Dumpster Rental by Project: Size and Weight for 25 Common Jobs

What size dumpster for a deck, a roof or a garage? Go by what's coming out of the job instead of the size of the house. A deck, a roof, a garage and a patio can all come off the same home and need four different boxes, because the deck is bulky, the roof is heavy, the garage is loose junk and the patio is concrete. Below are the usual size, expected weight and most likely problem for 25 common jobs.

How we size a project: volume first, weight second

We size every project in the same two steps.

Volume comes first. Estimate the pile in pickup loads and match it to a box. A full-size bed holds about 2 to 2.5 cubic yards level and closer to 3 heaped, and the counts here use a heaped load: a 10-yard holds about 3, a 15 about 4 to 5, a 20 about 6, a 30 about 9 and a 40 about 12. The size calculator does this from room counts and square footage.

Weight comes second. Every rental includes an allowance, typically 1 to 2 tons on a 10 to 20-yard and 3 to 4 tons on a 30 or 40, with overage billed per ton at the rate in your quote. Light, bulky loads usually run out of space before they run out of weight. Dense debris such as shingles, drywall, plaster and tile reaches the allowance before the box looks full, so the quote carries a bigger allowance. Concrete, dirt, brick and rock go in a 10-yard heavy box filled to a marked line, whatever the volume.

The price depends on the size, your ZIP code and the allowance, and your quote shows it once you enter your ZIP code.

Outdoor projects: deck, fence, shed, hot tub, landscaping

Outdoor demolition is mostly bulky and light, with one heavy trap, which is concrete.

A wood deck comes apart into long boards that stack flat, so a 12 x 16 ft deck with railings usually fits a 10-yard, and a big two-level deck takes a 15 or 20. Treated lumber is fine. The footings are another matter, because every post set in a concrete pier is heavy debris and has to stay out of the main box. The deck removal dumpster guide has the board-count method and the footing math.

Fences work the same way. A 150 ft wood fence comes to roughly 6 to 9 cubic yards loose and about a ton, so a 10-yard usually takes it. It stays light until the concrete feet come out of the ground. Sheds take a 15 or 20, and the surprise is the roof, because shingles add real weight to a pile that was otherwise plywood and studs. Hot tubs are lighter than they look once drained and cut into sections, and a 10-yard takes one. Yard cleanups run 15 to 20 yards and are light for their volume, though composting counties want brush and leaves in their own box.

Interior projects: flooring, drywall, basement, attic, kitchen and bath

Interior work is where volume and weight part ways, so the box size and the allowance become two separate decisions.

Flooring depends on the material. Carpet and padding from a whole house fill 10 to 15 yards and weigh about a ton or less, and cutting the carpet into strips helps it pack down. Hardwood and laminate are similar. Tile is different. With the mortar bed attached it counts as heavy debris, so a bathroom's worth can ride in a remodel box while a whole-floor tear-out needs the 10-yard heavy box.

Drywall is the one that catches people out. At about 467 lb per cubic yard (the EPA figure), a 20-yard filled with drywall weighs around 4.7 tons against a typical 1 to 2 ton allowance. The size is right, but the allowance has to be matched in the quote. The drywall disposal guide has the square-footage-to-tons math.

A basement finish demo is usually a 20-yard, heavier if anything got wet, and an attic cleanout is a 10 or 15 with the insulation bagged. Kitchens usually land on a 15-yard, where stone counters are the weight to watch, and bathrooms fit a 10-yard, where the cast iron tub and the tile with its mortar bed are the heavy part. A whole-house gut, which is where many house flips start, is a 30-yard with swaps plus a separate heavy box for anything masonry. The house flip dumpsters guide sequences the boxes across a flip so the site is never buried.

Cleanouts: garage, estate, downsizing, moving, rental turnover

Cleanouts are mostly bulky, light debris mixed with items that carry fees or are banned. Choosing the size is easy, and the loading is what needs care.

