Marietta area guide
A walkthrough of all five container sizes we offer — real dimensions, typical capacity, and how to tell weight-driven projects from volume-driven ones so you order the right size the first time.
Almost everyone who calls us about a dumpster starts with the same question: what size do I need? The honest answer is that it depends on two separate things — how much space your debris will take up, and how much it will weigh — and those two factors don't always point to the same size. Getting this distinction right before you order is the single biggest factor in whether you end up happy with your container or wishing you'd sized differently.
Volume-driven projects are the ones where debris takes up a lot of space without weighing very much relative to that space. Household cleanouts, furniture removal, and general decluttering are classic examples — a room full of boxes and old furniture looks like a lot, but pound for pound it's relatively light. Weight-driven projects are the opposite: material that's dense and heavy without taking up nearly as much visual space. Roofing shingles, concrete, dirt, and tile are the clearest examples — a modest-looking pile can hit a weight allowance well before it fills a container by volume.
Most projects are one or the other, and a few — like a full home renovation involving both drywall tear-out and furniture removal — are genuinely a mix of both. Below is a rundown of all five sizes we offer, their real dimensions, and the kinds of projects each one tends to fit best, plus guidance on telling which category your project falls into.
The 10 yard container measures approximately 14 feet long by 7.5 feet wide by 3.5 feet high, with a typical capacity around 50 to 70 standard trash bags and a weight allowance in the 1 to 2 ton range. It's the smallest option in our lineup and the lowest-profile — its shorter height makes it easy to load over the side by hand, which matters for projects without a lot of heavy lifting equipment on-site.
This size fits well for smaller, contained projects: a single-room cleanout, a garage or shed clearing, a small deck tear-out, or yard debris from a modest landscaping job. It's also a reasonable choice for a single-layer roof tear-off on a smaller home, since shingle weight — not volume — is usually the limiting factor there, and the 10 yard's tonnage allowance can be enough for a compact roof even though the box itself looks small.
Where the 10 yard falls short: anything approaching a full-room worth of furniture, a whole-house cleanout, or a larger renovation project. It fills up faster than people expect on volume-driven jobs, precisely because its dimensions are modest across the board.
The 15 yard container measures approximately 16 feet long by 7.5 feet wide by 4.5 feet high, holding roughly 80 to 100 bags with a weight allowance around 2 to 3 tons. It's a step up from the 10 yard in both length and height, giving noticeably more volume capacity while still remaining a manageable size for most residential driveways.
This size is a common fit for a mid-size cleanout — a couple of rooms' worth of furniture and boxes, a moderate garage or basement clearout, or a small-to-medium home renovation like a single bathroom or kitchen remodel that generates cabinetry, fixtures, and demo debris. It also handles a moderate roofing job reasonably well, particularly a single-layer tear-off on an average-size roof where the 10 yard's tonnage might be cutting it close.
The 15 yard tends to be the size people underestimate needing and end up wishing they'd sized up from — if your project is trending toward the larger end of what we've described here (more than a couple of rooms, or a renovation touching more than one space), it's worth discussing the 20 yard instead.
The 20 yard container measures approximately 22 feet long by 7.5 feet wide by 4.5 feet high — a substantial jump in length from the 15 yard while keeping the same height, giving significantly more volume capacity. Typical capacity runs 110 to 130 bags, with a weight allowance around 3 to 4 tons.
This is one of our most commonly ordered sizes, and for good reason — it sits in the sweet spot for a lot of mid-size to larger residential projects: a full basement or attic cleanout, a multi-room renovation, a whole-house declutter that isn't quite a full estate cleanout, or a moderate construction debris load from framing or finish-out work. It's also a solid choice for a roofing job involving multiple layers or a larger roof, where the added weight from extra shingle layers pushes past what a 10 or 15 yard comfortably handles.
If you're unsure between the 15 and 20 yard, the extra length on the 20 yard tends to be worth it for anything you'd describe as a whole-house project rather than a single-room one — the cost of a slightly larger container is usually smaller than the hassle of running out of room mid-project and needing a second haul.
The 30 yard container measures approximately 22 feet long by 7.5 feet wide by 6 feet high — the same footprint as the 20 yard but noticeably taller, which is where the added capacity comes from. Typical capacity runs 170 to 190 bags, with a weight allowance in the 4 to 5 ton range.
This size is built for larger-volume projects: a full home cleanout or estate cleanout covering an entire single-family house, a significant home addition or major renovation generating both structural debris and finish materials, or new-construction framing debris on a larger build. The added height matters most for genuinely bulky, lower-density debris — furniture, large household volumes, and construction framing scraps — where a taller box lets you keep loading well past where a 20 yard would already be full.
