The Default Choice
20 Yard Dumpster Rental in Lakewood, CO
Twenty-two feet long, four and a half foot walls, three to four tons. This is the container we drop more than any other in Lakewood, because it covers the mixed-debris middle where most remodels, roofs and cleanouts actually live.
Twenty-two feet long, eight wide, four and a half feet tall — six to eight pickup loads with a three to four ton allowance. It is the most-rented can we own for a plain reason: most jobs are mixed debris, and mixed debris runs out of volume and weight at roughly the same time in this size. Good for construction and remodel work alike.
- Capacity20 cubic yards
- Footprint22 ft x 8 ft x 4.5 ft
- Weight allowance3 – 4 tons
- Holds about~6 – 8 pickup truck loads
Why people choose the 20 yard
Mixed debris is the sweet spot. A basement finish produces drywall, framing scrap, carpet, doors, trim and a few buckets of tile mud — nothing dense enough to demand a 10, nothing bulky enough to justify a 30. Same with a full-floor remodel or a two-layer tear-off. When the pile has some of everything, a 20 yard usually ends the job in one pull instead of two, and one pull is always the cheaper answer.
It is the roofing default for anything above a simple single-layer ranch. Architectural shingles at 350 to 450 pounds per square, or Class 4 impact-resistant heavier again, add up quickly on a 30-square two-story. This size gives the tear-off crew room to work without setting up a weight problem. What it is not is a tile-roof container — see the tear-off size guide for that math.
The footprint is the same 22 feet as a 30 or 40, so on a tight lot the 20 costs you nothing in ground space and gives you back weight allowance and a lower rail. Four and a half feet is still a manageable hand-load height. When a customer describes a job and it could go either direction, this is where we land them, and it is right most of the time. Compare on the sizes page.
Good fit for
- Whole-basement finish or remodel debris
- Two-layer or architectural shingle tear-off
- Large kitchen and bath renovation combined
- Multi-room flooring and drywall replacement
- Full-house cleanout on a smaller home
- Deck, fence and pergola demolition
- Small commercial tenant improvement work
- Mixed construction debris on a remodel site
Not the right size for
- Clean concrete, gravel or fill dirt
- Concrete or clay tile roof tear-offs
- Sod and soil stripping projects
- Framing phase on a full new build
Will it fit?
Budget about 26 feet of length and 10 feet of width, roughly 60 feet of straight approach, and 23 feet of overhead clearance. On steeper foothills drives toward Morrison and Evergreen we will want to see the grade first — a loaded 20 leaving a downhill approach is a different problem than an empty one arriving. HOA and metro-district rules in Ken Caryl and Solterra sometimes cap placement days. Check our service areas or call ahead.
Before delivery, move cars and bins, mark irrigation heads and septic lids, and tell us about new concrete, soft ground, a steep grade or low power lines. Our delivery and driveway protection guide covers all of it.
Compare all four sizes
| Size | Footprint | Weight allowance | Holds about | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Yard Dumpster | 12 ft x 8 ft x 3.5 ft | 2 – 3 tons | ~3 pickup truck loads | Concrete, flagstone, landscape rock, brick, dirt, tile and small heavy-debris jobs. |
| 15 Yard Dumpster | 16 ft x 8 ft x 4 ft | 2 – 3 tons | ~4 – 5 pickup truck loads | Single-room remodels, roof tear-offs to about 20 squares, garage cleanouts. |
| 20 Yard Dumpster | 22 ft x 8 ft x 4.5 ft | 3 – 4 tons | ~6 – 8 pickup truck loads | Kitchen guts, basement finishes, multi-room renovations, large cleanouts. |
| 30 Yard Dumpster | 22 ft x 8 ft x 6 ft | 4 – 5 tons | ~9 – 12 pickup truck loads | Whole-home cleanouts, new construction, additions, commercial projects. |
| 40 Yard Dumpster | 22 ft x 8 ft x 8 ft | 5 – 6 tons | ~14 – 16 pickup truck loads | Maximum volume for bulky light debris: framing, siding, cabinetry, fit-outs. |
Still not sure? Describe what you are throwing away and we will size it on the phone in two minutes. Getting it wrong costs us more than it costs you, so we have every reason to get it right. Call (720) 473-6600.
