I'm Trashy

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

I'm doing some remodeling in my house and have generated a sizable load of debris. I put it in black plastic bags and this morning hauled it to the curb as in my past expierience I've seen everything being hauled away by Somerville trash people. However, it wasn't picked up and I was left a note that construction debris will not be picked up. Period.

The city website however says, that if you have a construction permit, the city will haul your trash.  If not, you have to get a private contractor. I, of course, don't have such permit, but still would like to get rid of the trash.  My Questions:

1. Is there a city dump where I can take this stuff. In other towns where I lived there was a city dump, you'd take your trash there, they'd weigh your car, and you'd pay per pound.

2. If not, are there private companies that will haul trash away. I don't need a dumpster, I just have about 7 construction bags worth of tile and dry wall.

Comments

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

I had some stuff hauled away recently by 1-800-GOT-JUNK (including construction debris, an old fridge, and a broken toilet). There may be cheaper hauling services out there, but I feel like they were totally worth the money.

I was able to get a rough idea of cost plus schedule a same-day appointment online. They were prompt, professional, friendly, and gave me an accurate quote before they started working. Worth every penny, and I would never hesitate to use them again.

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

And just for reference; I had an old fridge, a broken toilet, loads of sheet rock and old 2 x 4s, a desk, 2 nightstands, and a bookcase. Total cost was about $275. They price by volume, not by weight or by how long it takes them to haul stuff out.

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

FYI There are people on craigslist that will take old appliances for free. Apparently they sell them for scrap. I don't know where they take them or how much they get for them, but I do appreciate the convenience of having someone come any day of the week to take it away, and never having it sit outside my property. There is no need to pay someone to remove one (or pay the city 10 to remove it, which is the next best option)

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

I've been burned several times by people picking up stuff for free - appliances, furniture, and once a car - so I didn't want to waste time with someone unreliable. Besides, with the construction debris I was already in the 1/4 truck price bracket; leaving the fridge behind would have saved me $0. It was such a relief to have it gone - the previous owners left it full of food, then...unplugged it. Even after I cleaned it out the stench was unbearable.

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Burned meaning they were no shows (yes, that's very common and frustrating), or something worse, like damaged your property when picking up or something.

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

Several no shows (which I just don't have time for these days - particularly when I was trying to finish some remodeling on a tight deadline and needed the fridge OUT, and have a husband with recent back surgery, thus no ability to help me haul it out of the kitchen), one large nasty hole in a stairwell hallway that I had to repair, and a car that was dumped in Brockton, involving a police notice and much paperwork faxing to prove we weren't responsible. Sometimes it's better to pay to have it done promptly and correctly!

[xuth.livejournal.com]

If you can be there when the garbage (wo)men show up, a couple of 20s will likely convince them to take it. My former landlords got rid of _much_ more construction debris than this and never for more than $20 at a time. Though that was about 5-7 years ago. I don't know if the "rates" have changed since then.

[ceo]

I've generally successfully gotten rid of stuff like that by putting out one bag a week.

At a previous residence, we had the windows replaced, and our contractor got rid of them by sending one of his workers down on trash day to wait for the trash crew and grease their palms. 14 old windows make a really cool noise when they go through the compactor. :-)

[avacon.livejournal.com]

You should also be somewhat careful as the city is very much into collecting fees (and trying to ensure quality and also trigger reassessments) by requiring permits for remodeling work. I've heard of a number of cases where putting out construction debris without a permit results in a "stop work order" showing up on the front door.

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

Yep. That just happened to me. It's not about trash anymore but about a beaurocratic clusterfuck

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

1. Is there a city dump where I can take this stuff.

No.

(If you make tiny not heavy bags and mix them in your barrels with your regular trash you'll be able to get rid of the construction debris by the end of the summer)

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Are there dumps in nearby cities that one can use?

[gruene.livejournal.com]

Probably in Charlestown. There are some large waste processing and recycling facilities there. Save that Stuff is at 100 Terminal Street, and FCR of Boston is at 24 Bunker Hill Industrial Park. I don't know if either operate dumps that an individual can use though.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

Why don't you just get a building permit? It costs $50.

if you have someplace to put it...

[fishkiss56.livejournal.com]

We used bagster to get rid of some construction debris and old carpet. We have a driveway so we could leave it there until pick-up.

http://www.thebagster.com/index.aspx

We picked ours up at home depot, but it looks like they sell them at most hardware stores. Pick-up is about $140.

Re: if you have someplace to put it...

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I believe they sell them at Tag's.

[masswich.livejournal.com]

I've used Jim's Cleanup out of Cambridge. There are several comparable places. I think they are cheaper than more corporate places like Bagster.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I've used Jim's Cleanup as well to get rid of some building material that had been buried in my yard. They charged me around $100 to haul away about a cubic yard of bricks (note: this is MUCH larger and heavier than it sounds) plus a broken exercises machine.

I've also done the "1 bag a week" to get rid of construction debris left in my basement by the previous owner.

permits

[artguychris.livejournal.com]

The city is cracking down on permits because they A) get to charge a percentage of the construction cost for the permit fee and B) when the permit is closed out they can do a re-assessment and increase your property taxes. The assessor showed up 20 minutes after my permit was signed off! No exaggeration.

I forget what the cutoff is, but if the total cost of the construction is under some limit, then they put a magical green sticker on your permit which allows you to put construction debris out with your trash.