Kitchen Remodel Dumpster Guide: Size, Timeline, What Goes In

A kitchen remodel is one of the most common reasons people rent a roll-off, and one of the easier projects to size correctly. The volume math is predictable, the debris stream is well-understood, and the timing is usually clean.

Here’s what to plan for if you’re doing a kitchen project in Boerne, Mount Vernon, or anywhere we serve.

What you’ll actually generate

A typical residential kitchen — let’s say a 200 square foot space with standard cabinetry, tile or laminate flooring, drywall, and a normal complement of appliances — produces this debris during a full remodel:

• Old cabinets (uppers and lowers): about 4–5 cubic yards
• Old countertop: 0.5–1 cubic yard
• Flooring tear-out: 1–2 cubic yards (carpet/laminate/tile and underlayment)
• Drywall (if walls are coming down or being replaced): 1–2 cubic yards
• Old appliances (range, dishwasher, range hood): 2–3 cubic yards
• Backsplash demo: 0.5 cubic yard
• Trim, baseboards, casings: 0.5 cubic yard
• Plumbing fixtures (sink, faucet, disposal): 0.5 cubic yard
• Refrigerator (if replacing and not hauling separately): 1.5 cubic yards
• New construction packaging and offcuts (drywall scrap, cabinet packaging, tile boxes): 2–3 cubic yards

That’s somewhere between 13 and 18 cubic yards total. Right in the middle of a 15 yard’s capacity if you load it well.

Why the 15 yard works

The 15 yard’s dimensions favor kitchen work:

• It’s the easiest size to load over the side, which matters when you’re carrying cabinet sections out of a back kitchen
• It fits in essentially any driveway, including the older sloped driveways common in Boerne and Mount Vernon downtowns
• It doesn’t require a swap unless something unusual happens

The exception: if you’re remodeling the kitchen and a bathroom or other rooms in parallel, jump to the 30. Two 15s is more than one 30 in fees and headache.

Sequence: when to schedule the box

A typical kitchen remodel runs 3–6 weeks for a full gut. The dumpster should be on site for the demo phase and the rough-in/finish phase, with a possible pause in between.

Day 1 of demo: Container arrives. Same-day delivery from us is usually possible if you call before 10 AM.

Days 1–3: Heaviest loading. Cabinets out, flooring up, drywall down, fixtures pulled.

Days 3–14: Steady moderate loading. Drywall replacement scraps, electrical and plumbing scraps, packaging from new materials.

Days 14–28: Finish phase. Trim offcuts, packaging, and final cleanup.

Day 28-ish: Pickup.

For a longer project (say a kitchen with structural changes), keeping the box on site for the full duration usually beats two short rentals.

What goes in (and what doesn’t)

Allowed in the dumpster:

• All cabinetry — wood, particle board, melamine, laminate
• All countertop materials — laminate, butcher block, granite, quartz, solid surface, tile
• Backsplash — ceramic, glass, stone
• Flooring — vinyl, tile, hardwood, laminate, carpet
• Drywall (whole sheets and scrap)
• Trim, baseboards, casings, crown molding
• Plumbing fixtures — sinks (stainless, composite, fireclay, cast iron)
• Appliances (with the freon caveat for the fridge)
• Electrical fixtures, outlets, wires, conduit
• Insulation (loose batts or contained)

Not allowed:

• Liquid paint, stains, finishes
• Solvents and cleaners
• Old caulk in tubes (cured caulk on materials is fine)
• Adhesive containers with liquid contents
• Live aerosol cans

Specific items people ask about

Granite countertops. Fine. Heavy — a typical kitchen’s worth of granite is 600–800 pounds — but well within roll-off limits.

Tile backsplash with mastic. Fine. The dust is the problem during demo, not the disposal.

Old butcher block. Fine, including any oiled or sealed wood.

Cast iron sinks. Fine, but heavy. Treat them as a major item for sizing.

Refrigerator. Need freon recovery before disposal. Most appliance shops do this for a small fee.

Dishwasher. Fine, no prep needed. Drain any water.

Garbage disposal unit. Fine.

Range hood with built-in lighting. Fine.

Lighting fixtures (recessed cans, pendant fixtures). Fine. If they’re old fluorescents with magnetic ballasts, the ballasts are technically fine in residential quantities; in a commercial-volume swap-out, ask about the ballasts specifically.

Stone backsplash with permanent adhesive. Fine. Just be aware demoing it generates dust.

A few money-savers

A real-world kitchen remodel can run 3–6 weeks. A few tactics to make the rental more efficient:

Donate first. If your old cabinets are in decent shape, Habitat for Humanity ReStore takes them. Same for working appliances. Less in the dumpster = more efficient use of the box.

Stage debris before loading. Pile the cabinets in the garage or on a tarp outside, then load them in the box together. Loose loading wastes volume.

Break down hollow items. Old cabinets are mostly air. Disassembling them before loading drops their volume by half.

Time the appliance hauls. If your new fridge is being delivered, the delivery crew will haul the old one (often free with delivery). That saves a chunk of dumpster volume.

Bag the small stuff. Drywall dust, paper, old shelf liners, cabinet drawer contents — all of this loads denser in contractor bags than loose.

What it looks like at the end

A well-planned kitchen remodel ends with a 15 yard that’s full to the fill line, the new kitchen done, and one phone call to schedule pickup. From a logistical standpoint, kitchen remodels are some of the cleanest jobs we work — predictable volume, predictable debris, predictable timing.

If you’re planning one in Boerne, the Hill Country, Mount Vernon, or Northeast Texas, give us a holler at (903) 806-4181 or book online when you have a start date. Same-day or next-day delivery is usually available, and we can confirm the right size for your specific project in two minutes.