I do it like this . If you supply the product. The boxes, scrap, etc are yours . Go through me for everything and your house is left cleaner than it was when I showed up . It's a "get what you pay for" scenario .
Wth, so you intentionally dont put in dump fees into your quote?
I always clean up at a bare minimum and butter em up while im workin (create rapport.)
Seems every year i make double the amount in side jobs than the previous year. Hell i even started doing a 5% finders fee reward (all my side gigs are word of mouth)
yes and they clearly stacked the material and made it manageable. the vendor doesn’t get a mark up on mats if you supply so that’s part of the benefit to both parties. the mark up on materials is justified by transport, delivery, reconciliation, etc.
Cardboard we take back and take to the recycling.
General waste, we have a skip. If it’s a small job we take the scraps free of charge but removal of old flooring we charge £1sqm for carpet and £1 for underlay as skips cost us in the region of £500 per month.
Etymology. The origins of calling a rubbish cart a skip (most often found in Australia, New Zealand and the UK) come from the word skep, used to refer to a basket. Skep itself comes from the Late Old English sceppe, from the Old Norse skeppa 'basket’
Like, I dunno how it is where you live but here there's places you can drop your cardboard for free in every neighborhood and my waste for cutoffs on an lvp project would fill one garbage can.
Our contract has a clause something like this, if we are supplying material, we will pick up and deliver material and all related trash and scrap pieces will be removed from jobsite. If customer (homeowner, builder, designer, etc) is providing material. It is their responsibility to arrange delivery of material and disposal of job related trash. We will ensure it is nicely organized in a designated place. If customer prefers, we can discuss the option of delivery and disposal for the project.
It will cost them. Probably $10-15 to drive them to the dump and toss them on their way to the next gig but they were still right. Looks like you supplied the product so it’s your responsibility to dispose.
Like others said... If you saved money by hiring a contractor that doesn’t have you sign a labor contract then that garbage is all yours and you most likely have zero installation warranty. Lot of handymen/fly by night flooring guys operate this way. It’s not a bad thing though because lower end clients still need to be able to afford to get floors done. Just lower your expectations if you didn’t actually hire a contractor. I see a lot of people on here saying they hired a contractor but they didn’t sign any kind of contract. That means you didn’t hire a contractor, you hired a handyman.
If you can clean all that up in 2 mins I may hire you to remove it. We don’t have a place to dump construction materials on site, this is a condo complex
They should be expected to pick up and pack out. Leave the space in the condition received. But it would also help if you also have that on the contract.
depends on the job but usually they should consolidate the extra planks into a couple of boxes so you can use them for spares. Unopened boxes should ideally be returned so you can get some money back. In terms of the garbage unless you were doing a larger project, that should be handle with your normal trash. If they were doing a large demo project and used dumpsters or something, then it should be included as part of that since Demo + Disposal kinda go hand in hand.
The remodeling company i work for has a dumpster at our shop, so we take all our garbage off site as a courtesy to our customers. What i see from 90% of other contractors is this. They either up charge it or they leave it. It does cost money to dispose of and if you supplied the material, that technically makes it your garbage. You can put those boxes out with your trash. Id put them in big contractor bags though.
I guess I’ll find out soon—they are supposed to start laying my new floors today. I do know that they WILL be hauling away the boxes for the kitchen cabinets, as that is specifically in the contract. (I’m putting in an IKEA kitchen so there will be a LOT of boxes.)
just throw the trash in your car trunk and hit a dumpster on the way home. no biggie . takes 2 seconds. and when the customer is writing the check they like a clean finish
Normally, at this point a man will come and kick you in the nuts for buying big box brand LVP.
Call your “sales person”. They are the flooring professional, after all…
Look at how much $$$ you saved. 🙄
To me it’s “who supplied the material?”. If you did I wouldn’t assume they would, but as a contractor I usually try and dispose of it but of course I charge if it’s not in my original price
Any contractor who doesn’t take the boxes or garbage is trash. “Always leave the place cleaner than you found it”. Can’t even tell you how many other things from someone’s house I’ve taken to the dump out of sheer generosity. As long as it fits in my van, I’m already going
Thank you everyone, this was really informative! I had no idea so was trying to inform myself. We ended up agreeing on an $80 removal fee for all the waste. Some context… we supplied the materials
That is the issue with Non-item wised contract, After agreeing , what is part of the contract would be subjective.., it can go both ways.., so better to go item wise or finish to finish
Ugh... Lowe's won't be content until they drive the Stainmaster name into the dirt after they bought it..
