How to Properly Dispose of Batteries

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Although we would like to think getting rid of our trash is as simple as bagging it up and putting it out on the curb, many materials require a different outlet in order to be properly disposed of. Properly disposing of hazardous waste products including paint, metal, and batteries is important in making sure these items don’t end up in our local landfills or water supplies. Here’s a quick guide for how you can go about disposing of batteries. For more information on this and other materials, call or text Elite Services Junk Removal at 978-317-5388.

Single-Use Batteries

Everyday batteries are sometimes conveniently disposable with your regular waste. The batteries you use for your TV’s remote control, your computer mouse, or your string lights can typically be tossed in your trash. With this said, every town is different and some have specific collection days for certain materials. To make sure your town doesn’t have any special policies regarding battery disposal, give them a call before you toss these items!

Rechargeable Batteries

You might have a rechargeable battery for your laptop that you have recently replaced. Rechargeable batteries are also used in many professional photography cameras and security systems. When one of these batteries needs replacing, should you do with the old one? Unlike many single-use batteries, rechargeable batteries typically cannot be disposed of with normal waste items. To properly dispose of these, call your local waste removal company and schedule a pickup or drop off!

Car Batteries

Car batteries can also be removed by a junk removal service or by a local scrap metal yard. If you have the entire junk car to get rid of, many scrap metal or auto salvage yards will not only remove the vehicle from your location but will also give you cash for it! Vehicle batteries can be reused if they are still in usable shape, or the materials can be repurposed to create new parts.

Junk Removal in Swampscott, MA & Beyond

Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition takes everything, from batteries to furniture and all things in between! Whether you are looking to get rid of some batteries or conducting a full demolition and need a cleanup crew, we’ve got your back. Give us a call or just text us today for more information at 978-317-5388.

Carpet Removal Tips

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After years of heavy traffic, carpet can get very worn down and will eventually need to be replaced. To save a little bit of money, a lot of homeowners opt to remove the old carpet themselves, which is a great DIY project but a lot of people do not know how to remove carpet properly. With these tips, you’ll have yours removed without damaging the underlying floor or the walls in your home!

Tools You Will Need to Remove Your Carpet

The first step to doing any project properly is to make sure you are prepared with the proper tools to do it. There are only a few essential tools you will need to pull up your own carpet. Before you begin tearing up your carpet, make sure you have the following on hand:

  • Protective gloves
  • Protective eyewear
  • Pliers
  • Crowbar
  • Utility knife
  • Floor scraper

Tips for Removing Your Carpet

The key to removing a carpet is to work efficiently and use your tools properly. Follow our tips to have your carpet removed in no time!

  • Wear all protective eyewear and gloves as soon as you begin the project to avoid dust or allergen irritation.
  • Make sure all furniture is cleared from the room to make the removal process easier and faster.
  • Remove and baseboards/moldings/heater covers that might be covering the edges of your carpet.
  • Start with the pulling up the edge of the carpet using your pliers.
  • Use your crowbar to pull up the tack strips that are holding down your carpet.
  • As you pull up the carpet, use your utility knife to cut it into small pieces to make it easier to carry out of the room.
  • If the carpet padding is held down with staples, use your pliers to pull them out; if it’s glued down, use a floor scraper to pull it up.

Disposing of Your Old Carpet

Once you’ve removed your carpet, the next step is to dispose of it. There is likely a lot of debris leftover, and more than your town or private trash route will take. Hiring a professional junk removal service gets the old carpet out of your home so that you can move onto installing your new floors. To ensure it is disposed of through the proper channels and to avoid frustration, call our team at Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition today at 978-317-5388.

old electronics

A Guide to Recycling Common Household Items

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household recyclablesThe average individual produces an average of 5 pounds of waste a day and most of that waste is in fact recyclable. If every person across the United States was more conscious of the proper ways to dispose of these items, garbage wouldn’t be as big as a problem as it currently is. Recycling not only saves space in our landfills but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Another positive of recycling – less resources are used recycling an item into something usable compared to the resources used to dispose of trash at a landfill.

