May 20, 2019
What size skip do I need for a house renovation?
Nowadays, Londoners are more likely to improve than move. 27% of London property owners chose to stay put and renovate between 2017 and 2018. Slough in Berkshire (Greater London) is currently the UK’s number one renovation hotspot. Thus, as a skip hire company we get asked this question, about choosing the right skip size for renovation work, a lot.
The common sense reply is, 'How long is a piece of string?' Or, in this case, how big is the house, how extensive is the renovation, and how much waste is likely to result?
When hiring a skip, it’s a good idea to ask us for guidance. We can take a look at the work you’re planning to do and estimate the size of skip you will need. Nevertheless, there are some pointers we can offer.
The first thing to remember is that skips have a weight limit and it is a legal offence to overfill a skip. If we take a skip that has been overfilled, we are acting illegally. That is why skips are marked with fill levels. They are there so you know how much you can put into the skip.
And the second thing to remember is that, while we provide five different sizes of skip for rubbish clearance, there are restrictions on what you can put into the two largest sizes. The first three can hold any kind of waste, but restricted items and hardcore or very heavy types of waste may not be put into the two largest skips.
Our Skip Sizes
We offer a range of skip sizes, including mini skips and builder skips. The size of skip is measured in cubic yard capacity, and the five sizes are: 4 yards; 6 yards; 8 yards; 12 yards; and 16 yards.
To put that into context, imagine that all of your waste is bundled into bin bags and that the bin bags are full. The capacities of the five sizes, measured in bin bags, would be:
| Size in Cubic Yards | Number of filled bin bags |
| 4 | 15 |
| 6 | 20 |
| 8 | 30 |
| 12 | 40 |
|
16
|
50
|
Before deciding which skip is best for your needs, it is a good idea to think about where you are going to put it. The 16-yard skip is nearly two metres wide and more than four metres long. When ordering a skip of that size, be sure that it will fit in the space you are making available for it and that people will be able to work around it. It cannot obstruct the pavement outside your house, for example.
As already stated, you will probably need to ask us for guidance before you order a skip, and we recommend that as the best approach when using a skip hire service.
If you are planning a renovation project sometime soon, get in touch. We offer local skip hire in a number of west London locations, including Slough, Uxbridge, Twickenham, Heathrow and Kingston.
We are always happy to discuss what customers want to do and help them find the best way to do it. Alternatively, you can go to our skip hire information page to find out more about waste management.