A garage is 10 to 15 yards. Before anything goes in, pull out the paint cans, the gas can, the car battery, the tires and the old fridge, because those are the items most likely to get a garage load refused. The garage cleanout dumpster guide has a room-walk checklist. An estate cleanout is 20 to 30 yards, and the fees to count are per-item charges for mattresses and appliances. Downsizing and moving purges are 15 to 20 yards of boxes and furniture, so break the furniture down and flatten the boxes, since you're paying for the space. A rental turnover is usually 10 to 15 yards, and the thing to watch is what tenants leave behind: mattresses, TVs in states that ban them from landfills, and the occasional propane tank.

Heavy debris projects: concrete, dirt, tile

These three share one rule: a 10-yard box, one material, filled to the line the hauler marks, with nothing else on top. By EPA figures, broken concrete runs about 860 lb per cubic yard loose, dirt about 929 and rock about 999, so a level 10-yard of any of them would be 4 to 5 tons. The fill line, often around half way, keeps the box haulable.

To estimate concrete, multiply length x width x thickness in feet by 145 lb and divide by 2,000 to get tons. A 10 x 12 ft patio at 4 inches comes to about 5,800 lb, or 2.9 tons. Clean loads are often recycled, which is why a flat-rate heavy load can price close to a standard 10-yard. A single bag of trash on top can get the whole load reclassified as mixed debris at a per-ton rate.

The 25-job table: size, weight, gotcha

Sizes assume the standard allowance for a 7-day rental. Where the weight is over that allowance, the quote carries a bigger one and the price goes up to cover it.

Each project with its own service page is covered in more detail there. See all project pages for roofing, construction, home cleanout, kitchen and bath, yard cleanup, and concrete and dirt.

When one project needs two dumpsters

Four situations call for a second box, and knowing which one you're in tells you whether you need two boxes at once or one box and a swap.

The first is heavy and light debris in the same job, such as a patio demo that also takes out a fence, or a bathroom that produces a mortar bed plus a room of drywall. The masonry goes in a 10-yard heavy box and everything else in a standard box, and both are quoted together. Mixing them can cost more than two boxes, because a heavy load with trash on top gets reclassified at a per-ton rate.

The second is debris that comes in waves. A three-week renovation fills a box on demo day and then trickles, so a 20-yard with a swap when it fills often beats a 30-yard sitting half empty for 30 days. The swap is priced per haul in the quote.

The third is a spot that limits the box, where an 18 ft driveway can't take a 22 ft box and a 15-yard with one swap does the work of a 30. The fourth is more weight than one truck can carry. A two-layer tear-off on a large roof can reach 7 tons or more, which means two boxes or a swap whatever the volume.

When you're simply between sizes with ordinary debris, go up a size. The step up costs less than a second rental.

Frequently asked questions

What size dumpster for a home renovation?

A single room usually fits a 10 or 15-yard, and a kitchen and bath done together usually fit a 20. A whole-house gut needs a 30, with the allowance matched to the drywall and plaster coming out. Add a 10-yard heavy box if tile, concrete or block is part of the job.

Which projects are cheaper with a bigger dumpster?

Bulky projects such as cleanouts, deck and fence removals and brush usually come out cheaper in a bigger box. The step up in size costs less than a second haul and avoids one. Heavy projects gain nothing from it, because for them the weight allowance is the limit.

Can I use one dumpster for a remodel and a cleanout at the same time?

Yes, as long as neither part is heavy debris. Load the dense remodel material at the bottom and the cleanout junk on top, and describe both parts when you ask for a price so the allowance covers the drywall.

How do I know if my project is heavy?

Look for concrete, dirt, brick, block, rock, asphalt, plaster, tile with mortar and shingles. If any of those makes up a large share of the pile, the weight will reach the allowance before the box is full, and the quote needs to account for it.

What if my project is not in the table?

Describe it in the quote form: what's coming out, roughly how much, and where the box will sit. We match the size and the allowance before we send a price.

Tell us the project and we'll send one delivered price for the right size, with the allowance matched to what's coming out. Get my price.