How Big of a Dumpster Do You Need for Flooring?

When you’re replacing flooring during a renovation or installing flooring for an add-on or new construction, you’re going to generate a lot of trash and debris. All that waste isn’t going to fit into your trash bin for regular pickup, and some of it may be materials that your standard service just won’t take.

So, this means you’re stuck with slowly getting rid of that waste one week at a time or making multiple trips to and from a landfill. Neither is desirable or convenient, and the latter is going to cost you money in disposal fees as well, and that’s if you even have a vehicle suitable for transporting it.

There’s a better way: a residential dumpster rental.

What’s a Roll-Off Dumpster?

You’ve probably seen a roll-off dumpster many times at construction sites. It’s a large, rectangular, and open-topped bin delivered by truck to your site. Using the truck’s hydraulic bed, the driver “rolls” the dumpster, which has locking wheels, off the truck and onto your driveway or other suitable location. When you’re finished with the dumpster, a driver returns, lifts the dumpster back onto the bed, and takes the waste away for proper disposal.

These dumpsters are different from the cube-shaped lidded dumpsters you often see behind restaurants, for example. Those are for depositing large amounts of everyday trash, the same kinds of debris you put in your own bin, just on a much smaller scale.

The open tops of roll-off dumpsters make it easy to deposit waste in them. Some even have side doors that open for easy access when something is more challenging to get over the top. An excellent example of that would be an old couch you’re getting rid of during a basement clean-up.

Roll-off dumpsters are convenient and safe. However, you have to be careful about choosing the right size for your project. If you don’t, you will likely be facing extra hassles and fees.

Considerations When Choosing a Dumpster for Flooring

Every size dumpster is rated for capacity in weight and volume. Basically, what this means is that you can’t load it over its weight limit even if no objects are protruding from it and that you can’t have items sticking out over the top even if the overall load is under the weight limit.

Running afoul of either can create problems, all of which will add extra time and hassle to your project and most of which will add expenses. For instance, you may have to unload the extra materials yourself until you’re back in compliance with capacity limits, or you may have to pay extra for someone else to do it.

Then you’re stuck with that excess waste. You’ll have to either make those aforementioned landfill trips yourself or pay for an additional dumpster rental.

Because flooring projects produce a lot of lower-volume debris, you might think a small dumpster is a way to go. But it’s not always as simple as that. New floors are something to get excited about, but installing them means removing the old flooring, which generates significant amounts of waste.

Flooring Materials and Weight

Take remodeling a kitchen floor. The flooring materials, such as vinyl or laminate, will have to go. The weight will depend on the exact type of material, and the same goes for flooring elsewhere in a home, including hardwood and natural stone.

Then there’s carpeting. A square foot of carpet weighs less than a square foot or hardwood, but carpet removal usually means rolling it up, and those rolls take up a lot more space than tiles and planks do.

Old baseboards, padding, and other materials attached to the old flooring have to go as well, adding to the weight and volume.

Surface Area

Another thing to take into account is surface area. Remodeling the floor in a hallway bathroom generates far less waste than a kitchen or family room reflooring project does. If you’re remodeling the flooring in an entire house, you will have a considerable amount of trash and debris.

Other Materials

Other materials add up, too. Removing flooring involves removing nails and other fasteners. Typically, remodeling kitchen or bathroom flooring usually produces a lot of dust, rubble, and shards. Also adding to the total are boxes, wrappers, packaging materials, and other waste materials associated with the new flooring.

Dumpster Sizes and Capacities

Dumpster sizes go by their volume in cubic yards. Depending on the dumpster rental company, you may find dumpsters as small as five cubic yards and as large as 40 cubic yards.

RGH Waste & Disposal offers rental dumpsters with capacities of 20 and 30 cubic yards to keep things simple.

A 20-yard dumpster has dimensions of 21’ 11” L X 7’ W X 3’ 6” H, and they hold a load equivalent to 300 standard kitchen bags, 92 standard contractor bags, or ten pickup truck loads.

The 30-yard dumpsters measure 22’ X 8’ X 6’, with a capacity equal to 450 kitchen bags, 138 heavy-duty contractor bags, or 15 pickup truck loads.

So, What Size Dumpster Do I Need for My Flooring Project?

For most flooring projects, a 20-yard dumpster is more than sufficient. This amount could change, though, if there is a lot of carpeting or there is a high volume of very heavy materials. Typically, though, you wouldn’t need a 30-yard dumpster unless you were reflooring multiple rooms or an entire house.

Before renting a dumpster, always talk to the company about your project, including materials and dimensions, so that they can help you select the right size for you.

Get a Rental Dumpster from RGH Waste & Disposal

When you need a home dumpster rental for flooring or any other type of project, RGH Waste & Disposal will have the perfect one for you. You’ll also usually get a same-day drop-off and pickup with 24/7 access and fair pricing with no hidden fees.

Ready for your roll-off dumpster rental? Call RGH Waste for a free quote today!