Picking a skip sounds like the easy part of a job, right up until the wrong one turns up on the drive. Order too small and you end up paying for a second; order too big and it sits half empty while you have still covered the cost. After more than a hundred years of Ormskirk skip hire we have watched both happen often enough to save you the bother, so here is how to judge the size before you book rather than after.
Start with what you are throwing away, not how it looks
The single most common mistake is reading the size off the height of the pile. Light, bulky waste like furniture, packaging and timber fills the space quickly but weighs very little, whereas rubble, soil and broken tile hit the weight limit long before the skip looks full. A garden clear-out and a bathroom strip-out might produce the same heap by eye and need very different skips by weight. Thinking in rough terms of how heavy the material is, rather than how much room it takes, gets you far closer to the right answer.
The two sizes most Ormskirk jobs need
For the bulk of domestic work a 4 tonne midi skip is the sensible starting point, taking roughly sixty-five to eighty-five bin bags worth and suiting garden clearances, kitchen and bathroom refits and tighter spaces. Step up to an 8 tonne builders skip for an extension, a full house clear or anything generating heavier debris, where you are looking at well over twice the capacity. If you find yourself torn between the two, the larger almost always works out cheaper than a second delivery, and our full range of skip sizes lays out everything in between.
Where the skip will sit
Size is only half the question, because the skip has to go somewhere. The newer estates around Ormskirk and the rural plots out toward Scarisbrick usually have driveway room to spare, so you can take a larger skip without a second thought. The older streets closer to the centre are tighter, and a skip on the road there needs a council permit, which can nudge you toward a size that fits the space rather than the maximum you might want. A quick check that the delivery lorry can actually reach the spot saves a wasted slot, and we are happy to talk through awkward access before you commit.
What cannot go in, whatever the size
A bigger skip does not mean fewer rules. Tyres, paint, fridges and freezers, batteries, electricals and asbestos all sit outside what a standard skip can take, and plasterboard needs to be kept separate rather than mixed in. Keeping those aside avoids a contaminated load and the charge that comes with it. Everything that does go in comes back to our own recycling centre to be sorted and recovered where possible, which we explain on our environmental and recycling page.
The same advice across Ormskirk and Southport
We give exactly the same guidance to customers using our Southport skip hire service and out through Aughton skip hire country, so wherever the job is you get an honest steer rather than a push toward the biggest skip on the yard.
If you would rather just describe the job and let us suggest a size, that is what we are here for. Contact our Ormskirk team or call 01704 779345 and we will point you the right way.
