Help trash our bathroom

January 9, 2008 12:16 PM

HomeRenovationFilter: What smaller and more transportable options are there to a roll-off dumpster?

We're renovating our upstairs bathroom and need to figure out what to do with the rubble from the walls, etc. that we're tearing out. Our plan is to hook a trash chute up to our second story window and shoot our trash down it and into a trash container. The problem is the trash container. We can't get a large dumpster in our back yard due to fence issues, so we think we need to put a dumpster on the side of our house (which is quite close--maybe 6 feet--to our neighbor's house). We can only find companies that will rent us large roll-off dumpsters that would be placed on the street in front of our house. 10 yards is the smallest we've found. We're thinking we need something more like 3 cubic yards. We've called quite a few companies to see if we can rent something like the standard trash bins that are in our alleyway. (We also called the city to see if they would rent us one, but no luck.) No one seems willing or able to rent us anything but a roll off dumpster. Any ideas for alternatives?

posted by ubu to home & garden (10 comments total)

I've seen people in my neighbourhood get these gigantic bags made of really tough plastic/fiberglass material that are about the size you need. They're like a huge reusable shopping bag. If I see one today I'll make sure to get the name of the company.
posted by GuyZero at 12:32 PM on January 9, 2008

Oh - I found it. It's Rhinobag. May only be available in Canada though.
posted by GuyZero at 12:35 PM on January 9, 2008

GuyZero, you're thinking of Demobags. (Warning: annoying video on homepage.)

I've used them, and haven't managed to break one yet. Reusable as well.
posted by Marky at 12:39 PM on January 9, 2008

You might want to ask for a front load container (left column in the link). These are usually available to businesses, and I've seen some that have wheels. I suspect that if the company you checked with won't rent you one it has something to do with construction waste going in. If the company in your city won't rent you one, try trash haulers in neighboring communities.

These are emptied by a truck that has forks that come down in the front of the truck and lift the containers to empty (referred to in the trash biz as "stab 'em and grab 'em", or vice versa).
posted by SteveInMaine at 12:45 PM on January 9, 2008

The Rhinobag looks like it would be what we're looking for, but we're in the US and they don't seem to sell them here. Does anyone know if there is a US equivalent?

The Demobag is also a good option, but it's smaller and I sense we would have to keep running up and down to replace it. Am I misreading the website? Maybe there are multiple sizes that I'm just not seeing.
posted by ubu at 12:50 PM on January 9, 2008

SteveInMaine, that is in fact what we were initially looking for, but we couldn't find anyone to rent us one on a short term basis.
posted by ubu at 12:58 PM on January 9, 2008

Bagster bags are available at Home Depot. I haven't used one yet, but plan to in the spring.
posted by a22lamia at 12:59 PM on January 9, 2008

It seems your project is a bit too small for it but another common solution is to buy a cheap, used pick up truck that you use to dump and haul all your garbage. When you're done you just sell it again.
posted by uandt at 1:04 PM on January 9, 2008

Or you could just borrow someone's cheap old pickup. I once rented an old Dodge Ram from a Rent a Wreck franchise for just such a project.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 1:57 PM on January 9, 2008

M.C.Lo-C has what I was going to suggest. I once got about two cubic yards of coal removed from a basement (through a small, small window) by a "guy with a truck." Years later an entire roof went into a contractors trash trailer.

Maybe look in your local "Penny-saver"/Classified ads magazine, or bulletin board at the supermarket for "Guy with a truck."
posted by From Bklyn at 12:38 AM on January 10, 2008