Young House Love

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How We Liked Renting A Bagster Dumpster

So. My basement workshop. I owned up to how messy it was a few months ago.

Basement 2 Overall Mess

Then building Clara’s dollhouse prompted me to tidy it up a smidge – as in, look you can actually see some of the floor.

DHouse 1 Clean Basement

And then the deck happened and it all went to crap again. A big sawdusty, scrap wood cluttered pile of it.

Bagster 1 Basement Messy

But I made a promise to myself that once the deck was done I was going to take care of this issue once and for all. And I’m happy to report that after many hours, many calls, and some serious scrap-wood-carrying, some major progress has been made.

Bagster 9 Basement Clean

My secret? The Bagster. I walked by it enough times at Home Depot that I just decided to buy it and give it a try (so if this sounds like a Bagster ad, I promise it isn’t).

Bagster 2 John At Home Depot

The clutter was starting to give me anxiety and get in the way of doing new projects so it just. had. to. go. Bagster is basically a dumpster – just a cheaper, smaller, baggier form of one. So yes, after months of trying to decide how best to reuse or recycle my scrap wood pile, I just:

  • kept the stuff that I thought would be useful for future projects
  • gave everything else that I could to anyone else who would take it (free-scrap-wood ads on freecycle and craigslist worked for some of it, as well as contacting the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and a local wood-collection/pallet place – but there were still tons of scraps that no one wanted – even for free)
  • finally set my eco-induced guilt aside and decided to just Bagster the stuff that no one else would take (some of it was old and rotted anyway)
Bagster 3 Bag At Home

The bag itself was a $29 purchase and once folded it out, it promised to hold 3 cubic yards and up to 3,300 lbs. Assuming you don’t want their big trash truck on your driveway, you have to put the bag within 16 feet of the street (either on your yard or driveway) so that the truck’s crane can still reach it.

Bagster 4 John Folding Out

I have to admit, we both thought it looked kinda small once it was all folded out. We started to wonder if it would even hold all of the old rotting pallets that we wanted to get rid off, let alone my leftover deck scraps.

Bagster 5 Folded Out

It certainly didn’t help when our first piece of scrap (the rotting railing to our old balcony) was nearly too long to fit.

Bagster 6 Putting Railing In

But the railing fit and from there we just started piling other scrap in. By the end of the afternoon, the bag was pretty much at capacity. But the yellow straps could still touch (which are the rules) so I wasn’t worried about them rejecting my bag for pick-up. Although I was a bit worried that it would break when they tried to pick it up and I’d have wood scraps spilled across my driveway…

Bagster 8 Full

Once it was full I logged onto the Bagster website to schedule my pick-up. You tell them the first weekday it’s ready and they promise to send a truck within three business days. The pick-up fee differs depending on where you live, but for our county it was around $100. But thanks to a $20 off coupon code I found by Googling, our cost was only around $80 (not including the $29 for the original bag purchase). But compared to the $300 – $400 estimates that I got for a traditional dumpster, paying around 110 beans felt like a steal (I couldn’t have even rented a truck for the afternoon and paid the dumping fee for all that wood for that price). Plus, look at the awesome curb appeal (not).

Bagster 10 In Front Of House

Thankfully less than 48 hours after filling the bag, this big green Waste Management truck pulled up to take the eyesore away. We didn’t have to be home for the pick-up (the guy didn’t say a word to me), but I’m glad we were so I could capture the excitement / witness the potential disaster of wood raining down on us from a ripped bag.

Bagster 11 Truck Arriving

Out came the truck’s crane and the gentleman hooked up its strap to the two yellow handles on my bag.

Bagster 12 Hooking Up

And then up it went! No ripping whatsoever. It was awesome to see our car-sized container of wood get hoisted up like it was full of foam.

Bagster 13 In The Air

I managed to capture a little bit of the “action” on video. If you listen really carefully you might even be able to hear me holding my breath as it becomes airborne.

