Junk Removal, Dumpster Rental or Demolition: Which Do You Need?

All three end with debris leaving your property. The difference is who does the work and whether anything has to be torn out first.

Many projects use more than one. A homeowner might have us take down a shed, then rent a trailer for the garage cleanout they're doing themselves the same week.

Junk removal fits when the items are already sitting there and you don't want to touch them. We come out, carry everything out from wherever it is (garage, spare room, back patio, storage unit), load it, haul it to approved disposal and recycling facilities, and leave.

• Furniture, mattresses and appliances
• Garage, estate, storage unit and moving cleanouts
• A pile of renovation leftovers your contractor left behind
• Anything you can't or shouldn't lift yourself

How it's priced: by how much of our 18-yard trailer your items fill, not by the item. Labor, hauling and disposal are part of the price. Stairs, bagging loose material or breaking items down can add to it, and we tell you before work starts. See the load tiers on our pricing page, or text photos for a quote.

Real examples from our jobs: a homeowner getting ready to move in Cooper City had us pick up their junk from the house, and a family that had just moved into Sea Ranch Lakes had us haul away their cardboard and moving boxes. In Weston, we cleared out a full house before it was remodeled and resold, removing over 60 yards of household items using a 21-yard trailer.

A rental fits when you have the hands to load it and the debris comes out over several days, like a remodel, a decluttering project or a cleanout you want to sort through as you go. We drop the trailer in your driveway, you fill it, and we pick it up.

• 15 yard ($350): smaller cleanouts, single-room projects and yard debris
• 18 yard ($395): garage cleanouts, furniture removal and renovation debris
• 21 yard ($440): estate cleanouts, full-property cleanups and heavier debris loads
• 24 yard ($485): whole-home cleanouts, construction debris and major projects

Every size includes 7 days and 1 ton. Weight over that is $120 per ton, and $50 per day accrues beginning on the 8th day after delivery. A few items can't go in, including appliances with refrigerant, tires, batteries, paint and propane tanks; see what can't go in a dumpster.

Real examples: a new homeowner in Parkland rented an 18-yard trailer for 7 days to clear moving boxes, old furniture and construction debris before moving in. A customer in Weston cleaning out before a move kept a 21-yard trailer from Sunday to Thursday for furniture, boxes and household items. Contractors use rentals too: a national demolition contractor rented a 21-yard trailer from us for 14 days for work at a Best Buy store in Boca Raton. We supplied the trailer; the contractor did the demolition.

Not sure about size? Our size guide walks through it, or compare all four on the dumpster rentals page.

If the thing you want gone is still attached to the house or the ground, you need demolition before anything can be hauled. That covers interior work like gutting a kitchen or bathroom, pulling tile and drywall, and outdoor work like sheds, decks, pool decks, concrete slabs and detached structures, up to whole houses.

With our demolition service, one crew tears it out, loads it, hauls it away and sweeps up. You aren't coordinating a demolition crew and a separate dumpster on the same day.

Demolition is quoted per project, because the scope, materials and access change the work. Text photos from a few angles, or book a walkthrough for bigger jobs. Our guide to what affects demolition cost explains what we look at.

Permits and utility disconnections are the property owner's or their contractor's responsibility, not ours. Check with your city's building department before demolition starts.

Construction debris is where the three overlap most, and where people most often pick the wrong one.

• Your contractor is producing debris every day: a dump trailer on site lets the crew load as they go. For bigger or longer jobs, ask about swapping full trailers. Early on a Saturday, we swapped out a trailer for a client working at the Best Buy store in Sawgrass in Sunrise.
• The work is done and the debris is piled up: junk removal can clear it without a trailer sitting on site. In Pompano Beach, we cleared post-construction debris at a medical center for a contractor.
• The job runs for months: scheduled pickups can beat a trailer sitting in the driveway. In Boca Raton, we have handled weekly junk removal and construction cleanup at a mansion remodel for over a year.
• Nothing has been torn out yet: that's a demolition job, and the haul-off comes with it.

Don't count on your regular trash pickup for renovation debris. Miramar's Building Division, for example, says construction debris is not picked up with regular trash and points residents to the city's hauler. Check your own city's rules.

1. Does something need to be torn out or taken down? Yes: demolition. No: keep going.
2. Will you or your crew do the loading? Yes: dump trailer rental. No: junk removal.
3. Is it mostly concrete, pavers, tile or dirt? Ask for a clean fill trailer. See clean fill disposal.
4. Still not sure? Text a few photos to (954) 247-1399 and tell us what you want done. We'll tell you which option fits, or which combination.