Renovation makes a mess faster than most people expect. You pull up one room of old carpet, knock out a wall, swap a vanity, and suddenly the garage is full of debris you can't fit in your county bin. A roll-off dumpster gives you one spot to throw all of it while the work is going, so the job site stays clear and you're not making twenty truck runs to the landfill. Here's how to think about it if you're a Charleston homeowner or contractor.
Pick the size around the debris, not the room
The most common mistake is renting by guessing the square footage of the project. What actually matters is the type and weight of what you're tossing.
For a kitchen or bath remodel, a single room of flooring, or a deck teardown, the 13-yard handles most of it. It takes household junk, furniture, wood, drywall, and general remodeling debris. If you're gutting a larger part of the house or doing a whole-home refresh, step up to the 17 or 22. Those bigger cans give you room for bulky material without filling up halfway through demo.
There's one important rule. The 13, 17, and 22 do not take heavy material. No concrete, brick, dirt, rock, sod, or roofing shingles. That stuff is dense enough to overload a big can before it looks full, and it has to be hauled separately.
Heavy demo goes in the 7-yard
If your renovation includes busting up a patio slab, tearing off a roof, removing an old brick walkway, or hauling out dirt and sod from regrading, that's a different load. Heavy, dense debris goes in the 7-yard. It's the only size built for it.
It looks small, and that's on purpose. A 7-yard full of concrete or shingles is already at the weight limit. Clean heavy loads like that go to the recycle plant instead of the landfill, which is the right call for the material anyway. So if your project mixes light debris and heavy debris, plan on two different cans or two different stages. Drywall and old cabinets in the big one, the broken-up slab in the 7.
When you're not sure which bucket your debris falls into, check what goes in a dumpster before you book. A two-minute read saves you from loading something the can can't take.
A few things to keep out
No matter the size, a few items can't go in any dumpster. Batteries, chemicals, paint and solvents, and electronics all have to be disposed of through the proper channels. If you're clearing out an old shed or garage during a remodel and you hit a pile of that stuff, set it aside. The county has drop-off options for it.
Everything else from a normal renovation is fair game. Tile, plaster, baseboard, insulation, busted furniture, yard brush from clearing the lot, old fencing. Load it as you go and you keep the work area open.
Plan the timing so the can is there when you need it
Renovations rarely run on a clean schedule, so think about when the debris actually shows up. Demo day produces the biggest pile, so it helps to have the dumpster on site before the crew starts swinging hammers, not after.
Rentals run from one day up to thirty, which covers everything from a weekend bathroom job to a months-long remodel. On bigger projects where you'll fill a can more than once, a swap-out keeps you moving. We pull the full one and drop an empty so you're not waiting on a single can to do the whole job.
Where to put it matters too. Pick a flat, firm spot like a driveway or a cleared section of yard with room for the truck to drop and grab it. Leave a little clearance overhead for power lines and tree limbs.
We rent to Charleston and the towns around it
Family Trash is a family-owned outfit based on James Island, and we've been renting dumpsters around the Lowcountry since 2023. We're licensed and insured, and we cover Charleston plus a stretch of nearby towns. You can see the towns we serve to confirm we reach your address.
One thing worth saying plainly. We rent dumpsters and you load them yourself, on your own schedule. That's it. You're not waiting on a crew, and you control the pace of the project.
If you want to walk through your renovation and figure out which size fits, look over all our dumpster sizes or just give us a call. Tony answers the phone seven days a week. Call or text (843) 800-0689 and tell us what you're tearing out, and we'll point you to the right can.
Need a dumpster in Charleston? Call or text Tony at (843) 800-0689, or order online.
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