Garage and Estate Cleanout Guide: Size, Timing and How to Load

Cleanouts Are the Opposite of Roofing

A cleanout is bulky and light. Couches, mattresses, boxes, old toys, lawn furniture and broken shelving take up a lot of room but rarely come close to the weight limit. That means you size for volume, and the mistake to avoid is going too small and needing a second dumpster for the last 20 percent of the garage.

Which Size for Which Cleanout

If you are between sizes, go up. The step from 15 to 20 yards is $25 on a 3 day rental, and a second trip would cost a whole new rental. Prices and what each one includes are on the pricing guide.

How Long You Actually Need

• Garage cleanout: 3 days. Drop Friday, work the weekend, pickup Monday.
• Rental turnover or move-out: 3 days. Most landlords have the unit empty in one afternoon.
• Estate cleanout: 7 or 14 days. Sorting through a parent's or relative's home takes longer than anyone expects, and family members often want to come by and claim things before they go in the container. The 20 yard 14 day rental is $525 and takes the pressure off.

Rentals count calendar days after drop-off, so a 3 day rental dropped Monday is picked up Thursday. Need a little longer once you get going? Extra days are $20 each, just let us know before the pickup date.

Before the Dumpster Arrives

A couple hours of prep saves you a full day of work later:

• Pull out the stuff that can't go in. Paint, oil, pool chemicals, propane, car batteries, tires and anything with Freon. Our prohibited items guide lists local drop-off spots for each.
• Set aside donations. Working appliances, decent furniture and clothes in good shape can be picked up free by local charities, which also keeps weight and volume out of your dumpster.
• Pick the spot. Driveway, as close to the garage door as possible. Clear cars, trash cans and basketball goals the night before, and look up for low branches or wires the truck has to clear when it tilts the container off.
• Grab a few tools. A hammer, a drill driver and a utility knife break down shelving, bed frames and boxes so they pack flat.

Loading So It All Fits

Every one of our dumpsters has a walk-in rear door, so treat it like loading a moving truck, not throwing things over a wall:

• Flat and heavy first. Mattresses, box springs, doors, tabletops and sheets of plywood go on the floor. Then bagged trash and boxes.
• Break down furniture. Pull legs off tables, take doors off cabinets, and flatten anything with a drawer. A dresser left whole is mostly air.
• Fill the gaps. Stuff small items into the hollow spaces inside dressers, washers and cabinets before you slide them in.
• Keep it level with the rim. Nothing can stick up past the top edge. Loads that mound over cannot be tarped and leave the driveway.
• Leave the door path clear. Load from the back wall forward so you can keep walking things in until the last bag.

Estate Cleanouts: A Few Extra Tips

Clearing a loved one's home is a different kind of job. Some things that make it easier:

• Do a document sweep first. Go through desks, filing cabinets, nightstands and coat pockets for papers, checkbooks, photos and jewelry before anyone starts hauling.
• Give family a deadline. Set a date for people to take what they want, then load the dumpster after it. The 14 day rental is built for this.
• Sell or donate the good pieces. Estate sale companies and consignment shops in Denton, Frisco and McKinney will often pick up furniture, and donating can be a tax deduction.
• You do not need to be there. Many families manage cleanouts from out of town. Leave placement notes and a gate code at checkout and we deliver and pick up without you on site.

What It Costs

Flat rates with drop-off, pickup and disposal included: 11 yard from $350, 15 yard from $375, 20 yard from $400, and the 20 yard 14 day rental is $525. No fuel surcharges, no per-item fees, and the walk-in door is standard. Compare that to junk removal, which prices by the truckload and gets expensive quickly for a full garage. Our dumpster vs. junk removal guide breaks that down.