Skips come in a broad variety of sizes and it goes without saying that the larger the skip is that you hire, the more it will cost you. With this in mind, it’s essential to choose the right one for the job at hand. There are also other factors to consider such as what you intend to put in it.
If you have a monumental sized pile of dirt and rubble, you can’t put it in a very large skip because the truck that comes to collect it won’t be able to lift it off the ground. So, let’s take a look at the various sizes available on the market today to make a better-informed choice regarding which one you should hire.
Also make sure that when you book your skip, you confirm whether or not the price includes VAT. If you don’t, you could be in for a nasty surprise when it comes to paying the bill. A 20% extra kind of surprise!
How do you measure the capacity of a skip? Let’s take a look before we drill down to the sizes. Despite the UK having used the metric system for decades, companies measure skip capacity by the cubic yard rather than the cubic metre. This is fine if you’re of an older generation who measured things in yards and inches. It was the standard way back then. There were 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard and 1,760 yards in a mile – Simple, right?
The metric system is far simpler and more straightforward. We break everything down into units of 10.
For example, 10 millimetres in 1 centimetre, 100 centimetres in a metre, 1000 metres in a kilometre… and so on. Whether you like your measurements to be old school or not, I think that most of us can agree that the metric system is far more convenient. Cubic yards are the measuring metric for skips so it doesn’t matter. However, if you were born during or later than the 1970s, this may pose a problem when trying to figure out what size of skip to hire. If this is you, don’t worry, we’re here to explain.
The 2-yard skip – this is around 1.53 cubic metres and works out the same as around 20 bin liners of waste. The 2-yard skip (aka mini-skip) is the cheapest one you can hire. It’s perfect for soil, concrete clay, heavy metals and the like. If your rubbish is dense and heavy and works out to be less than 20 bin bags worth, this is the skip for you. Small home and garden projects are ideal for this size of skip. e.g. digging up and replacing an old concrete path or small patio.
The 4-yard skip – You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that a 4-yard skip can hold twice as much as a 2-yard skip. Consequently, the 4-yard skip can hold about 3.06 cubic metres of waste, which is the equivalent of about 40 bin bags of rubbish. Similar to the 2-yard skip you can fill this with heavy items or a mixture of heavy and bulky waste if you prefer. Slightly larger home projects are more suitable for this size of skip.
The 6-yard skip – By applying some basic mathematics, you may have already figured out that a 6-yard skip can cope with around 60 bin liners of waste or about 5 cubic metres of general rubbish. This is one of the most popular sizes of skip to hire and they are very common for home and garden projects such as renovating a house of refitting a kitchen. They’re easily able to cope with old plaster, soil, hardcore, roofing slates, old discarded flattened kitchen units, chipboard, plumbing pipes and so on. Please bear in mind this is the maximum size you can book if you decide to fill the skip with heavy waste.
The 8-yard skip – This can, of course, hold about 80 bin liners of waste and is nearly as popular as the 6-yard skip. Bear in mind that if you fill it with heavy waste, the truck won’t be able to lift it.
The 10-yard skip – This can hold about 8.85 cubic metres of rubbish although it’s not suitable for heavy waste (or only a very small amount). 10 yards is the equivalent of 100 bin liners. Items that aren’t too heavy like old fence panels, broken, flattened furniture, general household items like old computers or broken toys etc. are ideal for this size of skip. They’re also good for garden furniture, broken garden tools, branches or general garage junk.
The 12-yard skip – These hold 120 bin bags and have a metric capacity of 9.2 cubic metres. Perfect for things like old furniture, sofas, wardrobes, some garden waste etc. People who live in a reasonably large property and are having a big clear out or are perhaps moving home and need to throw many old items away.
The 14-yard skip – These hold about 10 cubic metres (140 bin liners) and are suitable for the same type of items as the 12-yard skip, but obviously slightly bigger.
The 16-yard skip – The 16-yard skip is the biggest traditional size/shape skip you can hire before moving up to RoRo’s (roll-on/off bins). It holds 12.23 cubic metres which works out at 160 bin liners full of waste. You don’t often see these on building sites unless the builders are clearing large bulky items. Shops and factories often use them and they’re also suitable for very large house clearances.
The 20 cubic yard ro-ro – These can hold 15.3 cubic metres or 200 bin liners of junk and waste and are perfect for medium-sized renovations. You CAN fill them with hardcore, soil, clay, roof tiling,/slates, ceramic tiles and general mixed construction waste. This is because a much larger truck is used to transport them which uses a “hook lift” to haul it onto the HGV when the bin is full.
They must be on private land. In other words, you can’t have one outside your house. If you can imagine what 7 pick-up trucks would look like when filled up, it’ll give you an idea of the capacity of this particular skip ro-ro bin can cope with.
The 35 cubic yard ro-ro – This is the next size up from the 20-yard ro-ro, especially in large factories or on building sites. They hold 26.75 cubic metres and have a capacity equivalent to 11 pick-up trucks filled with waste.
The 40 cubic yard ro-ro – They don’t come much bigger than 40 yards! You can normally see these bins on larger building sites and large factories that produce constant waste streams (e.g. offcut debris). You can also speed up recycling by sorting waste into different sections within the bin.
Whichever skip size you choose, we hope the information above has now given you a better idea of the variety of skips available on the market and has helped you decide what is the best size of skip hire for you.