Save time and money by using these five tips to pack your rented roll-off dumpster effectively
Ok! You have rented a roll-off dumpster. Now it’s time to fill it. If the dumpster doesn’t get packed properly, you will find yourself losing time and money. Therefore, we put together a few tips, with our 25 years of experience, on how to pack the dumpster safely, to get the most out of your money, avoid having extra costs and save you time. Below are our top five tips to help you pack your dumpster well.
01. SIZE IS EVERYTHING
Over-stuffing a smaller dumpster to save a few dollars will come back and bite you. Make sure you choose the right size for your project. If you are uncertain about the right size for your particular project, speak with the company you are renting from. Whether you choose Wannco or another dumpster rental company, a good company will be happy to provide you with guidance on how to find the right size option for your needs.
Let’s take a look at an example about why finding the right size is so important with your dumpster rental. Take the 30-yard dumpster for example. You can fit more material into one 30 yard container versus two 15-yard dumpsters. How? With a 30-yard container, you get a payload of four tons or 8,000lbs. The 15-yard container only permits one ton or 2,000lbs. While the over tonnage fee is the same for both sizes, it can add up quickly with a one-ton limit in the 15-yard container.
Additionally, the 30-yard container is much longer. Items such as boards, pipes, and other long materials can fit a lot easier without having to cut the items down to fit. This can save you time and effort.
Lastly, there are only four corners to fill in the 30-yard versus eight corners to fill with two 15-yard containers. With over two decades of loading dumpster containers with Wannco, trust me when I say, you want to fill those corners. The corner is where the dead space lives. Meaning, that’s where there is more air than trash. We’ll cover more tips to help you optimize dead space effectively.
02. break down materials
Large bulky cabinets, boxes, furniture, etc. take up a lot of room. Break these items down into smaller components where possible. Grab yourself a large hammer, a pair of safety goggles, and go to work! Don’t be afraid to do some demolition, safely, on larger items, to optimize your space. You may even find it therapeutic to break and smash things into smaller parts! Breaking items like this when you load your dumpster will help minimize the dead spaces and voids within your container. You will be surprised how much more you can put into the container once things are broken down into smaller pieces.
Quick Demo Tip:
Save yourself time and having to do extra clean-up by loading up the bulky items into the container first. Then, grab your hammer and smash them up into those smaller parts inside the roll-off dumpster. This keeps the mess inside the container and no extra work is required to load the smaller pieces.
03. STACK YOUR CONTAINER DOWN
Tetris-masters, this is your time to shine! Or, think dad-mode, on vacation, packing the family’s suitcases in just the right spot to optimize that trunk space! Packing your dumpster is conceptually very similar.
When packing your dumpster do not just pile on. When you recklessly throw items in the roll-off bin, things will pile up quickly. Get inside the container and stack things down. Fill in the holes with smaller debris. Stack long items side by side facing the same direction. When items crisscross they create a lot of airspace and voids. Load flat items, like sheetrock and plywood, together so they remain flat and stacked tightly. Keep things flattened out, where possible, as you load, to maximize the amount of junk you can fit in your dumpster. And as mentioned before, we often see the most dead space in the corners. This is a great place to use miscellaneous small items to fill those corners and other voids.
04. LAYER YOUR LOAD
If you are filling the dumpster with light and fluffy trash like insulation, leaves, etc. layer your load, when possible. For example, load some wood and other substantial items on the bottom to keep the fluffy trash from sticking to the bottom of the container. This will make dumping much easier as well. Next, load your layer of insulation or other light material several inches or a foot thick. Then, load a layer of heavier items on top of your fluffy layer. This compresses the air out of those fluffier materials and creates more room to load more trash.
If possible, you want to avoid placing the lighter-weight items as the top layer. This keeps trash from blowing out of the container while it waits for pick up and prevents material from blowing out of the container in transport. We want to be sure garbage goes to its proper location and doesn’t litter our community.
05. be aware of your load
Lastly, avoid extra costs by being aware of the load. There are certain materials that should not be thrown into the container. For example, you will get charged if you put tires and liquid wastes like paint into a rented dumpster. If you need to throw away paint, the best way to dispose of this is to pour it over a large sheet of wood, sheetrock, carpet, etc., and let the paint dry. Then, throw that paint-covered item into the dumpster. Additionally, be aware of the capacity. Follow the parameters provided on height and weight. Do not allow items to flow over the top rail yellow line and do not go over the weight limit. If you overstuff above the line or go over the weight limit you can be subject to additional fees.
We hope these tips come in handy and help you optimize your time and money as you load your rented roll-away dumpster. Wannco has been in the demolition, excavation, and dumpster rental services business in the Granbury, TX area for almost 25 years. We are always happy to offer guidance for your project, share our knowledge where needed, and help you have the best experience possible.
