Need an old carpet taking away?

[MorrisChesterfield]

Hi,

aswell as Morris Self Storage, we own Simply Clearances. which cover the uk doing property clearances.

I am looking at setting up a side line to the clearance business which is following carpet fitters and taking away the old carpets. then charging the household for the removal of the carpet. I know the council offer the service but still charge and you can never guarantee it will be removed in the same month. Obv it would have to be a local service, it would not be viable to travel miles to collect 1 carpet.

What do you think?

thanks,

Ben

 

[sunama]

Its a very good idea. Have you contacted carpet fitters?

What about firms like CarpetRight - do they offer a service of collecting the old carpets? If not, you could contact them and ask if they will endulge you. They could charge for the service, hand 90% to you, keep 10% for themselves, while they hand over the address/date/time that the old carpet needs to be collected and disposed of.

Everybody's a winner.

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

Hi sunama,

I though of the idea while driving in to town, as i was going leaflet dropping at estate agents for the removal side of business, so i popped in to a couple of carpet shops and they are very interested, 1 of them does commercial work and its a problem he said, as getting a skip is not always handy. so thats 2 out of 2 shops thats up for it.

How much would you say is a fair cost to have the carpet collected the same day?

I am having a new carpet fitted tomorrow in our home, and luckly i have a van and a waste carriers license so i can get rid of the carpet with ease, but i imagine it being a right pain if you have only a car.

Thanks,

ben

 

[sunama]

How much would you say is a fair cost to have the carpet collected the same day?

I am having a new carpet fitted tomorrow in our home, and luckly i have a van and a waste carriers license so i can get rid of the carpet with ease, but i imagine it being a right pain if you have only a car.

Thanks,

ben

When the carpetfitters arrive, ask them. Don't tell them, at first, that you want to start up a business/service. Just ask them how you are supposed to dispose of the carpet. Ask if their company offers the service. Ask about how much their company charges to dispose of carpets and how much the council charges. Then perhaps you might want to tell them that you are thinking of offering the service of disposing carpets and get their take on it. Pick their brains.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would be interested in this service, but I think your big customer base will come from carpet fitting firms and carpet shops, who don't yet take away the old carpets and carpet shops.

Also, what area are thinking of operating in? I am currently in the process of (perhaps) joining a removals firm (I'm still deciding) and may be able to throw some business your way (for a small percentage, of course). We operate in London.

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

thats exactly what im going to do, hopefully get them onboard aswell. many thanks for your advice.

Im based in Derbyshire, Chesterfield. We do a bit of work down london, but i am not a fan, the traffic is awfull just getting there.

Are you setting up a removal firm or working for one?

ben

 

[sunama]

Well, an acquaintence has already been in the removals business for a while.

He isnt an office person and prefers to deal exclusively with the labour and on-site supervision of the removals business.

His last business partner was very lazy, so the business sort've ran out of steam (though its still alive).

I've now replaced his business partner and will be running the business/office side of things, while he does the the labour and on-site supervision. We are also in the process of launching the company under a new name (website, business cards, van livery etc, all re-designed). However, I am still seeing if the business is viable and whether or not I get along with my business partner. Right now, it seems that my business partner isn't thinking "big", in the way that I am.

Its a shame that you are so far away. I would've been happy to quote customers for their carpet disposal, if they wanted that service and would then pass the job onto you.

You could also approach other removals firms and see if you could reach an arrangement, where you give them a small percentage for getting the job, while you actually do the job.

I still feel, your big break would come by approaching big carpet companies, such as CarpetRight, Allied Carpets, etc

Good Luck with your venture.

 

[chuk]

Hi

I what a great idea, i have afew carpet fitting friends, trades people and managers of carpetright stores. you have identified a real problem and come up with a very simple solution. Not everybody has the luxery of owing comercial vechiels, it's something we take for granted. This is something i could realy get on board with, being a builder transport & desposial wouldnt be a problem at all.

As for cost it's got to be worth you while obviously but not detir the customer. Any where between 15- 30 fine english pounds would do it i think. Discounted rate on any further carpets or rubbish.

terryj

 

[Tej]

It all sounds terrific.

What are you going to do with the old carpet after collection? You have to pay to dump it.. local council waste site?

Thats part of the logistics that has to be worked out.

