Good Tools to Have For DIY Junk Removal

Proper tools, dollies, straps, and padding can make junk removal much easier, safer, and faster for a DIY Junk Removal project. Some of the items below can be acquired fairly easily and inexpensively. Many of the items can be rented from your local UHAUL dealership (we do recommend to call the location to check availability before you go there). Do keep in mind that when you rent a dumpster from Junk Doctors the dumpster comes fully stocked with a hand kart, appliance dolly, lifting straps, moving blankets, door padding, and other tools to assist you with your junk removal project. Obviously, the following tools are not required and the ones that are applicable to your job will simply depend on what you are doing. If you have any questions feel free to call us at 919-466-9322. We would be happy to assist you.

Items list that are essential for DIY Junk Removal:

• Utility Kart: These are available from Northern Tool and cost around $100 if you would like to buy a decent one. They are very handy to have around the house. If you don’t see yourself using one very often then visit https://www.uhaul.com/RentalItems/. UHAUL rents them for around $10.
• Appliance Dolly: Since a good one costs $200 and up we do recommend you rent this item. If you are moving refrigerators, ranges, washer machines, or other appliances these things can make life easy. They come with a strap in order to secure the appliance to the dolly and also feature  sliding caster supports which allow you to easily move the appliance around the home as well as up and down stairs.
• Forearm Forklift: We put this in bold print for a reason. These things are awesome. Amazon.com sells them for around $12. However, we do recommend that you also buy the extension straps. Tax and all they will cost about $20. View the following video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgnfkCW1m7U. Point of caution: These do not work on stairs! If you would like strap that does work on stairs purchase the Shoulder Dolly. Our teams use the shoulder dollies all the time and they come as a standard item when you rent a dumpster from us. However they are closer to $50 to purchase and the set up takes a bit longer than the Forearm Forklift.
• Moving blankets or something similar: A must to slide items easily throughout your home and protect your property. Obviously, you can also use fairly thick blankets.

Items that you may need but aren’t essential:

• Basic tool set: Make sure that you have a tool set that has a set of Hex Key wrenches. This is standard tool to disassemble furniture. Also will need a set of screw drivers at bare minimum.
• Ratchet Straps: These are used to secure your load on a pickup truck. They are much more effective than rope. View the following youtube video on how to use them:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ6t42ADGfM Straps can be bought at Lowes, Home Depot, Wal Mart, Northern Tool, Sears, and other common tool stores. For light duty applications such as these Wal-Mart has a good selection of straps at good prices. Expect to spend around $25 for a set of 4. You will need a set of 4 at minimum. 
• Tarp: Again, this is needed to secure your load. You will also likely want some skinny rope to secure the tarp to the truck bed. Both can be bought at Lowes, Home Depot, or Northern. Avoid Wal-Mart tarps. They tend to not hold up very well.
• Four-wheel dollies: These are probably not a must on most jobs however they can come in handy for moving items around.
• Orange flag: Can be purchased for Lowes. You will only need this if you have items that are long and stick out the back of your pickup.
• Painters Tape: Easy to use in order to secure doors shut. Doors and drawers randomly opening have caused a lot of damaged walls and can even cause you to drop the item as it will shift the balance of the item.

By Renting a Dumpster from Junk Doctors you get all of the listed items above plus for your DIY Junk Removal:

• Shoulder Straps: Allows you to use your legs to lift the items. Works better than the Forearm Forklift.
• Moving blankets: The same blankets Junk Doctors uses
• Door jamb pads: Protect your doors with spring door jamb pads.
• Front door pad: Front doors can be expensive to prepare. This pad will keep you from damaging it.

Again, not all of the listed items will be needed. It is easy to go on a buying frenzy and purchase all of those items plus some if you are not careful. Remember, you are trying to do this cost-effectively. Buying items that you will only use once are probably not the way to go. Feel free to give us a call at 919-466-9322 if you would like to let us know what you are doing and see what tools we recommend for your project.