Here are several common household items that can be recycled and how to go about recycling them correctly:

1. Batteries

The materials that batteries are made up of contribute to pollution when they aren’t disposed of through the proper channels, especially when they break down in landfills. Most libraries, battery or electronics stores, and even your local grocery store will take your household batteries and ensure they will be recycled properly.

2. Books

Stop throwing your books away! If you no longer want a stack of books in your house, bring them to your local library, donate them in a book drop box, or take them apart and recycle them through your towns recycling center.

3. Ink Cartridges

Like batteries, many ink cartridges are made up of toxic materials that shouldn’t be sitting at landfills. Most business supply stores (Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy) will have bins inside of their store to drop your old ink cartridges for recycling and oftentimes, they’ll give you a discount on your ink purchase when you recycle your old cartridges!

4. CFL Lightbulbs

As many homeowners are switching their compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs out for more efficient options, such as LED light bulbs, many CFL bulbs are not being disposed of correctly. CFL’s actually contain a small amount of mercury which means they can’t be thrown out in your trash or in your curbside recycling. Instead, they need to be recycled through a hazardous waste facility. Not sure where one is? You can drop your CFL bulbs off at Lowe’s or Home Depot and they’ll dispose of them for you!

5. Glasses & Eyewear

Have you recently updated your eyeglasses to a new pair? Instead of throwing yours away, donate them! There are so many individuals that cannot afford a pair of eyeglasses so they depend on people like you! Drop them off at a local eye doctor or glasses place – if they don’t take them, they’ll be able to point you in the right direction. If your glasses are broken to the point of no repair, treat them as you would any other plastic item and recycle them just like you would a plastic bottle.

6. Kitchen Appliances

Replacing your broken or outdated appliances with new ones? Recycling your old ones can be a drag, but it’s worth it. There are three ways you can go about this – sell them, donate them, or recycle them.

Don’t want to deal with the recycling process? Give Elite Junk Removal & Demolition a call today at 978-317-5388. We won’t just ensure your items are recycled through the proper channels, but will also remove any other junk you need gone!

The Dangers of Doing Your Own Demolition

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Spending time at home can inspire you to change things up. Maybe you want to make your kitchen more spacious. Maybe your bathroom is long overdue for an update. The possibilities are endless! Many big projects require you to take things apart before you put them back together, though. Home demolition projects should not be taken lightly. It’s all too easy to accidentally damage your home far more than you intended. There are some dangers in particular that you should watch out for if you are attempting your own demolition.

Damaging Your Home 

First and foremost, if you aren’t familiar with the process of demolition, you can easily destroy things unintentionally. Ensuring that you only remove the things you want is a delicate process. You can’t just go at a wall with a hammer and expect everything to go well. There’s a process to safely demolishing any part of your home. 

Collapsing Roofs

One particularly devastating demolition accident is the act of breaking a support wall. Some walls and beams in your home are much more important than others. If you damage a structural wall, you can easily cause your roof to collapse. That kind of repair can easily be ten times more expensive than hiring a demolition professional to demolish a wall safely. 

Unexpected Wires or Pipes

The older your home, the more likely it is that pipes and electrical wires have been run in unexpected places. Breaking open a wall to reveal a now-cracked and leaking pipe will put all your demolition plans on hold. If you run into wiring, instead, you could get electrocuted before you know what’s happening. Even if you don’t accidentally damage these structures, you will still have to deal with either patching up the wall or moving them. It’s easier to have a professional help you strategize where to demolish in the first place. 

Asbestos or Lead Exposure

Many homes built as late as the 1980s have asbestos and lead throughout the construction. If you’re not sure whether your home is at risk, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Lead and asbestos are both deeply toxic. Breathing in particles without safety gear can cause cancer and illness. Demo teams are fully prepared for this kind of situation, and they already have protective gear on hand. 