This was both literally and metaphorically a huge weight lifted off of me. Some of those rotten pallets (left outside for over a year by the old owners) have been taking up usable space in my basement for a while, and it’s downright invigorating just to have them out of my way. In fact, this may just be the beginning of a little basement organization / makeover project I’ve been dying to get to. Does anyone smell a man cave? Update: And by man cave I mean place-I-can-cut-wood-and-blast-manly-music (no lounge chair and TV or anything…).

Bagster 9 Basement Clean

Have you guys tried out The Bagster? Did it look super small at first (until you packed it to the gills)? Do you have another preferred method of removing renovation or project messes from your house? Sometimes we wish we had a big truck for these random occasions, but then we remember we’d have to pay for it, insure it, and gas it up (a daunting concept for us since we actually get a lot of our reno budget from only having to insure/gas one small car). We’ve decided the ideal situation would be a rich neighbor with a nice big truck that they’re happy to loan us in return for homemade cookies. Hey, a guy can dream, right?

Comments

  1. heather s. says

    I briefly contemplated it when I had my garage shingles replaced but for just $200 total I was able to get a huge dumpster for a week so I was able to clean out the garage and house in addition to using it for the demo of the old shingles. I may use it for smaller projects in the future though – it just wasn’t as cost effective for me for my bigger project.

    Reply

  2. Sarah says

    Bummer! this is such a great thing and I would love to use something like this for not only me but for my parents as well. They are having renovations at their house and this would be the perfect solution for waste…
    The only problem is that this is a WM product and isn’t sold within 40 miles of my house or my parents’ house. arg…
    Kind of wish other waste disposal places had options like this!

    Reply

  3. Laura says

    No rich neighbor needed. I’m fairly certain that if you guys were to request a local Richmond person to show up with a truck to haul/load/transport something large in their truck, you would have people lining up around the block. Ceramic animals awkwardly in hand (or affixed to the dashboard). Based on the response from yesterday’s book tour post concering your whereabouts, I’m just sayin…Petersiks got a fan club fo sho. Own it. :)

    Reply

  4. Tara says

    The year after we got married, that $1200 economic stimulus tax rebate thing went to every married couple. Happily, it coincided with a friend of my dad’s selling his Ford Ranger for $1500. We jumped at the chance and have never looked back. Because it is a 1999 model, and we don’t carry collision or comprehensive insurance, it doesn’t cost us much at all to have around. And it has totally paid for itself for when we moved, bringing home a rented sander to redo our hardwood floors, hauling scrap metal from our roof, loads of mulch and topsoil for the garden, and the list goes on. And we are the people that the neighbors and family ask to borrow the truck!

    Reply

  5. Rebecca says

    We’re actually pretty lucky that our city will pick up Construction Materials left at curbside – put out the same night as the garbage & recycling. However, they won’t take the large chunks of concrete that we’ve been hauling out of the “rock” garden the previous owners put in. Reusing old chunks of sidewalk concrete is not my idea of pretty landscaping.

    Reply

  6. jen says

    My boyfriend and I had gutted the kitchen and bath this year. We just take it all to the dump. At 50$ a ton we couldn’t go wrong. But there was a pile of drywall in the driveway until we got around to it.

    Reply

  8. Lindsey says

    My husband and I used one to remove an enormous deck in the middle of our backyard. It was handy, but I thought that the 100 pick up was excessive, especially since we had 2 bags and there was barely a discount for the second bag. I felt kinda like “You’re going to be here anyway, it should be half off for the second bag!”, but such is life!

    Reply

  9. Kevin J says

    Great job, John. I have to say, when I saw all that “perfectly good wood” (JK) … That’s my biggest problem, getting rid of scraps that I’ll never use, that nobody wants, but that still seem like they should be good to somebody. Thanks for the inspiration to git ‘er done and git ’em gone!

