Category: Home Staging

What All Goes in to Pricing a Dumpster?

If you’re planning a construction project, a home renovation, or even a large-scale cleanout, you’ve likely considered renting a dumpster. Dumpsters provide a convenient and efficient solution for waste disposal, but you might be wondering about the factors that contribute to their pricing. Understanding what goes into pricing a dumpster can help you budget effectively and make informed decisions. Here are some key factors to consider:

  1. Dumpster Size: One of the primary factors that affect the cost of a dumpster rental is its size. Dumpsters come in various sizes, typically measured in cubic yards. The larger the dumpster, the higher the price. It’s important to estimate the amount of waste you’ll generate and choose an appropriate size. Renting a dumpster that is too small might require additional trips or result in overflowing waste, while renting a larger dumpster than necessary could lead to unnecessary expenses.
  2. Rental Duration: The length of time you need the dumpster also impacts the pricing. Dumpster rental companies usually offer rental periods ranging from a few days to several weeks. Longer rental durations typically incur higher costs, so it’s crucial to plan your project timeline accurately. If you anticipate needing the dumpster for an extended period, it’s worth comparing rental rates and negotiating a favorable deal with the rental company.
  3. Location: The geographic location of your project can affect dumpster pricing. Prices can vary based on regional market conditions, distance from the rental company’s location, and local regulations. Dumpster rental companies may charge higher rates in areas with high demand or limited availability. It’s advisable to research and compare prices from multiple rental companies in your area to ensure you’re getting the best deal.
  4. Type of Waste: The type of waste you plan to dispose of also plays a role in pricing. Certain types of waste, such as hazardous materials or electronics, require special handling and disposal procedures, which can lead to additional charges. It’s essential to communicate with the dumpster rental company about the specific materials you’ll be disposing of to determine any additional fees or restrictions.
  5. Additional Services: Some dumpster rental companies offer additional services that can impact the overall pricing. For example, if you require a same-day or next-day delivery, there may be an extra charge. Other services like recycling or waste segregation might also incur additional fees. Discuss these options with the rental company to understand the associated costs and determine which services align with your needs and budget.
  6. Weight Limit: Many dumpster rental companies impose weight limits on their containers. If you exceed the weight limit, you may face overage fees. It’s important to be aware of the weight restrictions and estimate the weight of your waste as accurately as possible. Avoid surprises by asking the rental company about the weight limit and associated fees upfront.

In conclusion, pricing a dumpster involves several factors that impact the overall cost. Dumpster size, rental duration, location, type of waste, additional services, and weight limits all play a role in determining the final price. To ensure you get the best value for your money, it’s crucial to plan your project, estimate your waste volume and weight, and compare prices from multiple dumpster rental companies. By understanding what goes into pricing a dumpster, you can budget effectively and make an informed decision that meets both your waste disposal needs and your financial considerations.

You Need a Dumpster for Your Kitchen Renovation

Homeowners who are looking to invest in a kitchen renovation project have plenty of options available to them. Not only are there hundreds of materials, styles, and colors to choose from, but the range of appliances and fixtures that can be incorporated into the space is endless. With careful planning and budgeting, you can create a one-of-a-kind kitchen that will not only be functional and aesthetically pleasing, but is also reflective of your lifestyle and personal tastes.

But first, you have to get rid of the old kitchen. And for this, you are going to want to rent a dumpster from Big Daddy Dumpsters.

Renting a dumpster makes your kitchen project easier

Renting a dumpster makes your home renovation project easier by allowing you to quickly and easily dispose of debris and waste associated with your kitchen remodel. Rather than having to load up and transport load after load of debris, to the curb, possibly reaching limits imposed by your community, you can simply fill the dumpster as you go and have it taken away when it is full. This eliminates the need to run back and forth and makes job clean-up simpler at the end of the day.

Simply schedule a dropoff and pickup time for your dumpster, and then you are free to work on your renovation at your own pace. You won’t have to rush to get the garbage to the curb on one specific night of the week to avoid angering your neighbors.

Now, with the dumpster in place you can get to work.

Planning your kitchen renovation

First, plan and budget: The first step in a kitchen renovation is to plan and budget for the project. Identify what changes you would like to make to your kitchen. Consider the size of the space, appliances, and cabinets that you would like to include. Determine whether it will require any ajor structural changes or if you can make do with minor changes. Make sure to consult an expert to review the design plans and give a realistic cost estimation of what it will take to get the job done.

