sheds that are half rotted into the ground. We do the climbing and the carrying.
Why these jobs get left for years
Nobody puts off clearing a garage because it is hard to decide what to throw. They put it off because of the carrying. Everything is heavy, everything is filthy, half of it has spiders in it, and there is nowhere to put it while you sort it. Then the tip run needs a van you do not have.
That is the entire job we are being paid for. You open the door and point.
Garages
Single garages, double garages, block garages on an estate and lock ups. Old paint tins, bikes, tools, tyres, garden furniture, half a kitchen, the sofa that was going to get reupholstered in 2011. We clear it and sweep the floor.
Read this before you touch a garage roof
A great many Birmingham garages built between the 1950s and the 1980s have corrugated cement roof sheets that contain asbestos. Intact, they are not dangerous. Broken up with a hammer, they are a serious health risk and it is illegal to dispose of them as general waste.
We will clear everything inside the garage. We will not take asbestos sheets, and neither will any legitimate waste carrier. If you think your roof is asbestos, ring us and we will tell you what we are seeing and who to call for that part.
Lofts
Loft clearances are slow work and anyone who tells you otherwise has not done many. Everything comes out through a hatch, by hand, one bag at a time, usually while bent double under a purlin. Boxes of paperwork, Christmas decorations, old suitcases, insulation that has been disturbed, water tanks that are no longer connected.
Tell us whether you have a proper drop down ladder or a hatch and a stepladder, because it makes a real difference to how long it takes.
Sheds, greenhouses and decking
We take these down as well as take them away. Felt roofs, rotten floors, glass panes, concrete bases and the slabs underneath. Glass gets wrapped properly rather than thrown in loose, because the next person to handle it is us.
Cellars
Common in the older terraces and Victorian semis around Moseley, Kings Heath, Handsworth and Balsall Heath. Narrow steps, low headroom, no natural light and usually damp. Same job, just slower, and priced accordingly rather than pretending otherwise.
The bit most companies never mention
Under the Environmental Protection Act you have a household duty of care for your own waste. In plain English: if you hand your rubbish to somebody who fly tips it, and the council traces it back to you, you get the fixed penalty, not them. Birmingham enforces this and has taken fly tippers to court.
So before you let anyone load a van, ask for two things. Their waste carrier registration number, which you can check free on the Environment Agency register in about thirty seconds. And a waste transfer note for your job, which is the receipt proving where your waste went.
We are a registered waste carrier and we issue a transfer note for every single job, without being asked. If you are a landlord, an agent or a business, keep it. If you are a householder, it is still worth having.
A quick sanity check
If somebody quotes you a price that seems far too good, ask where the waste is going and what the tip fees are. Tipping costs real money. A price that does not cover it usually means the load is going into a lay by somewhere, with your name still on the envelopes inside it.
Garage, loft and shed questions
The garage door will not open. Is that a problem?
Not usually. We deal with seized up doors and jammed shutters regularly and we can normally get in and work around it. Tell us in advance so we bring the right kit and allow the extra time.
My garage roof might be asbestos. What now?
Stop and ring us before you touch it. A lot of Birmingham garages built between the 1950s and the 1980s have corrugated cement sheet roofs containing asbestos. We will clear everything inside the garage quite happily, but the roof sheets themselves need a licensed asbestos contractor and a different disposal route. We will tell you honestly what we can and cannot take and point you at someone who can do the rest.
Can you dismantle the shed as well as take it away?
Yes. Sheds, greenhouses, old decking and rotten fence panels all get broken down on site and loaded. Concrete bases and slabs we can take too, but tell us because that is weight rather than volume and it prices differently.
How do you get things out of a loft?
Carefully, and by hand. We bring bags up, fill them and pass them down. If it is a proper drop down ladder that is straightforward. If it is a hatch and a stepladder it takes longer, so mention it when you ask for a price.
Do you clear cellars?
Yes, and they are usually the worst of the lot for access. Old Birmingham terraces and Victorian semis often have narrow cellar steps. It is still a job we do, it just takes longer than the same volume at ground level.
Have a look at these too
Open the door. Point.
That is your side of a garage clearance done.