We have this problem all the time. What to do with the debris/spoil... in the building game!

A skip costs more than £200. a lot of money.. and punters are not prepared to pay for having the rubbish disposed off. We have had to cancel loads of jobs for this very reason.

Your comments would be interesting

 

[Mpg]

An 8 yard skip in the North west costs around £130. So there is a definate regional variation.

Have a look at this
http://www.carpetrecyclinguk.com/

 

[papverpoppies]

It all sounds terrific.

What are you going to do with the old carpet after collection? You have to pay to dump it.. local council waste site?

Thats part of the logistics that has to be worked out.

We have this problem all the time. What to do with the debris/spoil... in the building game!

A skip costs more than £200. a lot of money.. and punters are not prepared to pay for having the rubbish disposed off. We have had to cancel loads of jobs for this very reason.

Your comments would be interesting

Last time I had a carpet fitted (which was some time ago) the carpet fitters took the old carpet away.

They were contracted to the store I bought the carpet from.

Apparently the store always has skips outside, for which they get a good trade price, then as each skips fills up, it is taken away.

Clever carpet shops could include the price of covering this service in the sale of the carpet (we would never know) and I suspect some might.

TEJ is right, some people are not going to pay £25+, to have their old carpet taken away (not householders anyway) business might!

Have you set your prices yet?

Having done a quick search of several Councils, it seems that prices vary for taking away an old carpet from £12.50 to about £20.00.

Some Councils, say if you can cut the old carpet down into smaller pieces, they will collect for free.

So you would have to check what the Council was offering in the areas you are operating in.

Just some food for thought.

Poppy

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

Hi all,

yeh it seems very positive at the mo, ive been round all my local carpet dealers and fitters ad they all want on board as it give them another service to offer there customers.

we own a storage depots aswell, so i am going to get a container for the carpets only, then keep putting them in there until i get a full load (20tons) then hopefully i am in talks with a carpet recycling plant down south and get a price to have load taken there.

I dont want to use landfill really, but unfortunatly at the moment there arnt enough carpet recycling plants about. i am based in the midlands, (chesterfield)

Regards to logistics of doing the carpet collection round, it would only be do able in a your local town, lets say a 15 - 20mile radious. and i have spoke to a few people about prices and £15 - £20 seems about right. obv this is for 1 room carpet then i was thinking £5 - £10 per carpet after that.

Plus you can offer an uplifting service. basically cutting the carpet up and taking it away.

I will keep you informed about how it goes.

Luckly we do alot of property clearances so i am always out and about all over the country.

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

Hi poppy,

i agree regards council collection, we do our council collections on behalf of our local borough council and its lucky if the carpets havent been left out for a week.

This service would have to be the same day or next day the very latest.

Carpetright have now removed there onsite skips from all there stores according to there fitters we had the other day to save money. I rang carpetright head office yesterday and i have got it put it in writing what i am intending to do and see if there interested.

Commercial carpet fitters seem very interested as we can move it there and then plus we can uplift the carpets to save them time.

ben

 

[papverpoppies]

Hi poppy,

i agree regards council collection, we do our council collections on behalf of our local borough council and its lucky if the carpets havent been left out for a week.

This service would have to be the same day or next day the very latest.

Carpetright have now removed there onsite skips from all there stores according to there fitters we had the other day to save money. I rang carpetright head office yesterday and i have got it put it in writing what i am intending to do and see if there interested.

Commercial carpet fitters seem very interested as we can move it there and then plus we can uplift the carpets to save them time.

ben

Good Luck!

Lets hope it helps to stop folk dumping them.

Perhaps your advertising could focus on that aspect.

Pity, you cannot find a 'green' way of disposing of them, you would probably get some form of grant if you could.

They say a carpet takes some 20.000 years to completely break down, so recycling would be the answer.

Poppy

 

[Tej]

They say a carpet takes some 20.000 years to completely break down, so recycling would be the answer.

Poppy

wish someone would tell my better half that.

She insists on a change of carpet every 5 years

 

[chuk]

Hey guys good coments.

I just think its the basis of a realy good marketing stratergy for someone who alreay operates this kind of bussiness to gain cheap creadable leads which could be turned around quickly.

It would only work with the right incentive and way of varifying the lead resulted to a sale and incentive was paid.