    Reply

  10. Michelle says

    In an effort to save money for our remodel, we used Bagster bags. It probably would have been cheaper to use a baby dumpster in the end, since gutting two bathrooms and part of a basement required THREE Bagsters, haha, but it was nice to still be able to pull both of our cars into the garage despite the hell breaking loose inside. I just crossed my fingers they weren’t too heavy for pickup, and then on the day when I came home from work, they were magically gone. Crisis averted!

    Reply

  11. Jen. says

    Our city has large-item curbside pickup once a month, though much of what goes on the curb is actually picked up by scrappers the day before. They also will deliver a dumpster to your house 2x per year and pick it up after it’s filled as part of our regular tax-funded trash service. It’s been SO much better than our old city, which didn’t even pick up Christmas trees anymore and wouldn’t take anything that wasn’t in/didn’t fit in the city-provided trash can.

    Reply

  12. Patti says

    Oh my, that’s a lot of scrap wood. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for your basement so I can copy some of your ideas!

    Reply

  13. Elise R. says

    We love love love the Bagster! We used them 3 times this summer. The last time, after we filled it up, a lot of the stuff got garbage-picked by people. That freed up space for even more of our crap. A win-win situation! Congrats on the fresh new look in your basement.

    Reply

  14. Amanda says

    Wow, being a country girl, it never occurred to me that in the suburbs it takes so much money and time to solve issues like this. One suggestion I have is relayrides.com. I’ve got my car listed, but I’m thinking of listing my husband’s big ol truck just because I keep hearing people say thing like, “I really wish I had access to a truck.”

    Reply

  15. Kim says

    Are there restrictions as to what items you can put in the Bagster? We paid about $100 to have Junkyard Dogs haul away some stuff for us (broken large plastic outdoor play slide, ride-on toy, old school big screen, and other junk/trash, rotted pallets, etc) Congrats on getting your workshop cleaned out!

    Reply

  16. Annie says

    We love the bagster! We’ve used it on three different projects at our house and I’m always so excited when I come home and it’s not in the driveway anymore. I totally understand the feeling – because my thought is what would we do if they won’t pick it up?! And ours has always been filled with much worse things than wood scraps (think old toilets….yeah nice picture huh?!)

    Reply

  17. Tessa says

    I just had a 20 cubic yard dumpster removed from my driveway! It was full of a lot of clutter purging as well as windows from our window replacement project and several other small projects around the house. We cleaned our basement and though it is much larger than yours, the whole thing looked like yours did before I started! It was a huge project.

    I use most of my (untreated) scrap lumber that I can’t re-use as firewood for our outdoor firepit. If you can have an ourdoor firepit in Ricmond, maybe you could use some of your scraps for that? We really enjoy it and at least the wood is used for something that way. I always hate having to put it in the dumpster.

    Reply

  19. Kelley says

    I am a volunteer firefighter in my county, and our local hardware store donated a Bagster to us, for use on a big fire scene. Fortunately we have still yet to use it, which means stuff isn’t burning down, but our Bagster is still ready and waiting for its day of glory!

    Reply

  20. Megan says

    We had a fire in our old apartment a few months ago and had to pitch a ton of smoke damaged stuff. We looked in to the Bagster, but we couldn’t put mattresses or electronics in them, so we needed something else. We ended up getting a dumpster parked behind our garage, directly under the second story balcony. Throwing televisions and mattresses off the balcony was the perfect way to relieve the stress from the fire.

    Reply

  21. Margo says

    Our county has a TERRIFIC dump/recycling center nearby so we typically just load up the car with stuff, drive to the dump (FOR FREE), and dump!

    Reply

  22. Evonne says

    Nice!

    We’ve eyed the Bagster and nearly bought one on Kijiji or Craigslist a couple of times from others who didn’t end up using it (for less than the original price at Home depot). Luckily, there was a deal on one of those daily deal sites for a Safari Sac (http://safarirentabin.ca/), a local equivalent. There may be local companies in other areas competing with Bagster with a similar product. We packed it full of scraps from our basement deconstruction. Very handy and way cheaper than the dumping fees, especially for heavy things like old mortar.

