Opening up a chimney breast or taking out an old fireplace produces an astonishing quantity of debris from a very small hole. Brick, plaster, soot, mortar and usually a cast iron surround that two people can barely lift. Van hire for rubble is the alternative to a skip for a job this size, and for a single room it is frequently the better answer. If you are considering van hire in Warrington for a job like this, weight is the thing to think about before anything else.
Rubble Is Heavier Than Any Other Household Load
Broken brick and mortar is the densest material most people ever put in a van. A volume that looks trivial in the corner of a load space can weigh several hundred kilograms, and it is entirely possible to fill a van far beyond what it should be carrying while the load area still looks half empty. Everything we run sits at three and a half tonnes gross vehicle weight or under, and that figure includes the vehicle itself, so the usable payload is a fraction of the total. The rule with rubble is to load by weight rather than by eye, and to stop well before the space runs out.
Bagging Up Rather Than Loading Loose
Rubble should go into strong bags rather than being shovelled loose onto a deck. Bags let you control the weight in manageable units, they keep dust down, and they make unloading at the tip a matter of lifting rather than shovelling. Fill them no more than half full, because a full builders bag of brick is beyond what two people should be lifting. Double bag anything with sharp edges. Loose rubble tipped straight in shifts constantly in transit, works its way into every seam of the load floor and has to be shovelled out at the other end, which turns a half hour job into an afternoon.
Why an Open Bed Works Best
Debris is dirty, dusty and abrasive, and an enclosed load space full of soot and plaster dust is unpleasant to work in and difficult to clean. The flatbed dropside van suits this work because you can load over a low side rather than lifting bags up and through back doors, unload the same way, and brush the deck clean afterwards. Fireplace surrounds, hearths and the cast iron insert itself are also far easier to slide onto an open deck than to manoeuvre into a box.
Handling a Cast Iron Surround and Hearth
The fireplace itself is the heavy single item in this job. A cast iron insert or a stone hearth slab is dense, brittle and has nothing to hold. Hearths in particular must be carried on edge by two people, never flat, because a slab picked up in the middle will crack under its own weight. If the surround is coming out in one piece and might be worth something, protect it rather than throwing it in with the rubble, since reclaimed fireplaces have real value and a chipped edge takes most of it away. Keep it separate on the deck and strap it upright.
Knowing the Tip Rules Before You Set Off
This is the step people skip and regret. Household waste sites treat construction waste differently from household waste, frequently limit how much they will accept, and often have specific arrangements for vans. Some require booking or a permit. Ring ahead and find out what your site expects, how much rubble they will take and whether they accept it from a van at all. Customers working on properties around Stretton van hire bookings and the surrounding villages sometimes find the nearest site is not the one that takes what they are carrying.
Booking the Van and Planning the Trips
Our depot on Tilley Street at the main entrance to Cockhedge Shopping Centre beside Asda is open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 4pm and closed on Sunday. Bring your photocard licence and a DVLA check code generated beforehand, there is no deposit on most of our vehicles, and your own car can stay in the free secure parking on site. Plan for more than one trip rather than one heavy one, because two safe loads always beat one that should not be on the road. If you want to know more about how we work, our about us page covers it.
Dust, Soot and Protecting the Rest of the House
Opening up a chimney releases decades of soot, and soot travels. It is fine, black, greasy and it will find its way into rooms you have not been working in if the route out is not sealed. Close the door to the room and seal the gap at the bottom, cover anything that is staying in there, and take the debris out in bags rather than carrying open buckets through a hallway. Lay boards or sheeting along the whole route from the fireplace to the front door, because rubble bags leak dust from the seams however carefully they are tied. It is also worth thinking about where the bags will be stacked while you fill them, since a pile of rubble bags on a carpet is heavy enough to leave permanent marks even through a dust sheet.
Tell us roughly how much is coming out and we will advise on the vehicle and on how many runs it realistically takes. Call the depot on 01925 396 222 before you start knocking anything about.