I do honestly think there are local waste management company out there that could proceess this waste and turn a profit.

Its ont the basis for a bussiness but if someone could actually get some of the big companys on board it may work.

U never know in the last 10 years ive seen a guy with a skip lory and a tiny yard turn in to 10 skip lorrys 5 machines 2 roadtransport trailers and rig just by collecting, sorting and recycling rubbish.

who knows?

Terryj

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Good Luck!

Lets hope it helps to stop folk dumping them.

Perhaps your advertising could focus on that aspect.

Pity, you cannot find a 'green' way of disposing of them, you would probably get some form of grant if you could.

They say a carpet takes some 20.000 years to completely break down, so recycling would be the answer.

Poppy

We had an unusual customer base for old carpets, the farmers used to take them from us, they used them for covering/holding down the sileage in the sileage pits, as opposed to tyres and plastic sheeting.

 

[sunama]

http://www.greenback-recycling.co.uk/contact_us.html

Those guys accept carpets for recycling.

So, if you could charge customers to get rid of their carpets, you could then deliver them to the guys, whose link I have posted.

Its very important that if you decide to recycle the carpets, that you advertise this fact. This is VERY important and will be the main focus of your advertising campaign, for the carpet disposal service.

 

[willitbe]

Hi all,

yeh it seems very positive at the mo, ive been round all my local carpet dealers and fitters ad they all want on board as it give them another service to offer there customers.

we own a storage depots aswell, so i am going to get a container for the carpets only, then keep putting them in there until i get a full load (20tons) then hopefully i am in talks with a carpet recycling plant down south and get a price to have load taken there.

I dont want to use landfill really, but unfortunatly at the moment there arnt enough carpet recycling plants about. i am based in the midlands, (chesterfield)

Regards to logistics of doing the carpet collection round, it would only be do able in a your local town, lets say a 15 - 20mile radious. and i have spoke to a few people about prices and £15 - £20 seems about right. obv this is for 1 room carpet then i was thinking £5 - £10 per carpet after that.

Plus you can offer an uplifting service. basically cutting the carpet up and taking it away.

I will keep you informed about how it goes.

Luckly we do alot of property clearances so i am always out and about all over the country.

Does this not then become a waste transfer station with it's own set of rules and regulations including a course ran by wamitab?.

Good idea though and one I would get involved in.

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

Hi willitbe,

regards to it becoming a waste transfer station, i dont know really, i have not looked into it yet. End of the day its a self storage centre, so i am storing the carpets.

Is there anybody else out there seriously considering having ago at the carpet collection game, the beauti of this trade is it is a local trade, i dont think it would be possible it do nationwide. unless the areas was broke up, bit like a franchise.

ben

 

[Mister B]

As long as you can get the pricing right, you could be onto a winner.

Last time we had a carpet fitted, (last summer,) I ended up slicing the old one myself and taking it to the tip. Should be worth adding that we've just had a new sofa delivered, and the delivery people wanted £75 to get rid of the old one.

Being a Yorkshireman you can guess what I told them to do...later that day had some fun with a chain saw and again, took it to the dump myself.

I also think that you can throw some spin on the green angle-that along with a price of around £20 would make it quite appealing to most people.

Mister B

 

[Officebird]

I know the council offer the service but still charge and you can never guarantee it will be removed in the same month.

I used the council service once to take an old dishwasher. It was free and they came the day after I rang. I know after that they introduced a £5 charge, with (oddly) the money generated from this going towards combatting fly tipping.

The problem you'll have is that until you use the council service, which in your aera you say is pants, you don't know how good or bad it is. So people will compare your price to that of the council. Even if your service is better how will someone know that?

The way to go is without a doubt through the fitters.

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

Hi mister B

thanks for your reply,

I am also looking into sofa & bed collection aswell, a local service in my area tho. I was looking at £20ish for collection of a bed or sofa.

the perfect thing is we run 14ft vans so we can collect carpets/beds/sofas when ever we ge a call, then we can sort it load out back at base.

I am hopeing to get round bed & sofa shops on friday.

Thanks,

ben

 

[spencergate]

Personally, I would be more interested in a service that would take up the old carpet, THEN get rid of it, not simply take it away.

OK, I'm disabled so it's difficult for me, and we have to ask a friend to help my hubby when we have things like this to do. But there must be plenty of people who would pay someone to move the furniture and take up the old carpet, surely?

