Sizing

What Size Dumpster Do I Need? An Honest Local Guide

Here the answer turns on two things most guides never ask about: how old the building is, and whether there is anywhere to put it.

Start with the material, not the number

Almost nobody can estimate their own debris in cubic yards, and guides that ask you to are not much help. We ask three things instead: what are you throwing out, roughly how much in terms you can picture, and where exactly will the container sit.

That third question matters more in this city than in most, because a large part of Fall River has nowhere obvious to put one.

Volume and weight, and which binds first

Every container has two limits and you will hit one first. Volume is obvious — you cannot load above the top rail. Weight is the one people forget and the one that costs money.

Each size includes a tonnage allowance: roughly one to two tons on a 10 yard, four to five on a 30. Past that you pay a per-ton overage, which we quote before you book.

What each size really holds

10 yard — 12 ft × 8 ft × 3.5 ft

Three to four pickup loads, one to two tons. The small-job container and the heavy material container: granite, concrete, brick, block, tile, mortar and soil. Low sides, short footprint — and on a tight city street it is sometimes the only thing that will fit.

15 yard — 16 ft × 8 ft × 4 ft

The most under-used size, and in this city often the right one. Five to six pickup loads, two to three tons. Six feet shorter than a 20, which is frequently the difference between placing it and not, and the right call for dense old-building debris that would hit a 20's weight limit half full.

20 yard — 22 ft × 8 ft × 4.5 ft

Seven to eight pickup loads, three to four tons. Our most common container, and the default anywhere there is real off-street space — which is most of the surrounding towns.

30 yard — 22 ft × 8 ft × 6 ft

Ten to twelve pickup loads, four to five tons. Same footprint as the 20 with eighteen more inches of height, so it holds half again as much without needing more ground. Right for mill units, whole-property clearances and commercial strip-outs — but it needs somewhere to go.

Worked examples from local jobs

⚠️ Access decides more here than anywhere

In most markets access is a footnote. In Fall River it is frequently the deciding factor.

The triple-decker streets were laid out before cars. Expect:

• Little or no off-street parking, and what exists is often a single tandem space
• Narrow, frequently one-way streets with cars parked both sides
• Steep grades — the city climbs hard from the waterfront, and slope genuinely matters
• Short setbacks, with the house close to the sidewalk
• Overhead wires, which matter because the truck lifts high to tip

The surrounding towns are a different world — Somerset, Swansea, Rehoboth, Westport and the rest mostly have real driveways and generous lots, and a 30 yard places without anyone thinking about it.

So tell us the street, not just the address.

⭐ Why old buildings size down

The counter-intuitive rule that saves people money here.

• Plaster and lath is several times the weight of drywall. The biggest single surprise in any pre-war renovation.
• Old-growth dimensional timber is denser and often oversized against modern lumber.
• Granite — steps, sills, foundations, chimney stone.
• Cast iron radiators, soil pipe, tubs. Heavy, and metal is banned from disposal anyway, so it comes out regardless and is worth money when it does.
• Several floor layers stacked over a century.

A 15 yard that gets swapped beats a 30 yard that cannot legally be lifted.

⚠️ What cannot go in at all

Massachusetts bans a long list of materials from disposal, and several of them come out of exactly these jobs:

• Metal, wood, clean gypsum wallboard, brick, concrete and asphalt pavement
• Mattresses, box springs and textiles
• Leaves and yard waste, whole tires, batteries, white goods

A banned item in a load means a failed load notification to us and to you, plus a possible handling fee. The full picture is here, and it is worth ten minutes before you load.

Asbestos never goes in a container under any circumstances.

How to describe your job on the phone

• What the material is. "Kitchen cabinets, countertop, appliances and the tile behind them."
• Roughly when the building was built. Pre-1940 changes the size; pre-1980 means testing.
• Whether there is plaster and lath rather than drywall.
• The street, and whether there is anywhere off-street. Be honest — we would rather know.
• Any grade on the placement spot.
• Whether there is masonry, granite or soil — those get their own small container.
• Which town, and which state — three of our areas are in Rhode Island and the rules differ.
• Mattresses, textiles or appliances in the load, so we handle them properly.