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Dumpsters

“The dumpster company we worked with ran it like this. You order the dumpster; they drop it off for up to two weeks. You and your team (I hope) fill it up, and tape a check to it, and call the dumpster company to arrange pick up. If you need another one, you can have them bring out an empty one, set it down somewhere nearby, pick up the full one and set it down somewhere, pick up the empty one again, and place it where the full one was, and pick up the full one and haul it off. A couple of other things…….

Pack it tightly; you will need all that space. Breaking boxes down is probably worth the effort. Initially it looks so big and the thought is, ’I can’t possibly fill this thing.’ Yes, you can.

The stuff in the dumpster isn’t supposed to be piled higher than the top edge of the dumpster but a little mounding of the stuff inside can be gotten away with.

Big things like couches need to go in first.

The 40-cubic-yard dumpster is 8 feet tall. I would personally suggest the 30-cubic-yard dumpster that is 6 feet tall. After a hundred or so trips to the dumpster, those 2 feet of vertical tossing add up.”

“An important fact we have learned over the years is to shop around. Contact the city where the work is to be done to see which companies are allowed to drop dumpsters there. Here are a few other tips about renting dumpsters:

1) Location—is the driveway big enough? If not, many cities require permits to drop a roll off on the street. Also, pick a drop off spot where it will require the least amount of steps to get to. Sometimes you can place it where you can throw things out a second story window rather than taking each trip down the stairs.

2) Size—although a 40 yard is taller than a 30 yard, the price is usually very close so why not get the extra space?

3) You can’t throw household hazardous waste, appliances, computers, televisions and other items with circuit boards in them. Many will not accept concrete or dirt either, so check with the company.

4) Like the post before mine, pack it in an orderly fashion. You can get twice the space by preventing void spaces in your dumpster made by items like tables and chairs. Break everything possible that has legs, or other items that protrude out from them.

5) Try not to leave an empty dumpster on site for more than a half a day before the work is to be done, or neighbors and others will start throwing their unwanteds in it.

6) Get it picked up as soon as possible because people will again add to it, or in many cases, climb in and start going through it, sometimes tossing stuff out of the dumpster and onto the property, leaving you with another mess.

7) As the dumpster gets full, trash starts to slide toward the open end. Save big items like old couches and dressers and place them in the dumpster from side to side to act as a block.

Hope those tips help. But if you need any advice when you are faced with one of these, feel free to call me.
Cory Chalmers-(888) 577-7206 Ext. 111.”

 

”In PA, we paid $375 for each 20-yard dumpster—we are on our third one and will probably need one more—and the prices are going up because of the gas prices–lovely.”

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