 

[Recycling Man]

Hi - you may wish to look at this.
http://www.carpetrecyclinguk.com/

rgds

 

[mistershifter]

Hi mister B

thanks for your reply,

I am also looking into sofa & bed collection aswell, a local service in my area tho. I was looking at £20ish for collection of a bed or sofa.

the perfect thing is we run 14ft vans so we can collect carpets/beds/sofas when ever we ge a call, then we can sort it load out back at base.

I am hopeing to get round bed & sofa shops on friday.

Thanks,

ben

Would the cost of tipping the sofa be cost prohibitive though? unless you dismantle them and recycle the fabric and tip the wood.

Kev

 

[willitbe]

We have a couple of local type charity shops near us, that can't get enough sofas and furniture in general really.

They have both taken on extra space close to them to enable them to hold more furniture.

I suspect more could be made of furniture recycling( i mean really scruffy end of life stuff) if the Waste Transfer Station problem wasn't an issue.

They could be broken up and materials separated on site.

The carpet uplift and dispose idea is a good one though and would work if the Locations of Recyclers weren't miles away from everyone!

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

yes that uplifting service would work well, when i had my carpet fitted last satday, i had to move everything out the room, which could have been a nightmare if i was on my own or i couldnt lift. |You wouldnt have to charge much to uplift the carpet because your already at the job collecting the carpet, it would take longer than 10 - 20mins uplifting the carpet. possible £10 - £15ish.

regards to charity jobs with furniture, aslong as the items have fire certificate they could be interested or homeless charities etc or your local freecycle website.

Ive looked at carpet recycling side of things, the one plant i spoke to charge £55p/t to take the carpet which is crazy, normal waste transfer is only £60 - £70p/t plus they can only recycle certain types of carpets.

ben

 

[G. Lasagne]

Great idea mate.
Could you not simply take it to the tip? and pay x amount a month to dump what you want?

The other big question is how do you charge per carpet? i mean some carpets are 10 times the size as others? how do much for a hallway again all different sizes?
Would you have to go out and do a quote?

I would imagine charitys etc would take a lot of the stuff for free? maybe get a biggish unit and get the charities to come with there vans and pick up what they want. you might also get the general public looking for old carpets and furniture, landlords would be another one.

Another sideline is garage and loft clearances, we were asked by an old dear after fitting her heating to clear her garage for her, she had been quoted £100, we said we would do it for free. you should have seen the stuff in there, bikes,tools you name it.
You could charge £50 or whatever and sell the stuff on ebay/car boots etc.

 

[willitbe]

Great idea mate.
Could you not simply take it to the tip? and pay x amount a month to dump what you want?

The other big question is how do you charge per carpet? i mean some carpets are 10 times the size as others? how do much for a hallway again all different sizes?
Would you have to go out and do a quote?

I would imagine charitys etc would take a lot of the stuff for free? maybe get a biggish unit and get the charities to come with there vans and pick up what they want. you might also get the general public looking for old carpets and furniture, landlords would be another one.

Another sideline is garage and loft clearances, we were asked by an old dear after fitting her heating to clear her garage for her, she had been quoted £100, we said we would do it for free. you should have seen the stuff in there, bikes,tools you name it.
You could charge £50 or whatever and sell the stuff on ebay/car boots etc.

The thing with being involved a carpet company is they would be able to tell you in advance how big it was and tell their punter the cost of removing and should they want it doing, they would let you know.

And Ben. That is always going to be a problem with recycling anything, firms only want the best for them and charge for that privilege

 

[mistershifter]

Great idea mate.
Could you not simply take it to the tip? and pay x amount a month to dump what you want?

The other big question is how do you charge per carpet? i mean some carpets are 10 times the size as others? how do much for a hallway again all different sizes?
Would you have to go out and do a quote?

I would imagine charitys etc would take a lot of the stuff for free? maybe get a biggish unit and get the charities to come with there vans and pick up what they want. you might also get the general public looking for old carpets and furniture, landlords would be another one.

Another sideline is garage and loft clearances, we were asked by an old dear after fitting her heating to clear her garage for her, she had been quoted £100, we said we would do it for free. you should have seen the stuff in there, bikes,tools you name it.
You could charge £50 or whatever and sell the stuff on ebay/car boots etc.