Book a 20 yard
Flat rate including delivery, pickup, rental period and disposal. Same-day where we can.
(720) 473-6600Other sizes
Popular services
All sizes
Compare our four roll-off containers
10 Yard Dumpster
Concrete, flagstone, landscape rock, brick, dirt, tile and small heavy-debris jobs.
View this size → 15yd³15 Yard Dumpster
Single-room remodels, roof tear-offs to about 20 squares, garage cleanouts.
View this size → 20yd³20 Yard Dumpster
Kitchen guts, basement finishes, multi-room renovations, large cleanouts.
View this size → 30yd³30 Yard Dumpster
Whole-home cleanouts, new construction, additions, commercial projects.
View this size → 40yd³40 Yard Dumpster
Maximum volume for bulky light debris: framing, siding, cabinetry, fit-outs.
View this size →20 Yard Dumpster FAQs
Why is the 20 yard your most popular size?
Because it matches how real projects generate debris. Most remodels and cleanouts produce a mix — light bulky material plus a moderate amount of heavy — and this size hits the volume ceiling and the weight ceiling at about the same time. That is what efficient looks like. Roughly half of what we deliver around Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Golden is a 20. Call (720) 473-6600 and describe your pile.
Is it big enough for a whole-house cleanout?
For a smaller home with normal contents, usually yes. For a fully furnished house with a packed basement, garage and decades of accumulation, step up to a 30 yard. Furniture and boxes are bulky-light, so you run out of space long before tonnage. Our cleanout checklist walks through estimating it room by room.
Can I load heavy material into a 20 yard?
Some, not a lot. Three to four tons is your ceiling and dense debris burns through it fast — concrete, rock and soil all run 2,400 pounds a cubic yard or more, so a couple feet of it in the bottom is already most of your allowance. If the job is primarily heavy, a 10 yard is the right and cheaper tool. See heavy debris service for how we handle those loads.
Do I need a permit to put it on the street?
If any part of the container sits in the public right of way, yes — and every jurisdiction out here handles it separately. Lakewood, Denver, Golden, Wheat Ridge and Jefferson County unincorporated all have their own street occupancy process and timelines. Driveway placement avoids the whole thing. We have been pulling these since 2012 and can point you at the right office: permit guide.
What cannot go in the container?
No liquid paint, solvents, oil, fuel, batteries, tires, refrigerant appliances or anything with an asbestos flag on it. Electronics and mattresses have their own handling in Jefferson County. Everything else in a normal remodel or cleanout is fair game. If you are unsure about one specific item, ask before you throw it in — a rejected load costs everybody a day. Full list here.
Services
What people put in a 20 yard
Residential Dumpster Rental
Driveway, alley or street placement for cleanouts, remodels and basement projects.
Learn more →Commercial Dumpster Rental
Scheduled and on-call containers for retail, restaurants, offices and property managers.
Learn more →Construction Dumpster Rental
Jobsite roll-offs and next-day swap-outs for builders, remodelers and GCs.
Learn more →Roofing Dumpster Rental
Weight-rated cans for hail tear-offs, Class 4 shingle and concrete tile roofs.
Learn more →Roll-Off Dumpster Rental
10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 yard roll-offs delivered across Lakewood and Jefferson County.
Learn more →Same-Day Dumpster Rental
Call before the cut-off and we can usually get a container to you this afternoon.
Learn more →Talk to a real person
Need a 20 yard in Lakewood?
Tell us what you are clearing out and we will tell you the right size and the flat price to put it in your driveway. No forms, no waiting on an email — just call and we will sort it out in a couple of minutes.
Serving Lakewood, Jefferson County and the west Denver metro · Mon–Fri 6:30am–6pm, Sat 7am–3pm