How do I estimate size of dumpster required?
I’m in escrow on a short sale and am estimating costs to clean up the property so we can live in it. The converted 2-car garage, the side yard, and a 20′ shipping container are filled with trash that needs to be hauled, and I have no idea how to estimate a) how many trips in an uncovered, full-size pickup truck or b) how large of a dumpster would be required to cart it all away. In the garage, the carpeting (I’m guessing 400sf?) and padding will be going, as well as a large sofa, an assortment of blankets, food wrappers, condom boxes (yeah, no place I’d ather make out! — sheesh), beer bottles, etc. There are also feces in the kitchen that we’ll have to figure out what to do with. There are several baby cribs, between the shipping container and the back yard. Most of the bulky stuff is in the container, though there is an office chair in the side yard and a baby crib in the back yard. I’ve attached a bunch of photos, hope they post OK. There’s a little bit of trash in the front yard and scattered in other areas, but this is most of it. There’s also some yard waste, but eventually I’ll get a garden and compost pile going to handle that. Rebeccah
Replies
What's the largest size you
What's the largest size you can get? 20 yard? 30 yard? I'd probably start by getting a 20 and loading everything I could into it. It will probably be close to full, it will take several hours to fill it, and you may be able to get it hauled off same day instead of wondering if interlopers will top it off during the night (overfilling it and leaving stuff next to it).
Another option that I would probably use instead is to get a hauling crew. They will come with their own dump trailers and/or dump truck, load, and haul everything for you. You can probably find a legit outfit to do this fairly easily. It might cost a little more but it will go a whole lot easier. Self-loading a dumpster with debris like yours is only a good idea if (a) you're powerfully built, (b) you have way more time than money.
Well, we definitely have more time than money, but time is money, too, since the longer it takes to make th place habitable, the longer we have to pay rent.
Kalim's trying to figure out who among his day-laboring acquaintances he can rope into helping him (for pay).
How much can I expect a 20-yd dumpster to cost? This is Orange County CA. Guess I'll do a little googling.
Rebeccah
Disposal costs vary by probably a factor of ten or more across the country (even when you don't count the midnight disposal technique), so it's going to be hard for anyone to give you a number. Rates have to do with available landfill space, required pollution controls, distance the stuff must be trucked, taxes, fees, etc.
Be sure you know what can and can't be in the dumpster. Around here paint cans and caulk tubes are a no-no, for instance, and will rate you a big up charge, if they take them at all.
Cut up the carpet so it lays flat. Bust up the couch, cribs and anything else you can make less bulky.
Pack it all in that container, have someone come get it-swing past the dump and get it outta here.
Good idea. What's the best
Good idea. What's the best thing to use to cut up the carpet? One of those hook-shaped knives, good and sharp?
Rebeccah
What's the best thing to use
What's the best thing to use to cut up the carpet?
Rebeccah, pull the carpet loose from the tack strip and pull back and fold over what you want to cut. Use a sharp regular utility knife and cut from the backside.
Makes sense. Thanks.
Rebeccah
That mess you could rent or buy a bobcat with 4:1 bucket and be ahead!
Hope you got a REALLY good price on the place
If there be any gas appliances in that place, be sure to do a soap bubble test, I'd really go thru the outlets and electrical also, no knowing what you could find.
I quit being a landlord 40 years ago after cleaning up a few of those messes, then finding bootleg gas connections, a meter bypass, etc. etc.....
Yeah, the stench was too much for any of the inspectors so far to spend a whole lot of time in there, although the plumbers lasted longer than anyone else.
There *is* gas at least to a washer/dryer hookup in the garage - not sure if it goes all the way to the corner of the kitchen where the stove is. After we get it aired out, we'll have the gas company come out and sniff the whole property - there are also unprotected, unsecured gas lines along the side of the house, and unsecured lines to the two water heaters (one for house, one for garage).
The electrical is known to be a mess, in both the house and the garage (thanks to the general home inspection last Thursday). I'm trying to schedule an electrician to come out and give me estimates.
The price on the property is good by local standards, but inventory here is just abysmal. I can't find anything else in the size we need, in an acceptable neighborhood, for a price we can afford. Everything in my price range is short sales, and Santa Ana is full of these garage conversions and jacked up building systems. Even the ones that aren't big enough or in an acceptable neighborhood aren't really available - cash only due to condition, view only after making an offer, buyer to evict the tenants, too many offers already and no longer showing, etc.
I'm still costing out the repairs and trying to determine which ones we can do ourselves and save money, and which ones we can defer, to determine whether or not we can even buy the property. There's so much work needed that it's a tall order to sift through it all.
But the roof and foundation and structural integrity are good, and the house has a newer (2004) Trane HVAC system that quickly puts out a lot of 110 degree or 51 degree air. So those are some major expenses that the house does NOT have.
Rebeccah
I still have to search which button to click here..oy vey..sorry sorry..lol.
Looks like no more'n a 20 yarder to me. They go by weight as well as size in my neck of the woods. I got a 15 yarder and over filled it weight wise and a bit over the top as well. They just charged me for the extra weight at $100 a ton extra. Looks like you don't have much that weighs a lot so...
Pack it tight and a 20 should be plenty. Have fun.
Oh geez..the Mike Smith Boycott starts tonight at midnight.
See ya next week...
Maybe : )~
Now I have to hit that dopey save button next to the preview button that never works..so stoopid!
andy.... tomorrow nite at midnite.. not tonite
rebbecca... you might get it all into a 30.... i'd probably go with two 20's
Thanks, guys. So, 20-30 yards seems to be the consensus, and no one recommends using the pickup truck (it's a 3/4 ton).
About to google and see if I can find out how much one costs to rent.
Rebeccah
The pickup truck is a definite no-no. The time it takes to drive to the dump and hand-unload it will kill you. You need to get the cleanup and scrapout done absolutely as quickly and easily as possible so you have energy for all the other really difficult work that lies ahead!! I live 7 minutes from a no-waiting-in-line dump site and I wouldn't do it that way, ever.
We did it back when I bought the house in Oakland, but back then we still had a pickup with a camper shell, and could fit twice as much stuff into it. Kalim would usually get 1-2 guys to help him, pay them hourly, and feed them lunch.
We spent 6 weeks getting that house ready to live in - Kalim grabbing day laborers to help him during the days, and he and I working together evenings and weekends. I don't think we ever had quite the volume of stuff to haul, though. The closest would be when we removed the carpeting from living room, dining room, two bedrooms and the hall; when we removed the wallpaper, wood paneling, and popcorn ceilings throughout and replaced the plastered living room ceiling with drywall; and when we tore out 1/4 of the concrete in the back yard to make room for a garden. Some of those projects required 3-4 trips to the dump.
Rebeccah