Injury 

The process of demolition can be hazardous to your safety. Knocking down walls and tearing out floors involves a lot of muscle power and some serious tools. It’s easy to seriously hurt yourself with falling materials or a poorly-swung sledgehammer. You can also pull muscles, get plaster dust in your eyes, or even electrocute yourself if you’re not careful. Experienced demo teams know how to stay safe and avoid getting hurt. They can take care of your whole demolition without anyone getting hurt. 

Don’t hesitate to hire a demo team to take care of the demolition side of your project for you. Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition knows how to take things apart efficiently, quickly, & safely, and then remove all debris from the site. Let us do the dirty work for you, and book your appointment today. 978-317-5388

Eliminating Clutter Before the Holidays

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It’s that time of the year again – The most wonderful time, that is! Winter hit and just like that, we find ourselves right in the middle of the holiday season. New Year’s is just around the corner. And yet, your home is still cluttered with a bunch of junk from years past! Check out these tips for cleaning out from the professionals at Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition, and get your home ready for the holiday season. 

Looking Back on Clutter

Soon, you’ll be packing away all the holiday décor in a garage filled with your kids’ old clothes and toys that no one in your family will ever use again. There are likely old appliances, computers, monitors, keyboards, & old TVs just sitting around taking up space. What about that old, worn furniture and all those boxes left behind by family members? And what about all that clutter past the garage, inside your home? Wouldn’t it be nice to clean up the clutter and start the New Year with an organized house and garage?

Making Room for the New Year

With all this going on, you don’t even have room for the gifts you’ll receive this holiday. Not to mention there’s a lot of stuff on the kids’ Christmas list to Santa Claus! If their rooms and your spare closets are already cluttered, where will you put all the new stuff? It is often best to hire a professional junk removal service to get rid of all the useless junk. Many junk removal services will also donate reusable items so they don’t go to waste! 

Decluttering Outside Your Home

Have a bunch of waste all over your yard? Droves of leaves leftover from the fall, fallen, dead trees from the last storm, old tires, file cabinets, broken lawnmowers… let’s face it, there’s a big mess going on back there, and it’s not helping your holiday spirit. Your local junk removal service can help with this too! That way, your holiday decor will look even better, and when spring kicks in next year, your yard is ready for you and yours to enjoy.

No Time to Separate the Clutter?

A trustworthy junk removal company would never just toss your stuff on a truck and haul it all off to your local landfill. Instead, these professionals go through it removing things that can be reused or recycled. These items are then donated to charity and nothing goes to waste.

Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition in Salem, MA

Choose not to start your new year with your home and yard cluttered with last years’ junk. Get rid of the old and make room for the new! If you are in the Salem, MA area, call Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition for all of your junk removal needs.

The Benefits of Hiring a Skilled Demolition Team

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Landscape renovation can add aesthetic & property value to your home, but the project often requires the demolition of old or existing structures to pave the way for a new design. Pools, sheds, garages, and other structures will often cause homeowners to reach out to the professionals. Each of these projects will require someone who has access to the right equipment and is well-versed with the process. Although you might be tempted to embark on this project yourself, there are various benefits to hiring a demolition professional.

Your Personal Safety

A demolition process in itself poses some specific risks, many of which inexperienced individuals cannot anticipate and therefore take preemptive measures to avoid injury. Skilled personnel, on the other hand, ensure that everything goes according to plan and that there are no unnecessary risks involved. Assured safety brings about that all-important peace of mind regarding any project. Hiring a licensed and insured team of professionals also means that as the property owner, you’re not liable for physical injury suffered by the contracted company workers in the course of the demolition. 

Regulation & Compliance Purposes

The complexity of construction and demolition regulations can also pose a real challenge. Professional demolition companies offer guidance along the way on taking the necessary steps towards a fully-compliant project, minimizing the risk of violating federal laws or local regulations. Violation of set laws may attract hefty fines and undue delays, resulting in unforeseen and unwanted expenses. 