    On the car note (because this comment isn’t already too long :), we treat our little fuel-efficient Hyundai hatchback like a truck. It’s hauled dozens of 2×4 at a time, many sheets of drywall and plywood have been strapped to the roof, and even a new (to us) fridge got a ride inside. Who needs a truck when you have a hatchback or station wagon?

    Reply

  24. Lori says

    While the Bagster seems awesome, I have the a bad experience with it! My neighbor was doing a bathroom remodel and had a Bagster out on his curb. Well, the remodel took FOUR MONTHS, and the Bagster was on the curb the whole time. Mind you, the houses in my suburb are very close together, so the Bagster was 10 feet from my driveway. I think in the end, he didn’t even end up needing it at all, because it never got more than 10% full. What a waste of money for him, and a huge eyesore for me!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ugh, that is a pain! We can definitely attest that it’s not a curb appeal dream for sure. We loaded that baby up and called it in as soon as possible so our neighbors wouldn’t give us the stink eye!

      xo
      s

    • Lori says

      Haha I wish you guys were my neighbors instead :) Ultimately, another person in our neighborhood left a note on his door that say “Hey Neighbor, mind getting rid of the Bagster? Thanks!” It disappeared quickly after that!

  25. Kathi says

    We used a bagster for our bathroom renovations (2 bathrooms – gutted and redone) last summer….greatest thing ever and SO much cheaper than a traditional dumpster.

    Reply

  26. Kim says

    Wow, I feel lucky that we can put out stuff every week, free of charge-or rather paid by our county taxes. They won’t pick up gigantic piles, but they will pick up quite a lot. We have done a Shawshank Redemption type maneuver with big projects, i.e. put stuff out a little at a time until it’s gone ;)

    Reply

  27. Tracey Bradshaw says

    We are very fortunate that our local council (Suburban Adelaide in South Australia) has a free hard waste collection twice a year and some areas even have 2 or 3 free collections per household via booking.
    As well as getting rid of reno/demolition debris, DIY offcuts and old household junk etc, for free (woot) it is also a great opportunity to cruise the neighborhood curbshopping for ‘treasures’. Crazy thing is, sometimes I collect more than I throw away – doh!
    We also have an SUV and an 8’x5′ utility trailer which makes hauling stuff ourselves pretty easy.

    Reply

  28. Amelia R. says

    Bummer you don’t have scrap wood and yard/garden waste recycling in your area. Here in my neck of the woods, you just bring it to the recycling center or one of three different businesses that sell wood chips and such . . . they usually charge me a couple of bucks a carload, and the wood gets turned into fuel or chopped into mulch or compost. That’s Oregon for you!

    Reply

  29. Suni says

    I have never even heard of Bagster, but we are totally going to be taking advantage of that perk! Thanks so much. Your basement look so very nice..good job John!

    Reply

  30. Eve says

    This is seriously awesome… I’ve never heard of the Bagster but I’m definitely pinning this to show my husband and another friend! I wonder if they’ll take empty paint cans…

    Reply

  31. Christine says

    Thanks for sharing. Sadly, I think my basement may be too much mess for the bagster, although, I like the notion. My basement is the scariest. I am new to blogging, but when I posted a video of my messy basement, I got so much love from friends and family. It seems that everyone can relate to having a ‘dirty little secret’ of a room in one’s house. Thanks for sharing your messes, as well as your triumphs!