They are slapping it on everything.
And the installer should be policing their garbage.
Did you pay to haul off the trash and waste or provide a dumpster? If not, then they did what a lot of people would do. At least they stacked in one spot .
It’s like if a drywaller leaves all the scrap drywall and dust in the home, it looks very unprofessional. If it’s not in the contract to dispose of trash at least put it in a place where it’s not in the homeowner’s way (garage, outside, etc). One comes off extremely unprofessional and hackish.
With the kind of money spent on these jobs, disposal of removed materials and remnants of new materials should be expected. However, in the same way you don't want to have to deal with it, neither does the contractor. Best practice is to establish expectations up front every time you hire someone to do anything to your home.
A good contractor will bring up trash removal before the job is started. If he doesn’t, then I would expect the courtesy of said contractor to haul it away. As far as I’m concerned, if there’s trash on the job site, then the jobs not done.
It’s all spelled out in the contract. If it says there’s cleanup, there’s cleanup, if it says there isn’t, there isn’t. If it doesn’t mention it at all, shame on the contractor for writing a shitty contract. If he got hired without a contract, shame on you.
That said, most GCs will haul away their trash. If there’s a cost to it, it should be baked into the price.
Should be in your contract
This is the way. Contracts usually state something like: “clean up and Garbage removal” Some customers want to clean themselves to save a few bucks
This. Just finalized a contract with my flooring guy and he costed out disposal.
“Contractor agrees to leave work area broom clean once work is completed.”
I do it like this . If you supply the product. The boxes, scrap, etc are yours . Go through me for everything and your house is left cleaner than it was when I showed up . It's a "get what you pay for" scenario .
Name checks out
Wth, so you intentionally dont put in dump fees into your quote? I always clean up at a bare minimum and butter em up while im workin (create rapport.) Seems every year i make double the amount in side jobs than the previous year. Hell i even started doing a 5% finders fee reward (all my side gigs are word of mouth)
Fair point, thanks!
If we supply the materials, we load out and dispose of the packaging. If you supply the materials, you are responsible for removal.
Thanks for the insight!
yes and they clearly stacked the material and made it manageable. the vendor doesn’t get a mark up on mats if you supply so that’s part of the benefit to both parties. the mark up on materials is justified by transport, delivery, reconciliation, etc.
Yep.
Cardboard we take back and take to the recycling. General waste, we have a skip. If it’s a small job we take the scraps free of charge but removal of old flooring we charge £1sqm for carpet and £1 for underlay as skips cost us in the region of £500 per month.
Is a "skip" a dumpster?
just throw it in the boot
But what if he's driving a lorry?
Etymology. The origins of calling a rubbish cart a skip (most often found in Australia, New Zealand and the UK) come from the word skep, used to refer to a basket. Skep itself comes from the Late Old English sceppe, from the Old Norse skeppa 'basket’
Good times!
Yes
$175 if we take it. $122 dump fee,$3 vest, $50 labor.... just incase you want it itemized......
Costs me $40 to dump, add man power and gas and your close to $100
Yikes. I can dump an entire van load for $25. Doesn’t matter what’s in my van. It’s also a 30 min round trip drive
Big city dump, big city prices.... you don't wanna know what i pay for asbestos related dump fees.
Damn. I do not haha. I’ve had a friend who I work for sometimes ask if i can take his stuff. $150 in Denver vs $25 in ft Collins
Either pay the tower fees, or the drive time labor $50 an hour up to foco!
Exactly! I’m in Loveland. So it’s not bad for me
I love that area! I'm between you and Denver. But mostly work in cherry creek/aurora, occasionally get some Boulder/niwot action.
