[Benandbill]

I you'd have told me I'd be doing this a year ago I'd have thought you were going mad.  There was one overflowing with lovely fresh timber in the financial district of Cardiff City Centre and it drove me bonkers to have to walk past it 

What is the best thing you have found / made use of  / seen and not been able to have on a skip?

[8doubles]

Sounds like you need to join Skipaholics Anonymous .

My best find was an expensive electric jigsaw which needed a minor fix to keep the blade secure.
Still going strong after 8 years.

[Matthew Gayles]

My father in law fished a flymo hovermower out of a skip for us, it had been thrown away because it was missing the pins on its foldable handle. quick fix and away it went - squeels a bit when you use it but we have had it for three years now and it works fine! i hate waste!

[michellela]

Nothing wrong with a little skip diving.  Was wondering why you didn't nab the timber...?

[arugula]

.. perhaps Benandbill couldn't find the person whose permission they needed to raid the skip.

[twissle]

I found a cast iron table and two chair's with lovely old tile's in the middle on a bonfire in my husband's building yard, I brought it home and painted it all and cleaned the tile's it look's like new now

[Yorkie]

Nothing wrong with a little skip diving.  Was wondering why you didn't nab the timber...?

As Argyllie alluded to, you must obtain the permission of the person whose house it is / who owns the skip or it is theft and you can be prosecuted.

[Benandbill]

Is that right?  I'd have thought by the very fact it was in a skip it was being disposed of, therefore rubbish and unwanted by the person who's put it there?

[Yorkie]

Technically, ownership transfers to the skip company at the point the item is placed in the skip, although permission from the person who placed it there could also be sought.

It is not abandoned property and thus is capable of being stolen.

[michellela]

If I saw something in a skip that I could use and I could find the person that put it there or the person that was collecting it then I'd certainly ask if it was okay to take it.  If I couldn't find anyone I'd probably still take it and walk away real quick.

[Yorkie]

If I saw something in a skip that I could use and I could find the person that put it there or the person that was collecting it then I'd certainly ask if it was okay to take it.  If I couldn't find anyone I'd probably still take it and walk away real quick.

If you choose to break the law then that is up to you.

We do not condone it on these forums.

[michellela]

If you choose to break the law then that is up to you.

We do not condone it on these forums.

It was hypothetical rather than an attempt at a life of crime, but point taken.

Yorkie wasn't talking about starting a life of crime Michellela, but on these forums we have to be careful not to be seen encouraging people to break the law.  What people do individually is of course up to them.

We have found some interesting things in skips and have asked the people who put the stuff in them.  Usually they are only too pleased that someone has made more room in the skip for more of their rubbish! 

[compostqueen]

My husband once skip dove to get me some cardboard to use as weed cover on my plot. He was actually at work at the time and wearing a suit.

He also got me, from a completely different skip  , a small trolley which I believe is used for oxygen bottles at home. It's small, light and collapsible and is marvellous for carrying bags of compost etc from my car to my plot which is a right route march.  It folds up by just a mere flick of the wrist and I can't imagine life without out. Brilliant 

[Nige2Plots]

I must admit since I have had an Allotment, Skips do hold a spell over me.
As for removing items from them..........When our street was flooded and all our wordly goods were in Skips on the drive, as were most of the street, you could not move for people skip diving. These people just appeared and helped themselves, much to the annoyance of the residents. In the end Police patrols were sent in to stop this and to stop the looting of our empty homes. Some people have no shame in cases like this!

[Benandbill]

I would never dream of taking advantage of a situation like the one you've mentioned there Nige 2 Plots, that's tantamount to burglary or at the very least looting in IMHO.