No one is a master of every discipline, and in spite of the popular phrase, hardly anyone is a jack of all trades, either. So when you need to figure out how to rent dumpsters, make plans and draw up a budget for your upcoming home renovation, don’t feel like you have spent your life without learning such a common skillset. Even people who work full time in construction rarely know how to do everything that is involved with erecting a building. There are those with administrative functions, others with technical know-how, and still others that are just there to lift the heavy stuff in order to move it from one place to another. The point is that you can learn anything you need to if you actually want to perform your own renovation in order to save money, but you need to put more time into preparing and learning than you do the actual labor. Having realistic expectations is also of vital importance. A person who works in an office for a living isn’t suddenly going to learn how to build an exquisite hardwood deck overnight.
The number one thing previous unskilled renovators will tell you to do is spend a few hours calculating how much you can afford to put into the project. The funny thing about construction, whether you are working with contractors or not, is that there is always a way to go astonishingly over-budget, no matter how carefully you thought you had mapped things out beforehand. Setting hard limits on expenditures will be a great idea, but so will allotting a certain percentage of that dollar amount to serve as a cushion should you have to invest more than expected. And remember, all of this ultimately is an investment to make your home more valuable in the future. An outmoded 1980s kitchen will not make for the same stylized selling point that a modern, minimalist design will, even if you do wait another decade to put the property on the market. Buyers will always prefer newer appliances and appearances over old ones, because it means they will not have to put more money into a home after purchasing it.
The axiom of having to spend money to make money is absolutely true in this case, but you should also think of a renovation as a way to improve your quality of life. Being unhappy with a section of your home can wear thin after a while, especially if you find that it is hindering your lifestyle. It can all be turned around for the better though, and the best place to start is by getting online and pricing things such as equipment, permits and roll off dumpster rentals. Many of your tools will probably come from a rental agency simply because there is no reason to buy a masonry drill or tile grouter if you don’t think you will ever use either again. And in the case of the dumpster, you will only need to have it parked outside your house for the duration of your initial demolition, which could take as little as just a few days. On the other hand, older homes can present plenty of unexpected obstacles like asbestos that must be dealt with, so consulting an expert or experienced friend before starting to tear things down would be wise.
When you start calling around to different dumpster rental Tampa agencies, have an idea of what size container you will probably need. Use a search engine to get a sense of the different measurements, though all dumpsters are usually measured in cubic yards and range anywhere from forty to ten square yards. Every dumpster, also referred to as containers amongst certain professional vernaculars, has a strict weight limit. It is not so much in place because the metal of the container will not be able to hold past a certain weight, though that is definitely a danger, but it’s because the unit you will be renting will have to be transported by truck once it is full, and both the vehicle and Florida highways have strict weight limits that must be met in order for the truck to function and the police to allow it to pass down certain roads.
Contact Tampa City Hall in order to inquire about what permits will be necessary for you to keep your container and project within code. A building inspector will likely visit you before, during and after your renovation in order to check whether or not your work poses any safety hazards. Municipal workers may come by while your dumpster is outside to make sure you have the paperwork authorizing it to be there.
Can you throw everything away? Items such as laptops, batteries, TV’s, tires, monitors, microwaves, and Freon units (including refrigerators, A/C units, dehumidifiers, etc.) can be put in dumpsters but only if you let your dumpster rental company know so they can charge you extra for the extra recycling / scrapping codes connected to these items. They cannot go straight to the dump like normal garbage. Large amounts of turf or other organic matter also has special regulations.
How high can you fill a dumpster? The temptation is to fill your rented dumpster as high as possible, but Dumpster rental companies, when they come to pick up the dumpster, need to be able to secure a heavy duty tarp over your dumpster. This keeps debris from flying away onto the road as they drive it away. Do not pile trash more than a foot over the top of the dumpster or have any objects protruding straight up from the dumpster surface. Try to lay objects as flat as possible and maximize your space.
Will your dumpster damage a lawn or driveway? Dumpsters are very heavy containers and they get heavier as you load them up. If you have a brittle driveway, rent an oversized dumpster, or you let your dumpster rest too long on your lawn the wheels may start to sink in or crack the surface below them, especially if you overload your dumpster with trash and debris. Try putting down wooden planks to spread the weight out over a greater distance when you place it.
2007 was a rough year, with the housing market bursting, home prices falling, and thousands losing their homes and the ability to find more. The entire economy still bears scars from that period, and the construction and housing industry worst of all. Even if you want to rent dumpsters you will run into a over availability of options, as few new construction sites are available.
Part of the problem involves the housing industry’s shadow inventory – the unknown number of existing houses available but not on the market. These homes are either in the foreclosure process or soon to be, but are not yet on the open market. Why are these homes a problem? The threat of a huge number of homes ready to flood the already over flooded market keeps prices very low, discouraging new construction, and preventing industry investment. No one really knows how many existing houses will eventually be for sale yet in February 2012 the Wall Street Journal reported that there could be as many as 10 million shadow inventory houses waiting in the wings.
Residential construction will of course be slow to pick up, but by February 2012 the system was correcting. As the economy recovers, people are marrying, forming families, and leaving relatives’ homes—all events that tend to be put off when facing downturn and limited financial options. Government programs, designed to help people finance new homes and get out of debt, have been chipping away backlog of houses on the market. There is new hope for the construction business.