The Best Way to Load Your Roll-Off Dumpster

The Best Way to Load Your Roll-Off Dumpster 

When you have a major renovation project going on at your household, or possibly an estate cleanout, you might find a dumpster to be one of the most valuable tools you can get your hands on. However, if you’ve never loaded a dumpster before, you may not be aware of the best practices which should be used. When you load a dumpster more efficiently, you will be able to maximize your investment in the rental, and you’ll also keep everyone safe who is involved with helping to load the dumpster.

Break it all down

Anything which you plan to put into your dumpster should be broken down into its smallest possible state. This means drywall, concrete, Styrofoam, and all kinds of other items. By reducing these items to their smallest condition, you’ll be able to place a lot more material in the dumpster, and you’ll get much more value out of renting it than you otherwise would have.

Flatten down all boxes

When you have to remove a lot of cardboard, it’s really important to make sure that all boxes are flattened down. Yes, this will be a hassle and it will also be fairly time-consuming, but on the other hand you’ll save a ton of space in the dumpster. All you need to do this is a box cutter and a little effort, and you can reduce all boxes to a flat and manageable state. Keep in mind that if you don’t flatten down all your boxes, you will have pockets of unused space all throughout the dumpster.

Heaviest items at the bottom

If you have any really bulky or heavy items which you are discarding, these should all be placed at the bottom of the dumpster. For instance, if you have furniture, housing fixtures, or any kind of old equipment, these are all bulky items which should be placed at the very bottom of your dumpster. Once you have this layer of heavy and bulky items placed at the dumpster bottom, you can start filling in all the other smaller things around it.

Fill in all gaps

After you’ve got your bottom layer of bulky items in place, you can start to fill in all the gaps around the dumpster. These will probably be the most numerous types of discarded materials, so you will have plenty to work with. Every once in a while, stop and take a look at how you’re doing at loading your dumpster, to make sure that you’re actually filling in all the gaps. Be on the lookout for empty areas of unused space, and make sure that you fill in these as well.

Be mindful of weight distribution

If you don’t evenly distribute weight throughout the dumpster, it’s possible that it might shift while being loaded, or while it’s in transit. This of course can be a very dangerous situation for everyone involved, so it’s best to avoid that. While you’re going through the process of loading, you should periodically assess how you’re doing at distributing the weight throughout the length of the dumpster. Of course, it doesn’t have to be an exact distribution, but there should generally be as much on one side as the other, and in the middle.

Avoid stacking things too high

A good rule of thumb is to stack no higher than the sidewall of the dumpster, because it’s entirely possible that such items will fly out during transportation. Any loose debris which comes out of the dumpster has the potential to become a flying projectile which causes damage to property or individuals. If you have paid attention to filling in all the loose areas and all the gaps, you should have enough room to load up your dumpster without stacking it above the sidewalls. Make sure not to overload the dumpster, because this can cause some serious issues that you don’t want to be responsible for.

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