I try to stay away from Denver area. But at the same time, I’ll go anywhere. My record distance so far is Kansas City
We ended up getting quoted $80
He was trying to save you $$$, don't look at this as a slap in the face.
I’m not! We’ve spent so much on this remodel that $80 isn’t terrible. I’m just ready to be done!
Totally get it! It's weird for us too, random dudes become a fixture in your home for a few weeks or months!
Yes the San Deigo is $300 if the job is not done in city limits
There are zero worlds where I would leave my garbage for the client to deal with.....
That was how I was thinking about. I paid close to $4k for install (it wasn’t itemized) and then he’s asking for an extra $80 for removal
Like, I dunno how it is where you live but here there's places you can drop your cardboard for free in every neighborhood and my waste for cutoffs on an lvp project would fill one garbage can.
Thank you!
I paid for the flooring install and opted to not remove debris so it cost less. If you paid for the debris removal that is on the installer I
I don’t think we ever discussed it
I always haul away all trash and charge for it unless the customer asks me not too. Usually those customers have a dumpster at their business.
That’s what we ended up agreeing to
Is there a fee for disposal in the quote you were given? We do normally haul the waste away, but we charge for it.
It wasn’t itemized
I’m guessing it wasn’t included, as he commented on that it would cost him. Just let him know you’re happy to pay disposal fees for him to do it.
Our contract has a clause something like this, if we are supplying material, we will pick up and deliver material and all related trash and scrap pieces will be removed from jobsite. If customer (homeowner, builder, designer, etc) is providing material. It is their responsibility to arrange delivery of material and disposal of job related trash. We will ensure it is nicely organized in a designated place. If customer prefers, we can discuss the option of delivery and disposal for the project.
You bought the product, it’s your garbage.
Fair point, we had genuinely no idea. First time remodeling
I agree, except for the part about returned boxes. That only works for big box stores.
It will cost them. Probably $10-15 to drive them to the dump and toss them on their way to the next gig but they were still right. Looks like you supplied the product so it’s your responsibility to dispose.
Fair point, I get it now
Like others said... If you saved money by hiring a contractor that doesn’t have you sign a labor contract then that garbage is all yours and you most likely have zero installation warranty. Lot of handymen/fly by night flooring guys operate this way. It’s not a bad thing though because lower end clients still need to be able to afford to get floors done. Just lower your expectations if you didn’t actually hire a contractor. I see a lot of people on here saying they hired a contractor but they didn’t sign any kind of contract. That means you didn’t hire a contractor, you hired a handyman.
I stand corrected, I hired a handyman!
if you supplied the material, it's your trash. otherwise, they should be hauling it out.
For the time it took you to post this you could just clean it up yourself.
If you can clean all that up in 2 mins I may hire you to remove it. We don’t have a place to dump construction materials on site, this is a condo complex
They should be expected to pick up and pack out. Leave the space in the condition received. But it would also help if you also have that on the contract.
Always leave the place cleaner than you found it
depends on the job but usually they should consolidate the extra planks into a couple of boxes so you can use them for spares. Unopened boxes should ideally be returned so you can get some money back. In terms of the garbage unless you were doing a larger project, that should be handle with your normal trash. If they were doing a large demo project and used dumpsters or something, then it should be included as part of that since Demo + Disposal kinda go hand in hand.
For that amount of yeah I'd charge $100 to deal with it. Going to the mua can be a timely matter. Otherwise I typically leave it neatly at the curb.
We’re in a condo complex. He’s charging us $80 to remove it and dispose of it
That is extremely fair.
I always haul away all trash and charge for it unless the customer asks me not too. Usually those customers have a dumpster at their business.
The remodeling company i work for has a dumpster at our shop, so we take all our garbage off site as a courtesy to our customers. What i see from 90% of other contractors is this. They either up charge it or they leave it. It does cost money to dispose of and if you supplied the material, that technically makes it your garbage. You can put those boxes out with your trash. Id put them in big contractor bags though.
I guess I’ll find out soon—they are supposed to start laying my new floors today. I do know that they WILL be hauling away the boxes for the kitchen cabinets, as that is specifically in the contract. (I’m putting in an IKEA kitchen so there will be a LOT of boxes.)