Second, clear your palette. Take out everything you aren’t keeping, and anything that isn’t directly attached to the plumbing and electric. With this blank slate you can begin creating your dream space. This is where you will make heavy use of your dumpster, dragging unneeded items away to be handled by someone else.

Third, fill in flooring, cabinetry, and framing. By carefully measuring and planning these steps, everything else will flow smoothly and beautifully as you transform your space.

Finally, add countertops and your appliances. By adding your distinctive touch, you personalize the space. And modernizing these appliances increases the resale value of your home, if that is your goal. And while you are, of course, recycling some of the materials, any non-recyclable packing materials can also conveniently go in your dumpster.

Then, when the work is completed, call Big Daddy Dumpster to haul away the debris.

COVID Spring Cleaning Tips

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How is it March already? Winter is coming to a close, and we all need a fresh start to the new season. Spring is a time for renewal, longer days, and uplifted moods. There’s no better way to prepare for Spring’s arrival than to do a thorough Spring cleaning.

Spring cleaning might look a bit different this year after yet another winter trapped inside due to COVID. But warmer weather is approaching, and the time to reinvigorate your life is coming. Take the time this spring to really get into every room and get it clean from winter’s gloom.

Here are some helpful tips to get you through to the next season:

Go through your refrigerator and freezer! COVID might’ve had you stocked up on every type of frozen meal in case of another lockdown, but make sure you sort through what food has passed its expiration date. This will leave you more room to stock up on fresh, in season foods. After you’ve sorted your food, wipe down your refrigerator and freezer. A lot more grime can be hiding in the drawers, door, and shelves than you think.

Dust! Dust! Dust! After the long winter, dust particles have had more than enough time to settle onto various surfaces, cushions, walls, curtains, and more. Being able to open your windows this spring will only lead to more dust and pollen finding their way into your home, so get ahead of it and start with a clean slate.

Mop your floors and throw away any worn doormats! Snow boots and winter shoes may have tracked dirt, mud, residue from sidewalk salt, and more across your floors, and spring cleaning is the time to scrub that out of your home. Take your mops and sponges for a final cleaning then discard them and invest in new supplies for the spring.

Sort through your clothes! Clothes are something often overlooked during spring cleaning, but finally deciding to give away that pile of old sweaters you haven’t worn all winter might help you feel that sense of spring renewal. Save some space in your closet and spend some quality time in your closet this year. When you’ve decided what to keep and what to give away, find a local thrift shop or resale store to donate them to!

There are plenty more ways to attack your spring cleaning list, but those are some good starting points after a winter trapped inside.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Remodeling (and Disposing of) Your Living Room

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Once upon a time, the living room was the gathering place of friends and family. Every part of our time at home seemed to center on a space so important to our home that we named it after our primary task: living.

Today, much of the work of a living room has been turned over to the family room or den, a space carved out or given over to a large screen TV, movie-quality speakers, and multiple game devices and streaming services.

Our living rooms have become more formal. They are our house in it’s Sunday Best clothing.

The decision to redo the living room should keep this in mind. Here’s a guide to how to decide what to keep, and how to dispose of the rest.

The couch: Every living room has at least one multi-person couch. Large, dramatic, with distinct features that helped form the character of the room, sometimes it is the first decision made in a space, and all others happen around it. Is it in good shape, though maybe a little work. A good re-upholstering is often expensive, but slightly cheaper than a whole new sofa. But it is is heavily scratched or dinged, perhaps from a pet years ago, or another piece of furniture placed too close, it needs to go.

If you must dispose of your couch: consider giving it to a second-life furniture outlet like St. Vincent DePaul. Often these places will send a truck and a couple burly folks over to your house, and for a small price you can save yourself the big work, and know it’s going to a second home.

The carpet: The carpet in your living room was the most used feature especially on the corners or pathways where people walk while passing through. If it is not worn, and If the colors still work for your new vision, keep it. Otherwise, it’s got to go.

If/when you dispose of your carpet or rug: There really isn’t a second chance for carpeting or a rug. Think about renting a Big Daddy Dumpster for your project, it just got big.

Comfortable chair: This was likely, at some point, matched to the couch. It should face the same fate. Keep it and reupholster it if you can.

If you must dispose of your comfy chair: Donate it, unless it is too badly damaged to re-use. In that case, throw it in the dumpster.

Window treatments, art, and wallpaper: I hate to say it, but they’re the most likely casualties of the decision to remake your living room. They did what they needed to do, but they were unique to their location. For the most part, they’re difficult to remove in a way that preserves them. And no one can use them again.

When you dispose of curtains and wallpaper: Dumpster.There just isn’t a second life for them.

