Kitchen remodels come up a lot in sizing questions, and they're one of the trickier sizing decisions for homeowners. The short answer for a full gut: usually a 20-yard. The longer answer depends on what's coming out and what materials you're starting with.
Here's how to think about it.
What comes out of a typical kitchen
A full kitchen gut produces more debris than people expect because of how much material is packed into a relatively small footprint. The list usually includes:
- Cabinets (boxes and doors)
- Countertops (granite, quartz, laminate, or butcher block, all heavier than they look)
- Backsplash tile (with mortar attached)
- Sink, faucet, garbage disposal
- Dishwasher, range, hood, refrigerator (or some subset)
- Flooring (tile, vinyl, hardwood, laminate)
- Drywall (if walls are coming out or being patched)
- Subflooring if it's being replaced
- Electrical and plumbing demo material
- Trim, baseboards, crown molding
Most full-gut kitchens produce more debris than you'd think from the room size, because so much material is packed into a small footprint. Add to that any structural changes (walls coming down, soffits coming out, a pantry being reworked).
Why the 20-yard is the default
A 20-yard is 14' L x 8' W x 6' H with a 2-ton weight allowance. For a typical kitchen gut, the math works out:
- Cabinets and trim are light but voluminous (10 to 15% of capacity)
- Drywall and flooring are mid-weight (30 to 40% of capacity)
- Tile, countertops, and any masonry are heavy (20 to 30% of weight)
- Appliances pulled out for replacement add the per-item disposal fees but not much weight
A 20-yard handles a full gut with some room to spare. The weight allowance usually doesn't get touched unless the kitchen has unusual materials (heavy stone, lots of mortar-set tile, a brick wall).
When the 15-yard is enough
A 15-yard (same 12-foot footprint as the 10-yard tier, 1.5-ton allowance) works for:
- Kitchen refresh (cabinets stay, paint, countertops, hardware swap)
- Single-wall kitchen
- Galley kitchen in an apartment or condo
- "Soft" kitchen demo where the appliances stay and only finish materials change
If your project is keeping most of the structure and just changing the surfaces, a 15 is usually right.
When the 30-yard makes sense
A 30-yard (18' L x 8' W x 6.5' H, 3-ton allowance) for a kitchen reno is overkill unless:
- The kitchen is part of a larger renovation (kitchen plus living room plus bath)
- Walls are coming out and there's a lot of structural debris
- The original kitchen has heavy materials (lots of tile, masonry, brick)
- The job is on a contractor-scheduled timeline with multiple trades
For most homeowner kitchen renos, the 30 is too much container.
The materials that change the math
Some materials shift the sizing calculation:
- Tile floor with mortar attached. Heavy. A small kitchen with tile floor can hit a 15-yard's weight allowance.
- Granite or quartz countertops. Stone is dense. A galley kitchen's countertops alone can weigh 600+ pounds.
- Plaster-and-lath walls (older homes). Much heavier than modern drywall. Older NH homes often have this, especially anything pre-1960.
- Multi-layer flooring. If the kitchen has vinyl over tile over linoleum over wood, all three or four layers come up. Adds significant volume.
If any of these are in play, size up.
What about the appliances
Old appliances getting replaced come out during the demo phase. Refrigerators, freezers, and AC units (window units in older kitchens) carry a small refrigerant recovery fee on the disposal side. See our refrigerator removal post for the details.
If you've got a refrigerator going, mention it on the booking call so it's quoted up front.
What about the cabinets
A note for contractors and DIYers: kitchen cabinets break down into a lot of volume if they go in intact. Stacked, they take less space.
Most cabinets come out in three pieces (box, doors, drawers). If you can stack the boxes inside each other or pull the doors and shelves out and stack flat, the cabinets occupy maybe a third of the volume they would going in intact. Worth doing if the dumpster is close to capacity.
A typical kitchen reno timeline with one dumpster
Standard rental is 7 days with a day or two of flex. Many kitchen renos run longer than a week from start to finish, but the demo-and-haul portion usually fits within the standard window. For longer projects, mention the rental window on the booking call so we can sort it out.
For homeowner-led renos, the timeline stretches because the loading happens in evening and weekend bursts. Same conversation about extending the rental if needed.
The booking call
For a kitchen reno dumpster:
- Rough kitchen size (galley, small U, large open-concept)
- Demo scope (refresh, half gut, full gut, structural)
- Materials coming out (modern drywall vs plaster, tile, masonry)
- Old appliances going (refrigerator, dishwasher, range, hood)
- Driveway access and surface
Text the kitchen photos to 603-634-9947 if you've got them.
Call 603-634-9947 for sizing help. For more on construction debris dumpsters generally, see our construction debris page.