Security for Neighboring Property

Demolition projects typically observe strict boundary points. For example, it takes skill to demolish a house and a pool squeezed between two buildings. An inexperienced crew may cause the neighboring structures unwanted damage, to the detriment of both the property owner and their neighbors. To avoid such an inconvenience, reputable demolition crews understand the process thoroughly and take the right measures to carry out the project seamlessly. 

 

Convenience

One of the primary motivators for employing a skilled crew is the aspect of convenience. A key advantage is that demolitions don’t take longer or cost more than expected once carried out by an experienced crew. A demolition professional who can also remove the debris from your property, like Elite Services Junk Removal and Demolition, allows you to kill two birds with one stone! Once the demolition stage is in the hands of a professional, the property owner can then focus on next steps of the project at hand as the demolition takes place.

Construction and demolition processes demand the proper equipment and skillset. While the idea of bringing down a structure by yourself appears an attractive DIY project, the wrong approach may result in injury, damage to neighboring property, or unnecessary cost. Worse still, the project may stall or fail altogether. A professional demolition team ensures that everything goes according to plan. If you are in need of a professional demolition team you can count on, contact Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition today! 

Should You Have a Yard Sale or Hire a Junk Removal Service?

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One of the biggest questions we are faced with when cleaning out a home is what to do with the items we no longer want or use. You might be hesitant to throw everything away, but is a yard sale worth your time? Here are some factors to consider when deciding between having a yard sale or using a junk removal service:

Yard Sale

If you have resellable items, time on your hands, and access to the proper resources, you might be able to make some money from having a yard sale. Keep in mind, however, that a yard sale is not quick money – It will take significant planning to successfully pull off. The first step is to decide which of your items are actually resellable. If something is broken, out of style, or just well used, it is less likely that someone will want to purchase it. Once you choose a date for your yard sale, you will need to advertise it so people will be aware of your sale and show up to shop. You might want to do this through signs, social media, or local listings.

On the day of your yard sale, you will be responsible for renting or assembling tables to display merchandise on. You will also have to think about how you would like to organize your items for sale – Grouping by section is one way to make it easier for buyers. You will also have to handle money and making change, and decide on if your prices are firm or if you are open to bargaining. Keep in mind that wherever your merchandise is set up also needs to be adjustable should it rain on yard sale day. After your yard sale, you will likely still have some leftover items that didn’t sell – Unless you want to keep them, you will have to determine how you will rid of these.

Junk Removal

If you are looking to quickly wrap up your cleaning out process, professional junk removal may be your answer. Instead of the labor intense process of a yard sale, scheduling junk removal can be as simple as a call or email request. This option also ensures that everything you are looking to get rid of will be taken, both useful and useless. Professional junk removal can be a good option if your items are too worn out to be re-purposed, but don’t feel bad about hauling them away if they are still usable – junk removal services often have donation programs available too! If you’re ready to take the next step in your clean out, contact Elite Services Junk Removal to talk about your junk removal process today.

full closet

Emotional & Physical Benefits of Decluttering Your Home

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Cutting down on clutter is more than just a minimalism trend, and it is not limited to spring cleaning! Living in a clutter-free home has benefits that will lead you to an improved daily lifestyle.

Cleanliness

Clutter accumulates dust, dirt, and other particles that are detrimental to the humans and pets living in your home. The allergens accumulated in untouched clutter can worsen allergies, asthma, and overall health. Even if you clean regularly, the more junk items in your home, the more there is to clean! Improve your homes cleanliness and cut down on your cleaning time by decluttering.

Finding Lost Items

You never know what useful items might be lying in a pile of your own junk! Decluttering can lead to finding old belongings you forgot you had, or items you have been searching your house for. You will be shocked at what has been sitting right in front of you unnoticed, and you will likely to be able to chop some items off your shopping list!

Helping Others

Part of decluttering is realizing how many things you no longer use or need. Many of the items you are ready to let go of will still have life left in them! Donate these items to ensure they don’t go to waste. You can donate clothing, appliances, and even furniture that you no longer have use for, and your junk removal service can help you with this.