The taller sides mean the 30 yard is less practical for hand-loading heavy, awkward items over the edge — it works best when there's a way to load from ground level or when the debris is generally manageable to lift. For very heavy, dense material like concrete or extensive tear-out debris, it's worth discussing whether the weight allowance fits your project even if the volume clearly does.
The 40 yard container measures approximately 22 feet long by 7.5 feet wide by 8 feet high — our largest option, sharing the same footprint as the 20 and 30 yard but built taller still. Typical capacity runs 230 to 250 bags, with a weight allowance around 5 to 6 tons.
This size is reserved for the largest volume-driven projects: major new-construction jobs generating substantial framing and finish debris, large-scale estate or whole-property cleanouts, and sizable commercial or renovation projects where the sheer bulk of debris — not its weight — is the primary constraint. It's less commonly needed for a typical single-family residential project, but it's the right call when the scope genuinely calls for it.
Because of its height, the 40 yard is the least practical option for hand-loading — it works best for projects where debris is being loaded by equipment, or where the material is naturally easy to toss rather than lift. If your project involves dense material like concrete, dirt, or extensive tear-out debris, talk to us before defaulting to the largest size — weight allowance, not box size, is usually the real constraint for that kind of material, and a smaller container built for tonnage might actually be the better and more practical fit.
The clearest way to understand the weight-versus-volume distinction is through side-by-side examples of projects that look similar in scale but behave very differently in a dumpster:
The takeaway: before assuming you need the biggest container available, ask whether your project's real constraint is going to be running out of room or hitting a weight limit. That answer, more than any other single factor, determines the right size.
If you're trying to figure out where your project falls, a few quick questions tend to sort most jobs into the right category:
It's also common to land between two sizes rather than clearly needing one over the other — say, deciding between a 15 and a 20 yard for a mid-size renovation, or a 30 and a 40 yard for a larger cleanout. If your project timeline is flexible and you can schedule a swap-out if needed, sizing slightly smaller and adding a second load if you run out of room is a reasonable approach. If your timeline is tight — a single-day roofing job, a weekend cleanout with a hard deadline — sizing up slightly to avoid the risk of running out of room mid-project is usually the safer call, since arranging a same-day swap isn't always possible. Driveway space and placement matter here too — a longer or taller container isn't the right choice if your property genuinely can't accommodate it comfortably.
If you're still unsure after running through these questions, that's completely normal — a lot of projects have enough nuance that a quick conversation beats a guess. Tell us what you're working on, roughly how much space or material is involved, and what kind of debris it is, and we'll match you to the right size the first time.
Talk to a real person
Call (678) 855-8935 and describe the job. Flat price, stated tonnage allowance, and a delivery window on the same call.
Mon–Sat 7:00am – 7:00pm
From this guide
They share the same length and width — about 22 feet by 7.5 feet — but the 30 yard is taller, about 6 feet compared to the 20 yard's 4.5 feet. That added height is where the extra volume capacity comes from, and it makes the 30 yard better suited to bulkier, lower-density debris.
Because roofing debris is dense and heavy relative to its volume, while cleanout debris like furniture and boxes is bulky but comparatively light. A roofing job is usually limited by weight allowance rather than physical space, so a smaller container with adequate tonnage often works better than a larger one.
Roughly 50-70 bags in a 10 yard, 80-100 in a 15 yard, 110-130 in a 20 yard, 170-190 in a 30 yard, and 230-250 in a 40 yard. These are general estimates — actual capacity depends on how the container is loaded and what else is mixed in.
That's common, especially for renovation projects that involve both structural tear-out and furniture or fixture removal. Describe your project to us over the phone and we'll help you figure out which factor is likely to be the limiting one before you order.
In many cases we can arrange a swap to a larger container if you're running out of room, though it depends on scheduling and availability. It's usually easier to size slightly generously upfront if your project timeline is tight, and call ahead of time to discuss options if your timeline allows more flexibility.
Keep reading
A roll-off container is heavy and the delivery truck needs real clearance — a little planning before drop-off keeps your driveway, gate, and landscaping in the same shape they were in before the job started.
ReadFrom kitchen tear-outs to flooring replacement, renovation debris behaves differently depending on the material — here's how to size your container and sort your load so the job goes smoothly.
ReadWhether you're moving into a new home or clearing one out before you go, a dumpster timed right around your move date can turn a stressful sort-and-haul into a manageable, one-pass process.
Read
