5 Tips to Stop Neighbours Using Your Skip

Hiring a skip is a good way to dispose of waste from a home remodelling project, but some neighbours seem to take it as an invitation to get rid of all their unwanted junk. If you're planning to hire a skip, follow these tips to prevent your neighbours filling it up before you get chance to use it yourself.

1. Talk to Your Neighbours

In many situations, open communication is the best strategy. Let your neighbours know you're planning to hire a skip before it arrives in the street. Make it clear that you intend to use most of the skip's capacity yourself, but say you'll let them know if there is space left over for any rubbish they want to throw out. You could even set a time when you're happy for neighbours to use your skip. Most people will be happy to wait a few days to add their unwanted stuff to the skip.

2. Fill It Up First

Neighbours can't dump their stuff in your skip if it is already full. Arrange for the skip bin hire service to deliver your skip when you are ready to fill it up with waste. If you leave a skip sitting empty on the street for days while you get your remodelling project started, your neighbours may take that as an invitation to fill it up themselves.

3. Choose Your Location Carefully

People are more likely to accept that a skip is for private use only if it is located on private property. If possible, place your skip in your driveway or garden, rather than leaving it on the street.

4. Cover Your Skip

Covering your skip with a tarpaulin is a good way to signal that it is off-limits. This simple step makes it more difficult for people passing by to toss their trash in the skip you have paid to hire. It may also help to prevent animals getting into the skip, as well as keeping the waste dry so it weighs less and is less likely to smell.

5. Light Up Your Skip at Light

Neighbours who are determined to use your skip even after you've asked them not to may try to sneak their rubbish into it at night. Shining a security light onto your skip may deter them from this kind of nocturnal mischief. If you use a motion-sensitive light, you'll know when people approach your skip.