Mood Boosting

There are several emotional benefits to decluttering your home. Becoming clutter-free is psychologically associated with anxiety relief, increased concentration, and better sleep. When your home is cluttered, you are often in a mentally scattered state without realizing it. Once you create order in your home, free up space, & know where everything is, you will find yourself thinking clearly with less stress. On an emotional level, cleaning out gives you a chance to let go of items that might remind you of items that remind you of negative parts of your past. Because it keeps you physically and mentally busy and has a clear end goal, cleaning out will also leave satisfied & with a sense of accomplishment.

Making Space

Eliminating clutter frees up space in your home. Instead of leaving it cluttered with junk, you could be celebrating a family dinner on your dining room table! Along with creating more space for daily living, this frees up space for new belongings once you have eliminated the old. For example, if you go through your closet and eliminate the items you never wear, you will find more space for new clothing that fits your current style! Decluttering will also free up mental space – You will find yourself stressing less about the mess in your home, and with time to focus on more important things.

If your decluttering adventure is in need of professional junk removal service, contact Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition today! 

How to Reduce Environmental Impact with Junk Removal Services

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Just because you have junk does not mean it should all go to waste. One of the easiest ways to combat the issue of climate change is to cut down on pollution. This can mean eliminating the number of recyclable materials that are sent to landfills. Whether it be recycling materials, products, or objects, it is your responsibility to make sure you or your junk removal service is practicing proper procedure. This includes recycling daily materials, as well as special services for removing furniture and electronics.

Your daily rubbish can contain many materials that should not be sent to waste in a landfill. For example, plastic bottles, cardboard, and paper can all be recycled instead of trashed. Keeping all of these items separated from your regular trash is a sure way to make sure they are not disposed of improperly. If you frequently burn your waste, it is still vitally important to separate and recycle plastics. When plastic, rubber, and other similar materials are burned, toxic fumes harmful to the environment and those breathing in the air are released.

Improper disposal of appliances and electronics can lead to these items sitting in landfills for hundreds of years. Along with taking decades to breakdown, these materials can put harmful chemicals such as lead or mercury into the surrounding soil or water supply, essentially poisoning those living in the area. This pollution also impacts the ecosystem for generations to come, leading to an endangered local wildlife population. Instead of turning them into pollution, contact a professional junk removal service to see what electronic disposal solutions are offered.

Did you know there are also specialized disposal services for furniture? This is not just limited to that old living room couch you’re desperate to be rid of. Offices and other commercial businesses can arrange for special pick up of old chairs, desks, and more unwanted office furniture. Instead of being trashed, some companies like Elite Services will even take care of the donation potential in your used furniture and electronics. With all of these services right at your fingertips, there is no reason to practice improper junk disposal that is both wasteful and harmful to the environment.

Tips for Maintaining a Clean Home

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Now that you’ve completed your spring cleaning, it’s easier to keep your house clean and organized on a day-to-day basis. Even on the busiest of days, these tips will help you keep your home clean and clutter-free.

Make the bed. The easiest task, making the bed is an easy way to immediately make a room look clean and put together. Making your bed will also set the tone for the rest of the day and will keep you in the organization mind set.

Clean as you go. Cleaning as you go is the best way to keep your space clean, even on the busiest of days. If you’re cooking, clean as you’re cooking or immediately after so dishes aren’t sitting in the sink. Have your family pick up their things off the floors and try to get out of the habit of leaving things on the counters.

Set aside 15 minutes a day to clean. Once you’re settled after work, set aside 15-minutes and clean as much as you can. Whether it’s one room in your home or multiple, racing against the clock will help you clean as much as possible and once you’re done you can enjoy your family!

Have a spot for items you don’t use. Are you constantly coming across items you don’t use anymore when you’re cleaning, but never end up getting rid of them? To help avoid this vicious cycle, make a spot for these items so you can put them aside and get rid of the box quarterly. Next time spring cleaning rolls around, you’ll be less overwhelmed about all of the junk in your home!

To schedule your junk removal service with Elite Services, contact our team today at (978) 317-5388.