Cleanouts
Picking the Right Dumpster Size for a Kansas City Home Cleanout
A practical sizing guide for whole-home cleanouts in Kansas City, based on the size we actually drop on these jobs.
Apr 12, 2026 · 6 min
Sizing guide
What size dumpster do you actually need?
Most sizing mistakes go in the same direction: people pick too small. Here's the project-to-size decision tree we use on the phone, made visual.
Call (816) 427-657101 · The rule
When in doubt, size up.
An empty corner of a dumpster costs you nothing — it's the same flat rate. A dumpster that fills before you're done costs a swap-out fee and a wasted day waiting for the next one. The math always favors going one size larger when you're unsure.
The exception is heavy material. Concrete, dirt, and roofing shingles hit weight caps fast — for those, you want the 10 yard regardless of volume. We've had customers fill a 20 yard with concrete only to find out the truck can't haul it legally.
Decision tree
Find your project. We'll tell you the size.
| Project | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Single bathroom remodel | 10yd | Compact footprint, plenty of room for tile, vanities, drywall, and one tub. |
| Garage cleanout (2-car) | 20yd | Most garage cleanouts fit. Plenty of room for old furniture, boxes, lawn equipment. |
| Whole-home cleanout (2,000+ sq ft) | 20yd | Default for whole-home jobs. Step up to 30 if the garage is also participating. |
| Kitchen + 1 bathroom remodel | 20yd | Cabinets, drywall, flooring, fixtures. 20 yard absorbs it. |
| Roof tear-off (under 2,000 sq ft) | 10yd | Shingles are heavy. The 10 yard is rated for it; bigger sizes hit weight cap. |
| Roof tear-off (2,000–3,500 sq ft) | 15yd | Right weight rating for a mid-size roof. |
| Concrete or dirt loads | 10yd | Weight-rated for heavy material. A 20 yard of concrete is illegal to haul. |
| Whole-house gut + new roof | 30yd | Full tear-out plus roof debris. The 20 fills before you finish. |
| Estate cleanout (every room) | 30yd | Furniture from every room, plus closets, plus garage. Step up. |
| Full home demo / new build debris | 40yd | The biggest we drop. Reserved for jobs where a 30 means a mid-project swap. |
02 · Still not sure?
Call. We do this every day.
Sizing is the part of the job we know best. Tell us your zip code, what you're loading, and roughly how much. We'll recommend a size in about two minutes — no quote forms, no email back-and-forth.
Once you've picked a size, the rest is simple: read about how rental works, or just have us drop it.
Questions
Common follow-ups.
What's the most common size you drop? +
The 20 yard, by a wide margin. About 60% of our residential drops.
What if I underestimate? +
We can swap a full dumpster for an empty one. It takes about a day. You pay flat-rate twice (one per drop) plus tonnage on the first. Better to size up at the start.
Do you charge for an unfilled dumpster? +
Yes — flat-rate is flat-rate. But there's no penalty either; you just paid for capacity you didn't use. Most people would rather have unused capacity than need a swap.