Services to remove construction debris that's not from construction?

[davelew.livejournal.com]

Whenever I dig a hole in my yard to plant anything, I end up removing broken bricks, random chunks of concrete, shattered paving stones, and other detritus. When a plant isn't doing well, I can usually dig down and find whatever large object was pushing on its roots. I've been piling these chunks up by the back of my house, since I don't think I can legally put it out with the trash. I've re-used some of the less broken pieces to make a stone path, but I honestly don't need that many brick-like objects.

Now my pile has grown to the point where it's in the way (keeping me from wheeling my trash cans out), so I'm suddenly motivated to make it disappear. Can anybody recommend a waste removal service for this stuff? I probably have around ten cubic feet of bricks, brick-like objects, and cement/mortar/concrete.

Comments

[genesayssitdown.livejournal.com]

that's fucked up

[ron_newman]

This makes me curious to know what your property was used for before your house was built.

[taerowyn.livejournal.com]

Possibly just a house. We had the same experience with digging up random stuff in the yard...to the point where we mentioned it to the landlord's "handyman" brother and he kind of chuckled and said "oh, you found all that, huh?"

We interpreted that to mean it WAS construction debris that they decided to bury instead of dispose of properly. (Seeing as it was mostly matching tile and they told us they redid our kitchen floor a few years back, it wasn't too big a stretch.)

[davelew.livejournal.com]

The house was built around 1920, and had a fire sometime around 2005. The insurance money was used to turn the house into two condos. We are the first occupants of the upstairs condo, although people lives in those rooms for 85 years before us.

My guess is that some of the debris is from the original construction (like the bricks that match the bricks in our foundation), and some is from the recent fire and gut-rehab (like the broken paving stones that match some existing paving stones). Some of the debris is just a mystery, but could possibly be the cracked foundations of an early bathub Mary.

"men with truck"

[ravingwanderer.livejournal.com]

You need a "men with truck" type of service. A lot of places that provide dumpsters will also do this. Guys with a truck show up; you tell them what goes in. You pay by how much of the truck you fill, I think. (1/4 load minimum is typical, if I recall; I ended up getting a dumpster for what I was doing.)

No recommendations, sorry; this was a while back.

Re: "men with truck"

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I just had "U Call We Haul" from Medford quote on the job. The minimum for a truck is $150, the minimum for a dumpster is around $200. He said he might be able to haul away my rocks for only $100 since he was already in the area and it was such a small amount.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Calling the DPW during the day tomorrow would be your best help (they close at 4:00pm).

I, too, have found quite a bit of archeology when excavating in my former backyard. It's not that anything spectacular went on -- it's just a century's worth of landscaping stones and bricks that had subsided into the dirt over the years and been forgotten about or just filled over.

I recently found myself in an endless loop trying to dispose of an old propane tank that had rusted past the point of being refilled again. The DPW's answer was surprising (any store in MA that sells propane must accept your old tank unconditionally), but nonetheless helpful.

I wouldn't be surprised if they tell you to just dump it with your regular trash as long as it is under a certain limit.

[narya.livejournal.com]

You can try 1-800-get-junk (I think that's what it's called).

Also, places like home depot do rent dumpsters if you feel like filling the dumpster yourself.

[ron_newman]

that's 1-800-GOT-Junk

[narya.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, good catch. Guess that's what happens when I post before I have my coffee!

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I'm worried about how this conversation would go...

"Hi, is this 1-800-GOT-JUNK? I'm glad I got in touch with you -- I've got some junk for you. It might be a smaller load than you're used to, but it's hard as a rock. I mean, I've even used it to pound nails when there wasn't a convenient hammer around. Ummm, hello? Hello? Did you hang up on me?"

[soft-shoulder.livejournal.com]

Bwuahahahahahahahahahaha!

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

In my gardening, I've found lots of debris too. The one I recall offhand is one of those hanging planters, made of wire, that was originally filled with moss. So all that was left were lots of bits of rusted wire, many which made me check on my latest tetanus shot. Why it was found about 6 inches below the soil and on a rocky hilltop (where the dirt is at best 8 inches deep before hitting solid rock) is beyond anyone's guess.

[rhean.livejournal.com]

I forget how big the bag was (so this might be too small to be useful), but Tags was selling giant construction bags that folded into mini-dumpsters. You bought the bag and filled it and called some number to have it taken away, IIRC.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the bag at Tags is The Bagster (http://www.thebagster.com/) which holds 3 cubic yards (so you're set). The bag costs $29.95, but they charge $139 to take it away, which puts it into the same ballpark as your "you call we haul" guy.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

I would suggest that first, you cut a hole in your pocket. Then, each day, put a small amount of debris in said pocket, and then slowly let it fall out as you walk around your neighborhood, Escape-from-Alcatraz style. With diligence, you can move mountains of material in this manner, and the City will be none the wiser.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I like that idea, but unfortuntately some of these chunks (like half an 18" diameter paving stone) are too large to fit in the pockets of any pants that aren't hip-hop inspired.

masonry/rock waste can be used for landscaping fill projects

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Post to craigslist free section, say you have a bunch or stone/brick/rock waste, whatever it is, and does anyone want it to use as fill for a landscaping project. I've done this a few times and I always find someone that comes and picks it up and is happy.

Its great recycling.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

If you still have them, I'd probably be interested in taking some of the paving stone-type things, and maybe some other random chunks of stuff.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I just sent a private message to your LJ accoutn with details.

The waste removal guy is coming between 2pm and 4pm. If you can get the pavers first, they're yours.