We recently did a large residential renovation in which we had to remove nearly every wall on the second floor and a good deal of the roof. Getting this volume of rubbish into the waste bin threatened to take many days and many dollars, to say nothing of our depleting workers’ energy and morale. So we decided to make a chute to convey the trash to the bin. We bought a length of concrete form tube 30 in. in diameter and 12 ft. long, and cut it in half lengthwise. As shown in the drawing, we overlapped the pieces slightly at the butt joint and then spliced the halves together with 20-ft. 2x4s screwed to the edges of the split forms.
We drilled holes in the top end of the chute for a length of polypropylene rope, which we tied around the nearby chimney. Then we mounted the bottom of the chute to a 2×8 that stretched across the sides of the bin. This arrangement allowed us to place the mouth of the chute near any work area on the second floor or roof. Because we only had to handle the trash once, we were able to keep wood and plaster dust to a minimum. When the rains came, we covered the chute with plastic and kept on using it.
Wesley Mulvin and , None
