Dumpsters for remodeling...any advice welcome!

[Lars39]

We have an 1800 sq ft house that we are going to take down to studs, except for the ceilings. The hardwood and sub floor is being taken up also.
Does anyone know what size dumpster would be best for this size demolition? I don't want to be calling the dumpster people to empty it every few days if possible, unless that's the norm.

I haven't called any dumpster companies yet; I thought I'd see what my handy fellow DUers had to share first.

[LakeArenal]

1. That's a lot of dump.

We needed dumpsters quite a bit in our careers

Mr Lake says at least 20 yard. Probably a 30 yard.

It amazes us how dumpster delivery guys can get those dumpsters into the smallest places.

Very very talented professionals.

Funny? Dumpster story.

On ground level was a Papa Johns. Our view, it was a disgusting place. At that time, they had their dough sent to them. Uncovered in plastic bread crates that they would set on the sidewalk during deliver. Gross.

I guess one time they got too much and three hundred pounds or so into the dumpster.

By the next morning when we got to work, the dough had “risen” and was emerging like science fiction. The pressure was so great that the steel sides on a ten yard dumpster split.

Ole Papa had to pay to cut it out of it and buy us a new dumpster. Hahaha. Karma…..

[Lars39]

3. Oh, my!

The visual of all that dough rising...
Thanks, LakeArenal!

[brush]

5. What a visual. Shoulda called Ghostbusters.

Remember that Michelin man type villian from the movie?

[Javaman]

2. the thing with dumpster, if you don't already know, is the haul away fee is the big cut

the daily is usually a dollar a day or something like that.

that said, if you plan on taking out the carpets, and the the walls down to the studs, get yourself the largest one you can afford and fit in your driveway.

you will fill it up quick, but if you get a large one, it's only one haul away fee, if you get too small of one, you will be paying two haul away fees.

so go big. no crime in leaving extra room.

you will kick yourself if you try to cheap it and go small.

my two cents.

[Lars39]

4. That's the route I was leaning towards.

Flooring (with nails) and drywall are going to be all jumbled, too. It's not like everything gets placed in there like a Tetris game. lol
I'm guessing the haul fee is by the pound?

[LakeArenal]

6. No, the removal is usually set price.

You might pay more because it is construction debris which is harder to separate or recycle.

[Lars39]

9. Ah, ok. Thanks!

[Javaman]

21. That's true, it's been a number of years since I had to rent one.

Things have changed a bit since then

[Hoyt]

7. Go big, they fill up fast. Also, if you have an inclined driveway, it might have to go in street.

Good luck.

[Lars39]

8. Thanks, Hoyt!

Our driveway is a little steep.

[Hoyt]

10. When I moved after 25 years, we got one. Had to go in street and the neighbors were ticked.

But we were leaving and I didn't like most of them from when the neighborhood protested a nice nursing home proposed for our area. The neighborhood was very white wing.

I tried to tell them that one day we were going to be old and a neighborhood nursing home would be nice. But they didn't give a darn because they felt it would hurt their property values. So, kind of enjoyed blocking most of the road.

Good luck with what sounds like a huge project.

[Lars39]

11. Protesting a nursing home! Good grief.

Sounds like the original NIMBYs.
Thanks for the info and encouragement.

[in2herbs]

12. I recommend a 40 yd dumpster. Especially if you're going to include toilets, sinks,

long boards, etc. You will also likely be throwing away unwanted things, mattresses, magazines, etc., at the same time. During my remodel I filled two 40 yd dumpsters and that didn't include what I donated or gave away.

You will be surprised at how much you will throw away.

Talk with the company about a 30-day rental plan but be aware that the cost quoted for this will go up if you need it taken away and dumped during the 30-days.

[Lars39]

13. Well, the house is empty.

We're saving the kitchen cabinets and appliances. The kitchen sink, bathtub, and bathroom vanities are going to the Habitat Restore.
We really like our toilets, so we're keeping them.
We do have previous owner's junk in the attic, but we can haul all that away in the pickup. I just can't believe we're getting this close to actually starting the project.

[3Hotdogs]

14. 40 yds have high walls that may be difficult to load.

Still, usually the best deal

[Lars39]

15. Good point! Thanks!

[in2herbs]

18. The entire back of a 40 yd is a door and it can be securely placed in the open

position so you can walk the debris in.

