As many of you know, roll away dumpsters have gotten very expensive. We rented a 20 yarder for $400 dollars in Maryland! Anyway, they don't like them over filled or over weight, and ours already is just about full of plaster, old windows and doors, scrap wood, insulation and the like. Yet someone likes to put trash and yard-waste in there at night!
What are the legal ramifications here. Obviously I can't just throw all of their stuff in the middle of the street, but it isn't fair to have PAY extra to be the neighborhood local dump for a few weeks.
Try tarping it at night. It won't stop someone who is very determined but it may stop others. It will keep the rain out and help prevent the overweight costs. Wet plaster is very heavy.
a dumpster is like a swimming pool on a hot day, it's hard to resist for some. our renovation project was so big [and loud and annoying to the neighbors] in the late 1980's that we invited all our neighbors to top off our 40 yard dumpsters before pickup so we got more our flat rate money's worth with some good will. you'll make some great neighbors. you may find your neighborhood's full of ebay-able antiques in the attics as well as the basement clutter.
I rented a dumpster for a flat rate when I decided I just had too much crap laying around. After several days of throwing out stuff in dribs and drabs, I decided even after I'd dumped all the stuff I needed to get rid of, there was still going to be plenty of room left for others. I visited my neighbors and offered them the use of it. Made brownie points and scored some nice wooden coat hangers out of the deal.
A common construction site complaint. First you do some rooting. If they throw household trash in it there is bound to be some junk mail with their address on it. Look up their phone number, call them, explain the situation, and ask them to come take their trash back. Or... neatly pile the items at the foot of their driveway. Not on their property! Don't ask me how I know this. Or... Make a sign that says: "John Doe! Stop using my dumpster as your trash can" Or (better than all), make a big sign asking people not to use the dumpster and why. The fact is that most civilians are totally ignorant to what it costs to rent a dumpster. They think it's free and can't imagine why anyone would mind. You need to educate the dumb bastards.
Neighbor of mine had that problem. He waited until someone dumped a big bunch of stuff in, then told the man to clean it all back out or he'd call the police and report him for illegal dumping. No problem after that.
When we start a project, I tell the owners we'll be needing two dumpsters -- one for their project and the other for their neighbours. About fifty percent of the time, it's true. I've seen people hauling stuff from blocks away to get to one of my dumpsters -- in the middle of the day.
A top or a tarp will slow them down ... but those are a pain to deal with ...
We've got all the requisite signs warning people they'll be prosecuted, and yes, we can prosecute for trespass and yes, we can sue ... but what on earth would be the point?
It's just part of the cost of doing business. Or, in your case, part of the cost of your project.
Avoid the problem completely. Break stuff down and put it into the back of your car. Next time you pass an apartment complex or real dump, use their dumpster. Repeat as many times as necessary.
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The legalities vary by jurisdiction and are usually established by state/local law. Around here, if you bring trash to my property and leave it, it's called illegal dumping; it doesn't matter if you scatter it in my yard or put it in my dumpster, it's still illegal.
I have confronted a number of people and reminded them of the law. I have also rooted through trash bags to find mail and other identification and rang a few doorbells. People only do this because they think that they can get away with it. Once they learn that they can't, it usually stops.
The *point* is - he needs 20 cu yards, it's damned exensive, and he's losing pieces of that to some sneak in who comes in the middle of the night.
Truly! You're telling him to set himself back an extra $400 bucks to service his neighbors?
If folks were really are all so la-de-da and 'move on, it's no big deal' about it, why is the dumping happening late at night?
This is tresspass and illegal dumping. And whoever's doing it knows it.
Methinks you're rationalizing your own past behavior.... did I guess right?
Too much work in your suggestions. Let the law work for you, while you watch and enjoy. If you have their address from discarded mail, you call the police. Unless they're too busy dreaming of Krispy Kreme donuts, the police will pay the offenders a visit and explain civil traspass to them. If it continues, they will arrest them.
No. I am telling him that there always has and always will be a problem with people using someone else's bin. I'm a contractor and it happens with about fifty percent of my bins. Other contractors tell me the same thing. We have all concluded that it is not worth the effort in trying to police them.
If the effect is that it adds $400 to the cost of his project, that is just part of the construction costs.
You may not like it, and I may not like it but that is how llife is.
Methinks your response is worthy of grade five. Did I guess right?
Stop whining and get on with life. Your not being very neigborly. If you find out who is doing it - ask them if they need to dump some more. If they do you could ask them to split the cost of the next dumpster.
How nice for you. You can pass on the cost of your advice.
Do you know which of the 50% is because the homeowner gave permission after being asked? And why are you advising that a homeowner can't be in the *other*
50%??
Hopefully you itemize this extra bin for the bums in your estimate and contract. (You don't - did I guess right?)
oR A real one. I think for a couple hundred dollars you can buy a camera and a dvr card for your pc. Harbor Freight iirc has the DVR card, that records on your hard drive whatever is on the camera, and it's 130 dollars or so, recommended to me by another shopper at a hamfest.
Or spend a few hours in your car with a cell phone and a camera.
I'm dubious that many will leave their mail in bags. I think for most it will be used building materials etc. and they'll put their trash out in front of their own homes.
When you see one, you can call the police before you get out of the car, or you can at least tell the guy that, if you think someone will get physcial with you. I would think the odds of that are slim, especially if you use some tact.
You don't need to photograph his plate if you can remember it, and a description of the truck.
When I lived in NY, I was driving down 2nd avenue I think it was in the 20's, on the west side of the street. And there was a big dumpster, 6 feet high by 23 or more feet long, full width, no cover of course, and it was 5 feet full of books. Almost all were hardback. There were no large book stores nearby but there must have been a warehouse I didn't know of. There was too many for a private library, or at least one that wasn't famous. And no big private library would have been junked like this. It would have been sold. These must have been left-overs of some sort. And there may have been 15 or 25 thousand when I first got there.
I stopped, and there were about 5 or 8 people inside going through the books. So I got in. Most of them were good books, history, poli sci art, various religions, language, plus other good topics I'm not so interested in. (Well I'm not so interested in art, but I remember that there were books about art.) There were three kinds of people, the ones inside, the ones who stayed outside but pointed to books they were interested in (and someone inside would give them the book) and those who just watched.
I got about 25 books the first day, all of them of real interest to me. I went back the next day, and the scene was the same except the depth of the books was 4 feet and in one part only 3 1/2. I'm assuming that more books were added as long as the dumpster was there, so that means even more than a foot of books had been removed. Although one of the things that makes NYC great is that they might just leave the dumpster there, even if they had to pay a bit extra, as long as people were getting books.
Anyhow, I went back again maybe 3 or 4 days after the first day and I think the level was down to two feet. I got a few books that time too, but a smaller percentage was the kind that interested me, and also, I felt I had my fair share. I don't know how long the dumpster was there before I saw it or after the last time. It was a beautiful spring or summer week and there was barely any or no rain for those days or a few before and after. None showed water damage. One book that I may have gotten there was over 100 years old, but missing iirc the back cover. But the others were only 20 to 50 years old.
Come to think of it, in the four days spanned by the days I was there, I found nothing in there that wasn't books, and I saw no trash outside that might have been put in and then removed by us scavengers.
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