What Size Dumpster Do You Need For A Home Renovation?
Key takeaways
- A single room or bathroom fits the 10. A kitchen or two rooms fits the 15. A whole floor or a full gut needs the 20.
- Size measures volume. Weight is a separate limit and it is the one people get wrong, because tile and drywall are heavy for the space they occupy.
- All three cost $200 to deliver, so picking the bigger one costs nothing extra until it goes on the scale.
- A typical renovation load runs about $323 for the 15 and about $421 for the 20.
Start with the number of rooms, not the square footage
Square footage tells you very little about debris volume. A 200 square foot bathroom stripped to the studs produces more waste than a 400 square foot bedroom you are only repainting. What matters is how much is coming out, not how big the room is.
The quick version, based on what we actually collect:
| Job | Size | Why | Typical total |
|---|---|---|---|
| One bathroom or one bedroom | 10 yard | Shortest container we run at 12'L x 7.5'W x 4'H, fits any driveway | about $302 |
| Kitchen, or two rooms at once | 15 yard | Cabinetry and countertop take volume rather than weight | about $323 |
| Whole floor, or a full gut | 20 yard | Most room for the same delivery price | about $421 |
| Broken slab, tile, brick, dirt | 7 yard | Fill material only, and it is booked by phone | See below |
Volume fills the box. Weight decides the bill
These are two separate limits and confusing them is the single most common sizing mistake. Cubic yards tell you whether everything fits. Tonnage tells you what it costs when the truck crosses the scale.
Some materials are heavy for their size and some are the opposite. Ceramic tile, plaster, backer board and roofing shingles are dense. Cabinetry, carpet, insulation and general clutter are bulky and light. A 20 yard packed with kitchen cabinets can weigh less than a 10 yard half filled with bathroom tile.
What it costs, and why the model looks unusual
Delivery is $200 for the 10, 15 and 20. That covers the drop, 1 day on site and the collection. There is no tonnage included and none wasted, so you then pay $140 a ton on whatever the load actually weighs.
Most companies bundle a ton or two into the base price. You pay for that allowance whether you use it or not, and if you go over it you pay again. We would rather bill what came off the scale, and the certified ticket goes out with the invoice so the number is checkable rather than asserted.
Extra days are $5 each, which is usually cheaper than rushing a job to hit a deadline.
Concrete and dirt are a different container
Heavy fill does not go in the general containers. The 7 yard is built for it: fill material only: concrete, dirt, sod and asphalt at $350, with 5.5 tons included and 3 days included. Extra days on that one are $20. It is booked over the phone rather than online, because we need to know what is going in it.
Two things that stop a collection
Nothing can sit above the top rail. An overloaded container is not road legal, so the driver has to leave it until it comes back down, and that costs you a day. Load flat and heavy on the floor first, then bulky items on top.
The second is prohibited material. The list is short but it is absolute, and a refused load comes back to you.
The Full Guides
Jack Reed
Jack writes for dumpster rental companies across the country, which means he has worked through hundreds of rate cards, tonnage models and local permit rules. That comparison is what lets these guides say whether a price is normal rather than just quoting one. The Middle Tennessee specifics come from William Shackelford, who runs the trucks.
Book A Container
Pick a size and book online any hour, or call and describe the job and we will tell you what it is likely to weigh.