[3Hotdogs]

19. Yes. And if the front of it is loaded with a bit of care, the contents will fit. But....

if the front gets loaded to a couple of feet down from the lip, .... So, go with a 40 yard but be careful to load the space in the front so as to get the most value.

Then... how will you be billed? If it is a flat rate + the scale fee, that is fine. If the fee includes weight up to x # of tons, that is tricky.

[3Hotdogs]

20. Yes. And if the front of it is loaded with a bit of care, the contents will fit. But....

if the front gets loaded to a couple of feet down from the lip, .... So, go with a 40 yard but be careful to load the space in the front so as to get the most value.

Then... how will you be billed? If it is a flat rate + the scale fee, that is fine. If the fee includes weight up to x # of tons, that is tricky.

In2, any thoughts on billing? In N,j., it is usually the trucking with a max tonnage included.

What state is this in?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. I'd say 30 yard if you are half way neat about it.

40 is huge with high sides.

In Chicago trying to find room for a dumpster is always a hassle. There are guys around here with big 20-30? Foot box trucks that will carry out of the house and dump for about the price of a big dumpster.

Depending on where you are you might look into such a haul away service if a dumpster takes too much room. My town makes you get a permit for the dumpster even if in your own driveway. That adds another 50 bucks.

General construction/remodel debris doesn’t way that much and these haul away guys pay by the ton. That’s how 1800gotjunk gets you - they charge high amounts by volume for stuff that doesn’t way much. Obviously don’t use 1800gotjunk.

I was half tempted to by a trailer for this house I’m rehabbing in the suburbs but I found a guy who will drop a dump trailer for $100 bucks. I pay the dump fee at a local waste transfer for like $67 bucks a ton.

[Lars39]

17. Fortunately we have room for it

in the front yard. Don’t know about needing a permit for a dumpster, but I’ll add it to my list.
I had to look up what a dump trailer looks like…I don’t think I’ve ever seen one around here before. They really look handy, though. Thank you for the information, Hassan Bin Sober!

[csziggy]

22. Yes, normal house materials won't weigh all that much in the scheme of things

But after our old barn burned down, I hired a guy to clean up the remnants of the concrete from it - raised floors in two rooms, the entire aisle. He had no problem breaking it up and carefully loaded it into a dumpster to have it hauled off, fitting as much as he could into it. The truck arrived to load the dumpster - no go. It was far too heavy.

When the front of the truck started to tip, up, the driver and our guy agreed he'd have to take some out - fortunately the truck had brought a second dumpster so he offloaded about a third of the first one into the second one. THEN the truck could load it and haul it off. We agreed to pay for a third dumpster since now the second one had about half what could be hauled away and there was still a lot of concrete to carry off.

It was a big job but now you can't even tell there was a barn there for forty years. We turned that area into another paddock for the horses.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. Yeah concrete in dumpsters can be dicey.

The dumpsters I’ve seen have max fill lines for concrete. They are usually the shallow dumpsters - maybe 15 yards.

When I got out of college a guy at my first job talked me into helping demo his asphalt driveway.

I borrowed/rented my old boss’ dump truck. I had taken a couple loads to the landfill and left the truck overnight for my buddy and his wife to fill it.

Anyway, I get there the next day and my buddy had overfilled the thing but I didn’t think too much about it. I pull out of the subdivision and there is a cop sitting there. He pulls me over and starts looking the truck over. I almost had him bamboozled by saying it’s a old truck and the springs are weak so that’s why it’s sagging… asphalt doesn’t way that much (lol) …

Until an Illinois state cop pulls up. He asks me for the registration and when I handed him the envelope with registration in it there was a ticket my old boss had apparently just received a couple weeks prior. The cop is like “oh you done this before” - there was no more talking.

He dragged me around the south west Chicago suburbs looking for a scale.

The fine was $975 bucks. I had to spend an hour in the Burr Ridge jail until my buddy paid the fine. My old boss thought it was hilarious. He laughed and said they probably had wallpaper on the cell walls. Actually it was just a locked interview room but it was hard time LOL.

Come to find out they had just changed the fines and the splits to the municipalities so all the towns were after overweight trucks. My boss was like “they probably made that cop Chief of Police with that big score.”