Dumpster Size Guide
A dumpster is cubic yards of space. The bill is often tons. Those are different problems, and published charts do not always agree.
This site is a national size and rules guide. It is not a quote form, not a zip-code widget, and not a ranking of haulers. Where companies disagree on size, weight, or fees, the pages show that disagreement and name the source.
Check your hauler and your city before you book.
Size guides
- What Size Dumpster Do I Need? (Volume, Weight, and When a Bag Is Enough)
A cubic yard is a 3×3×3-foot cube. The number painted on the box is volume. The bill is often weight. Those are different problems.
- What Size Dumpster for Roof Shingles? (Squares, Layers, and Weight)
A roofing square is 100 square feet of roof. Layers multiply tons. Architectural vs 3-tab is hundreds of pounds per square. The stencil on the box is volume. The scale is the bill.
- What Size Dumpster for a Kitchen Remodel? (Cabinets vs Tile vs a Full Gut)
Cabinets eat volume. Tile, mortar, and granite eat weight. Partial update vs full gut is why the internet says 10, and 20, and 30.
- What Size Dumpster for a House Cleanout or Estate? (Volume, Sleepers, and What Not to Toss)
Furniture and bags fill a dumpster by volume. People look at the empty steel and under-guess. Then the books, the wet junk, and leftover tile show up on the scale.
- What Size Dumpster for Concrete, Dirt, or Brick? (Bigger Is Not Safer)
The stencil on the steel is cubic yards. Concrete is tons. Those are different problems.
Compare
- Bagster vs Dumpster: Shelf Price Is Not the Job
The bag on the shelf is a container. The haul is a second bill. Those are different products, sold by different companies, on different days.
- 10-Yard vs 20-Yard Dumpster: Volume, Weight, and Driveway Length
A 20-yard dumpster is not “twice as long.” It is twice the interior volume. The extra steel is mostly length and a little wall height. The bill is often tons.
- Junk Removal vs Dumpster: You Load It, or They Do
A dumpster is a container. Junk removal is labor. Price them as different products.
Rules
- Dumpster Weight Limits: Overage vs Overfill (Included Tons Are Not the Steel Max)
The quote sold you a number of tons. The steel can carry another. The landfill scale prints a third. The driver still has to tarp the pile.
- Do I Need a Permit for a Dumpster? (Driveway vs Street vs HOA)
The city does not care if the stencil says 10 or 20. It cares whether the steel sits on your driveway or in the street.
- What Can’t Go in a Dumpster? (Never vs Restricted, Bag vs Box)
The hauler’s list is not the landfill’s list. A Bagster’s list is not a roll-off’s. Ask for this load.