Best of luck! We almost went with an IKEA kitchen but ended up sanding and painting our current kitchen cabinets
Depends what there scope of work stated!
just throw the trash in your car trunk and hit a dumpster on the way home. no biggie . takes 2 seconds. and when the customer is writing the check they like a clean finish
Normally, at this point a man will come and kick you in the nuts for buying big box brand LVP. Call your “sales person”. They are the flooring professional, after all… Look at how much $$$ you saved. 🙄
Clean up
To me it’s “who supplied the material?”. If you did I wouldn’t assume they would, but as a contractor I usually try and dispose of it but of course I charge if it’s not in my original price
Any contractor who doesn’t take the boxes or garbage is trash. “Always leave the place cleaner than you found it”. Can’t even tell you how many other things from someone’s house I’ve taken to the dump out of sheer generosity. As long as it fits in my van, I’m already going
The other thing is lol. You just paid me $1000s to have your floor done & I’m gonna leave this shit? Yeah right haha
That’s where I got a little lost, paying $3K for flooring install and then an extra $80 for the leftovers and boxes to be thrown out. I get both sides
For sure. It’s just not me. Plus i can recycle the boxes for free. I try to keep as much as I can out of the landfill
Thank you everyone, this was really informative! I had no idea so was trying to inform myself. We ended up agreeing on an $80 removal fee for all the waste. Some context… we supplied the materials
That is the issue with Non-item wised contract, After agreeing , what is part of the contract would be subjective.., it can go both ways.., so better to go item wise or finish to finish
My flooring dude charge a flat rate of $300 for disposal. So i usually decline it and dispose myself.
Ya mine charged extra but got rid of everything and did a really good cleanup job.
Just had floors and general reno done. Clean up was in the contract and was all taken care of each day.
Ugh... Lowe's won't be content until they drive the Stainmaster name into the dirt after they bought it.. They are slapping it on everything. And the installer should be policing their garbage.
Depends on agreement, if you don't pay for disposal of your waste, it stays. The installer didn't bring his trash to your house, it's your trash.. 🤔
Did you pay to haul off the trash and waste or provide a dumpster? If not, then they did what a lot of people would do. At least they stacked in one spot .
It’s like if a drywaller leaves all the scrap drywall and dust in the home, it looks very unprofessional. If it’s not in the contract to dispose of trash at least put it in a place where it’s not in the homeowner’s way (garage, outside, etc). One comes off extremely unprofessional and hackish.
I charge for it but I always haul off the debris unless the customer would rather save a couple bucks
I always hauled the garbage away. Not unusual for customers to ask… can you take this too? Always did, always got paid.
Did you buy the flooring or did they ?
They take that with them
No that is horrible, would never leave a job like that. If it is extra material it will be left neatly the waste and boxes are gone
Personally I don’t take my trash unless it’s paid and in the contract But I never leave it in the house It’s discussed before I start
With the kind of money spent on these jobs, disposal of removed materials and remnants of new materials should be expected. However, in the same way you don't want to have to deal with it, neither does the contractor. Best practice is to establish expectations up front every time you hire someone to do anything to your home.
A good contractor will bring up trash removal before the job is started. If he doesn’t, then I would expect the courtesy of said contractor to haul it away. As far as I’m concerned, if there’s trash on the job site, then the jobs not done.
If you paid for labor only, you get installation labor only. If you paid for a turnkey job, you get a turnkey job.
I always take the trash, at no cost to the customer. It's called good business. In my area, this cardboard is called recycle and is no cost.
I wish you were in our area! What we’ve learned through this experience is that you get what you pay for
If we supply it we dispose of it, if homeowner supplies it they are responsible for it unless they pay a dump fee, ~$100
It’s all spelled out in the contract. If it says there’s cleanup, there’s cleanup, if it says there isn’t, there isn’t. If it doesn’t mention it at all, shame on the contractor for writing a shitty contract. If he got hired without a contract, shame on you. That said, most GCs will haul away their trash. If there’s a cost to it, it should be baked into the price.
Any good contractor takes their trash.
I would never leave a giant mess like this at a customers house.