What size dumpster for a whole-house cleanout?
A 20-yard dumpster is the right size for most whole-house cleanouts — it holds about six to seven pickup-truck loads, which is the furniture, mattresses, clothing and boxes of a typical three-bedroom home. Take a 30-yard instead if the house comes with a packed attic, a shed or a shop, or if carpet and flooring are coming out at the same time.
Size the house by what is in it
20-yard — a three-bedroom house being emptied of its contents: beds, sofas, dressers, kitchen goods, clothes and boxes. About 22 feet long, 8 wide and 4.5 high. This is the size most whole-house jobs land on.
30-yard — the same house plus the places things pile up in south Mississippi: a full attic, a carport or storage building, a shop with decades of lumber and parts in it. Same 22-foot footprint, taller walls, so it needs no more driveway than the 20.
10-yard or 15-yard — an apartment, a small two-bedroom, or a house where the family has already taken what they wanted and only the leftovers are going. Paying for empty air is still paying.
If you are torn between two sizes, take the bigger one. One step up typically adds $40 to $80 to a local quote, while running out of room means paying for a whole second delivery.
What changes the answer
Flooring and fixtures. Pulling carpet and pad, vinyl, cabinets or a bathroom at the same time adds a lot of volume and, with tile, a lot of weight. A contents-only cleanout and a cleanout-plus-tear-out are different jobs.
Weight. Local quotes here usually include about 2 to 2.5 tons of disposal whatever the size of the can. Furniture and boxes rarely get near that, but tile, plaster, brick and waterlogged carpet do — and in a house that has sat closed up through a humid Pine Belt summer, carpet and mattresses can be far heavier than they look. Over the allowance, the market rate as of August 2026 was commonly $50 to $100 per ton, billed off the landfill scale ticket.
How you load it. Broken-down furniture, flat pieces laid on the floor first and bags packed into the gaps can fit noticeably more into the same can than whole couches thrown in on top. Nothing can stick up above the walls, so an untidy load fills up early.
Before you settle on any size
Pull out what cannot go in. Freezers, fridges and window units with freon, old paint, solvents, fuel cans, car batteries and tires are refused or surcharged by the landfill, and that cost comes back to you. Set them in one pile and deal with them separately; scrap metal and working appliances often go for nothing to someone who will collect them.
Walk the driveway. A roll-off truck needs a straight run of roughly 60 feet and clear space overhead, and on your own property a dumpster generally needs no permit. A can on the street is a city matter.
Be honest about the labour. A dumpster only saves money if somebody fills it. If nobody in the family can lift a sleeper sofa or a piano, a junk-removal crew is the better buy even at a higher price per yard.
Pine Belt Dumpsters is an information site and is not currently taking orders — we do not own trucks or haul. Whoever you rent from, confirm the size, the tonnage included and the rental days in writing, and ask them to confirm their insurance.
Get in front of local providers
We’re not a hauler and we don’t quote prices. Tell us what the job is and we’ll pass your request to local dumpster providers who can service it. A request for contact, not an order — nothing booked, nothing charged.
Keep reading
- Do you need a dumpster for a big cleanout in Petal? — Petal MS garbage pickup vs a dumpster: what the weekly cart and bulky-item collection are meant to take, and when a big cleanout is worth renting a roll-off.
- Do you rent dumpsters for businesses in Hattiesburg? — Commercial dumpster rental in Hattiesburg: roll-off cans for one-off business jobs versus front-load bins on a pickup schedule, and what to ask before you sign.
- Do you need to be home for dumpster delivery? — Dumpster delivery when you are not home: what an unattended drop needs, how to mark the spot, and the few cases where it is worth being there in person.
- What size dumpster do you need when moving out? — Dumpster rental for moving: why most move-outs need only a 10 or 15-yard, when a 20 fits better, and how to time the can around the moving truck and the lease.
- Cleaning out a garage — what size? — Dumpster for a garage cleanout: when a 10-yard is enough, when a packed two-car garage needs a 15-yard, what not to load, and the trouble with old appliances.
Delivering across the Pine Belt
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