Making The Most Of Your Dumpster Rental

Whether you are cleaning out an old storage space, or disposing of construction materials from a renovation project, a dumpster rental is probably your best bet to get a large amount of trash off of your property quickly and easily. Unfortunately, dumpster rentals are not always cheap and it can be easy to rent more dumpster than you need for your specific project. Since you are likely renting a roll-off dumpster to save money over professional trash disposal services, you want to be sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck with your dumpster rental.

Choose A Correctly Sized Dumpster

Making your dumpster rental as cost efficient as possible begins with choosing a dumpster that is appropriate for your project. This means that you do not want to select a dumpster that is too small to fit your needs, but you also want to be careful to avoid renting a dumpster that is larger than what your project requires. If you are used to loading trash into pick-up trucks, a good rule of thumb is that every 30 cubic yards of dumpster volume is roughly equivalent to three loads in an average sized pick-up truck.

When estimating your project size, be sure to leave yourself a little bit of headroom. If you feel that the amount of trash that you will be removing is close to the maximum amount that will fit in the dumpster, rent a dumpster one step larger. Spending more than you need to on a dumpster that is too large is frustrating, but you will spend even more if you underestimate your needs and are forced to rent a second dumpster.

Choose A Good Location

"Just put it anywhere!" may seem like a good idea at the time, but the placement of the dumpster on your property is important both to make your project as efficient as possible and to avoid potential property damage. Dumpsters are large and heavy and the potential exists to damage driveways or landscaping if their placement isn't carefully considered. Be sure to select a location for your dumpster drop-off that won't end up costing you more money in property repair later on.

A good location is also one that is convenient to reach. If you will mostly be removing refuse from your house through the backyard, for example, it does not make sense to place a dumpster far away in your front yard. Although you may not always have convenient options for placement, getting your dumpster as close to where you need it as possible is a good way to minimize your workload and ensure that you don't need to pay for a longer dumpster rental than necessary.

Load The Dumpster Efficiently

Finally, loading your dumpster properly is an important part of making the most out of even a smaller dumpster rental. It can be tempting to just throw items into the dumpster as you remove them from your project site, but this is a great way to end up with a dumpster that is loaded unevenly and that contains many inaccessible voids where more trash could have been placed.

The key to making sure that your dumpster is loaded efficiently is to plan ahead. If you know that you will have many items that are relatively long and thin, be sure to place these into the dumpster first and lengthwise along the bottom. Smaller items should be saved to fill in small spaces as they appear, and if you have any large items that can easily be broken down you should do so as well. Large, unwieldy items should go into the dumpster as late as possible and you should use your pile of smaller items to fill in the gaps that they will create.

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