What Size Dumpster Do I Need?

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One of the biggest challenges in doing a major remodel project around the house is finding the right size dumpster. This is because there are so many variables.

There are lots of sizes to choose from.

They are built on a scale that is difficult for the average person to visualize.

Most people rarely need to rent one, so we have no experience.

It is hard to imagine how big your project will look when it is dumped in a dumpster.

We are going to try to demystify the process a bit.

Garbage Bags

You’ve probably already looked at the website of a local dumpster dealer and you’ve seen a picture of an average scale human standing in front of an average scale dumpster.

This is meant to be helpful. Really it is. However, we seldom think of our garbage as being scaled with our body.

Instead, we are much more familiar with the size of a garbage bag. We handle those frequently. We have a sense of their size.  So in order to help you visualize it, we are going to explain it in terms of garbage bags.

Your dumpster choices will be marked in terms of “cubic yards” or “yd³”

On average, 1 cubic yard looks about like a medium size dresser, or about 6 trash bags.

Your smallest dumpster choice, the transition point where it makes more sense to rent a dumpster than to put it out in your own trash can, is 10 cubic yards. So this is about 60 trash bags.

  •             10 yd³ = 60 trash bags
  •             15 yd³ = 75
  •             20 yd³ = 120
  •             30 yd³ = 180
  •             40 yd³ = 240

Pickup trucks

OK so maybe garbage bags aren’t how you think. Maybe you are a do-it-yourself kind of person who understands what it means to throw a shovel in the back of a pickup truck, or what it means to load the pickup truck with mulch or dirt.

And besides, it does get pretty challenging to think about size in terms of 60 garbage bags.

Let’s measure in pickup trucks.

  • 10 yd³ = 3 pickup truck loads
  •             15 yd³ = 4-5
  •             20 yd³ = 6
  •             30 yd³ = 9
  •             40 yd³ = 12

This is an especially helpful measure when you are imagining each of those pick up truck loads being driven to your local dump. If it’s right around the corner three trips is no big deal.

However, if you’re like most folks who are doing a big fix-it-up project around the house, the local dump is NOT right around the corner.

And the further away it is, the more time and effort it adds to your project to haul everything there yourself.

Now you’re loading, driving, unloading, driving back … multiple times. And this is time added to the work of demolition or removal.

Many people might even choose a 10 yd³ dumpster to avoid that pain and hassle of even one or two trips to the dump.

Also, you should round up, and get the next biggest size if you are unsure. No one is judging you for not wanting to make any more trips than you have to. Or making no trips at all.

We hope this guide helped you with your project.

Big Do-It-Yourself Projects

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Home prices are skyrocketing and the housing market is struggling to keep pace with demand. In this market, many homeowners are choosing to take on major renovation projects around the house.

 

These major projects probably require a contractor, though the handiest of fix-it people might try to take these on themselves.

 

Here are popular projects based on the value they add to your living space.

 

Basement renovation:  few renovation projects add square footage as efficiently as a basement remodel. There are lots of ideas for how to do it, but full agreement on why: usually the infrastructure is in place for an economical expansion. Better yet, basement renovations often yield high returns on the investment. Homeowners who later sell often realize more than 70% return on their investment in a basement.

 

Kitchen renovation: kitchen renovations are among the most complex, costly, and time-consuming projects a homeowner can take on. At around $100 per square foot, they can really set a homeowner back. Nationally, owners report that they only return between 50% and 60% on their investment in a sale.

 

A kitchen remodel almost always means working with electricity and water, so often the work involves coordinating multiple professionals and managing their schedules. Unfortunately, many homeowners must plan to leave their house for a period of time for a kitchen renovation.

 

Adding a room: Adding new space can be an attractive way to renovate your house. Adding a mudroom, breakfast nook, or even a full guest room over the garage, can be accomplished without adding expensive foundation elements. There are lots of ideas for where and what to add, and a wide range of costs. Picking the project that will be most useful for your family is important.

 

Renovating a bathroom: Bathroom renovations can be almost as powerful as kitchen renovations in shaping your quality of life. There is not another room where you are certain to visit at least twice a day, and no space knows you as intimately. Making the space larger, warmer, and adding storage are common adaptations. Expect a bathroom renovation to return nearly 70% on investment, according to Zillow.

 

 

Remember, despite information about the return on investment, there are even better reasons to take on these renovations. They simply make your space better.

 

More than one homeowner has taken on a major renovation to prepare for a sale, and decided to stay. They found that their new space was better than any house they might find on the market.