    Reply

  33. Adrienne says

    We purchased our first home in May and surprise surprise, the older gentleman who lived there left tons of crap in the garage (old cabinets, 20+ florescent bulbs, granite, rebar, gallons of dead paint and motor oil). Luckily our neighborhood offers a subsidized hazardous waste pickup system and we got the Bagster for the rest. My husband had to cut some pieces to make them fit, but it was awesome to come home from work and bam, it was gone! I only wish you could put some serious concrete in there, we have patio pavers we need to remove next summer and we will have to go to the dump, a whopping 50 miles away. :-(

    Reply

  34. Anne says

    We’ve used the Bagster a few times to get rid of renovation waste. We also felt the guilt of sending all that to the dump, but couldn’t come up with any other options. Luckily our lawn guy was interested in a bunch of scraps, so we were able to send a good bit of stuff with him. Of course, I suspect he’s something of a junk hoarder, so it’s perhaps not in his best interest… Oh well, what can you do? Glad to see the Bagster worked out well for you! It feels so good to clear out a crazy basement! Congrats.

    Reply

  35. Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says

    HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!! I wish we had something like that around us…but out in the stick, well we usually use the sticks for firewood (provided they aren’t treated). ;-)

    Our garage is beyond a disaster, we now can only stand in the door way and then it becomes some sort of Olymic event to get something you need….balance, volley, jump, stick the landing and repeat upon exiting. ;-)

    Reply

  36. schmei says

    I just want to give you kudos for the amazing basement cleanup, John. My husband and I inherited truckloads of things the family deemed “useable” (read: complete junk) from DH’s grandfather’s garage this summer, and DH has spent DAYS sorting, organizing, and trashing about 85% of the stuff (which wound up in OUR garage) so that we can do crazy things like park our car. It’s dirty, seemingly thankless work when you’re doing it, but it’s SO NICE to have a tidy, functional man-cave area. And I say that as the lady-wife in the arrangement. :-) Nice job.

    Reply

  38. Lisa B says

    I’ve wanted to use one of these, but the closest Home Depot is 30 min away and I’m wondering if there is anyone to do pick up. Ah the joys of not living in a big city. Such an awesome concept!

    Reply

  39. janetl says

    Love how the basement looks! Some of my favorite posts are ones that include room pics that are absolutely wrecked to everything being organized. Never heard of bagster before but it seems pretty cool. Was it only wood or would they take anything?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think they’ll take a ton of reno junk (drywall, mortar, mesh, wood, etc) – I’ve heard they won’t take mattress or appliances though, so maybe check their site for the full list?

      xo
      s

  40. Starr @ The Kiefer Cottage says

    We’d like to use one for our bathroom reno, but I’m going to have to check with our city about permits. You need a permit to sneeze around here, and I’d rather not get cited for having an unauthorized anything in my front yard.

    Reply

  43. Paige says

    That is awesome! No, we haven’t tried it, but thanks to your convincing — I think we will! A few years ago we paid over $300 for a dumpster!

    Reply

  44. Emily says

    What a great idea! In all my trips to Lowes and HD, I hadn’t seen this before. I have a feeling that this tip will be so helpful, my husband might stop giving me a hard time about my design blog obsession. Thanks, y’all!

    Reply

  46. Margaret says

    We just moved, so I feel you on mess being a total de-motivator. It makes me want to take a nap!

    Can we talk about how great New Girl is? hah, I loved that instagram shot! “Don’t let me lay eyes on that Malm collection…”

    Reply

  47. Celeste says

    I can’t wait for my Husband’s basement workshop to be organized. We just moved in and haven’t put things into place yet, but he has a ton of woodworking tools and a couple of big workbenches. Kudos to you for getting it done and alerting me to how a Bagster works (might need it in the future). LOVE your blog!

    Reply

  49. Danie says

    I have never even heard of the bagster but I totally might give it a try if I ever need to. We have a regular size pick-up so driving our junk to the dumptser is the easy thing for us. We have rented a dumptser before when renovating our rental property, and I can testify that they are EXPENSIVE!!! Not to mention the damage they do to your lawn! :(

    Reply

  50. heyruthie says

    i actually love the little detail in the “curb appeal” shot of your two lounge chairs and drink table at the top of the driveway. I have a daughter Clara’s age, and I do a lot of sitting and watching while she rides her “bike” on the driveway. It’s such a fun age.

    Reply

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