Regarding garage clearances, these can be a problem if there are cans of paint present. most sites charge £5 per tin to tip. Licenced waste carriers have to take great care that items are disposed of properly. imo £100 isn't bad for a garage clearance for the customer. it depends on the garage, I've had some real good ones and some real bad.

Kev

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

Hi all,

Been doing a bit of research regards to pricing, ive been on another forum to do with carpet & floor fitting, and some fitters on there charge between £1.50 - £2.50 per sqft for uplifting and disposing of the carpet! Bit pricey! that i think!

Plus most of them hire in a skip. which costs even more and biting into profit, they said they make as much money on removal service than the fitting.

Trouble is most of them have not got a waste carriers so if they carry it in there vans they could get fined £££££.

ive got some leaflets bein sorted. so i am going for it, think i will charge 50p - £1.00 per sq.ft.

What do you think?

thanks,

Ben

 

[sunama]

Trouble is most of them have not got a waste carriers so if they carry it in there vans they could get fined £££££.

Why would they get fined for driving around with an old carpet in the back of their van? Can you elaborate?

 

[willitbe]

Why would they get fined for driving around with an old carpet in the back of their van? Can you elaborate?

Because they're not the producer of the waste, the homeowner is, they are carrying waste illegally unless they are registered with Environment Agency to do so..

It is an attempt to monitor the amount of waste, we as a nation, are producing and how much goes to Landfill or is recycled.All waste transfers should have a note accompanying them, so theoretically all the waste we produce can be accounted for at any one point in time.So should the need arise that we need to produce less waste and recycle more, it can be pretty much noted by how much and by when.

Or something like that anyway

 

[mistershifter]

Why would they get fined for driving around with an old carpet in the back of their van? Can you elaborate?

If you have a few hours to spare you could read up on the environment agency website
I believe that technically old carpet is waste and the 'carrier' of the waste must be licenced to carry it. I would imagine that a carpet fitter with old carpet in his van would not be prosecuted if he could prove that the 'waste' went into a skip back at his depot, who knows? Waste transfer notes have to be filled in at each port of exchange and be accountable for the waste.
I know a tiler who got pulled over by police and was questioned by the officer about the bags of old tiles and rubble he was carrying, he explained that it wasn't waste and was for filling in foundations at his home. Even a tiler should be licenced as a waste carrier if he removes any mess from a job.

hth
Kev

 

[chuk]

Go for it. I look forward to hearing about it, maybe get some leaflets on line so we can have a butchers.

chuk

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Bureaucracy gone mad!

 

[willitbe]

If you have a few hours to spare you could read up on the environment agency website
I believe that technically old carpet is waste and the 'carrier' of the waste must be licenced to carry it. I would imagine that a carpet fitter with old carpet in his van would not be prosecuted if he could prove that the 'waste' went into a skip back at his depot, who knows? Waste transfer notes have to be filled in at each port of exchange and be accountable for the waste.
I know a tiler who got pulled over by police and was questioned by the officer about the bags of old tiles and rubble he was carrying, he explained that it wasn't waste and was for filling in foundations at his home. Even a tiler should be licenced as a waste carrier if he removes any mess from a job.

hth
Kev

Unless they were registered as a waste transfer station then that would be illegal too!

 

[sunama]

I know a tiler who got pulled over by police and was questioned by the officer about the bags of old tiles and rubble he was carrying, he explained that it wasn't waste and was for filling in foundations at his home. Even a tiler should be licenced as a waste carrier if he removes any mess from a job.

hth
Kev

That tiler is a clever guy. Most people would not have known this and would probably have told the truth.

Surely though, the Police are not aware of the rules regarding waste?

 

[willitbe]

That tiler is a clever guy. Most people would not have known this and would probably have told the truth.

Surely though, the Police are not aware of the rules regarding waste?

There are some right little gits about in the Police, now the Recognition system pretty much eliminates stopping people for no reason, the young, keen rookie needs more knowledge about all sorts of things to justify a pull-over!.

 

[MorrisChesterfield]

i have never been pulled yet, fingers crossed i wont, as its hard to tell wether i am over weight half the time. and ive never been checked for waste carriers, but obv i am asked and i produce my carriers at the waste transfer stations.

Ben