Baltimore, Maryland is no stranger to hurricanes and tropical storms. Since 1950, there have been one hundred and eighteen hurricanes, tropical storms, or tropical depressions that have affected the state of Maryland.
With these come yard cleanups with enough debris to equate to a housecleaning or spring cleaning. Storm debris is more than a normal yard cleanup. That’s thousands of sticks that may not have come from your trees, and as for trees, your trees can be felled by a storm and require cutting and disposal. In Baltimore County, simply disposing of backyard cleanup debris is a challenge.
Trash pickup will not pick up poison ivy, poison oak, sumac, hogweed, wood, food scraps, garden hoses, and the last on that list “et cetera” which means shingles ripped off your roof or a neighbor’s roof gutters, or garbage can lids.
They collect grass, leaves, vines, twigs, bush clippings, and branches or branches. What they pick up isn’t just tossed into a garbage truck on the way to the next stop. Here are the rules for yard waste collection in Baltimore County:
Grass and leaves should be placed in paper or plastic bags.
Branches and branches may be no more than three inches in diameter and no more than three feet long and tied in bundles.
Bags and bundles may not weigh more than thirty pounds.
You may not place yard waste in dumpsters or on the street.
Another consideration, as homeowners in other states have discovered, is how long it takes trash removal services to remove storm debris. In Florida and Texas, it took months after hurricanes in 2017 to remove storm debris from people’s homes. Their lawns were killed where the trash was, and in some cases, wildlife such as possums and rats took up residence in the waste.
To avoid complications if you experience a storm in the coming months or years in Baltimore, you should rent a dumpster and clean up your own yard waste. Let’s take a look at how you can take charge of disposing of storm debris.
First, contact us for an affordable dumpster rental. We can provide you with the sizes and numbers you want. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff can tell you exactly what you need and in what sizes for a storm cleanup. After securing the waste container you need, it’s time to devise a plan of attack.
Safety should always come first with a storm cleanup. Survey the scene to make sure there are no downed power lines. Even if the power goes out while you’re cleaning, you have no way of knowing when the power will be restored, and a downed power line can cause serious bodily injury or death.
After making sure there are no downed power lines near your yard, put on a pair of thick work gloves. Loose shingles may have invisible nails or staples that can cause deep cuts to your hands. Likewise, the edges can be sharp and cut like any broken pieces of glass or plastic you might find. You may want to bag shingles that have multiple nails or staples to avoid losing them in your yard or getting cut on them, this also applies to broken glass. Look under and around larger debris for roofing materials, but don’t climb under large branches that are barely attached to a tree or leaning against something, as they could fall on you and cause serious injury.
Then put on safety glasses or goggles before cutting down fallen trees or large branches with a chainsaw. Be sure to cut the pieces small enough that you can take them to the dumpster without hurting yourself. Finally, use rakes and blowers to clear your yard of small storm debris and place it in the dumpster you rented.
With a little planning and common sense, you can clean up your yard so it looks like there never was a storm. Contact us for rates and availability for our dumpster rentals, we look forward to serving you!
