Most people call us already half-decided on a size, usually the biggest one, because they figure bigger is safer. Sometimes that's right. Often it isn't. The size that fits your job depends less on how much stuff you have and more on what kind of stuff it is. A garage full of old furniture and a driveway full of broken concrete are two completely different problems, even if they take up the same amount of space in your head.
Here's how we think about it when somebody calls and isn't sure.
Start with the material, not the volume
The first question we ask isn't "how big is the job." It's "what are you throwing away." That's because heavy material changes everything.
If you're getting rid of concrete, dirt, rock, sod, brick, or roofing shingles, you want the 7-yard. That's the only size built for dense, heavy loads. Those materials are far heavier than they look, and a clean load of them goes to the recycle plant instead of the landfill. People are always surprised that the small can is the right one for a big patio tear-out, but weight, not volume, is what matters with that stuff.
Everything else, household junk, old furniture, wood, drywall, yard brush, remodeling debris, goes in our larger cans. The 13, 17, and 22-yard sizes all handle that kind of mixed debris. The catch is they can't take the heavy material. So if your job is mostly cabinets and carpet with a little leftover tile, the tile is the part that decides things, and it might need its own small can.
If you're not sure what counts as heavy versus light, what goes in a dumpster lays it out plainly. We also can't take batteries, chemicals, or electronics in any size, so those need to go elsewhere no matter what.
Matching the size to common Charleston jobs
Here's a rough way to think about the larger sizes once you know your debris is light.
The 13-yard is the workhorse for most homeowners. A single-room remodel, a garage cleanout, a few rooms of furniture and boxes, a deck tear-off. If you've never rented a dumpster before and you're doing a normal house project, this is usually the one.
Step up to the 17-yard when you've got a bigger remodel going, like a kitchen plus a bathroom, or a whole-garage plus attic cleanout. It gives you room to keep working without filling up halfway through.
The 22-yard is for the big stuff. A full-house cleanout, a major renovation, a large move where you're purging years of accumulated stuff. Contractors running a longer job tend to start here so they're not calling for a swap every couple of days.
We've also got a 14-foot flatbed, but that's a different tool. It's for moving equipment or materials around, not for filling with debris. If you're hauling something rather than throwing it away, ask about that.
When you're stuck between two sizes
If you're genuinely between two of the light-debris cans, go up one. Running out of room mid-project is more of a headache than having a little extra space. You load at your own pace, anywhere from one to thirty days, so there's no rush to cram it full.
On a bigger job, you don't have to guess perfectly. We do swap-outs, so if you fill one can and you're not done, we'll pull the full one and drop an empty so you can keep going. That takes a lot of the pressure off the sizing decision. You're not locked into getting it exactly right on the first try.
The one place sizing really does matter is the heavy-material rule. You can't get around it by going bigger. A 22-yard full of concrete isn't an option, no matter how much fits. Heavy goes in the 7. That's the rule that trips people up most, so it's worth saying twice.
Where you are matters too
Driveway space is part of sizing, especially in older Charleston neighborhoods where the lots are tight and the streets are narrow. A 22-yard needs a fair bit of clear, level room to set down, and you want the truck to have a straight shot to drop and grab it. If your driveway is short or shared, a smaller can might just be easier to place. Tell us what your spot looks like and we'll tell you what'll actually fit.
We deliver across James Island, downtown, and the surrounding towns. You can see the towns we serve to check that you're in our area.
If you describe the job to us, we can usually tell you the right size in about a minute. We've seen most of these projects before, and we'd rather get you the can that fits than the can that's biggest. Call or text Tony at (843) 800-0689 and walk us through what you're working on.
Need a dumpster in Charleston? Call or text Tony at (843) 800-0689, or order online.
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