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. Allison W says

    We ripped out our particle board subfloor we tried the bagster but quickly returned the thing realizing we’d need at least two bagsters. Instead we made a qiute few trips to our local dump for less than it would have cost to pick up one bagster! I think it’s a great idea but it just wasn’t going to work for us!!

    Reply

  3. Addie Klein says

    We used bagster when we redid our laundry room. It was awesome. I agree that they look small, but then hold so much.
    John, I’m proud of you for cleaning out that basement! Good for you! Can’t wait to see what you do to organize it now. I’d love to see those peg boards turned into an homage to Julia.

    Reply

  4. Deborah Nowland says

    Our neighbors borrow our large truck all the time! I LOVE when the gas tank comes back full! So I guess we are the “rich” neighbors with the truck! Ha!

    Reply

  5. Mary says

    I’m so embarassingly excited about this! We bought our house about a year and a half ago and have weird random yard junk the previous owners left that we needed to get a dumpster to dispose of. We also are about to tear out our front sidewalk and have to have a way to get rid of the old concrete. We were going to rent a dumpster because I didn’t think Bagster was available in our area. Thanks to you guys, I looked it up and it is. I can’t wait to go home and tell my husband we can start ripping out the sidewalk!

    Reply

  7. stephanie says

    We live out in the sticks, so I’m not really sure about rules in town, but have you guys thought about just burning the scraps?

    Reply

  8. Rachelle says

    Ahh if you lived near us we’d loan you our truck (we aren’t rich though) and haul the wood to our firepit. Btw Excited to attend the event in Cincy!

    Reply

  9. Susan says

    Sadly I don’t think we have Bagster out in the Olympia Wa area. I know we can rent dumpsters or just figure out how to schlep our junk to the landfill ourselves. The Bagster looked pretty cool. Did Clara love watching it?

    Reply

  10. Paula says

    Another thought on curbside pick up – in our area we get two free “tow away days” each year. Basically, we can put out as much trash as we want as long as we call ahead (and get an pre-assigned day) and and our garbage company takes it away. They won’t haul contstruction garbage, though, but they did take our away all of our old carpet (which we’d ripped out and cut into 5×6 foot squares), which saved us about $350.

    The bagster looks like it would cover off on the need to haul construction garbage, though :) So I will keep in in mind! Love the play by play of it being hauled away!

    Reply

  11. Kari says

    Do you guys have a zipcar car sharing program in your area? You can rent SUVs for around $10/hour which includes insurance, gas, etc, and are not obligated to rent for a whole day or anything.

    Reply

  12. Matt says

    I have used the bagster once, and it was great. We did some work in our kitchen (remove walls, replace countertops and the like)…so the bagsster came in real handy… and yes the size was very deceiving.

    I also have a ton of wood in my basement which has been building up and need to get rid of…my plan is to cut everything up into smaller pieces, store it in my shed and use that in our fire pit outside or in the fireplace inside (except for treated wood of course. Free Firewood for the fall/winter!! The rest I can bring to the dump which they recycle.

    Reply

  13. Erin Rose says

    Hey this is totally unrelated but I am SO excited to see pics of how you decorate for Christmas this year with your new home layout (kitchen, various arrangements, etc). You guys are always super inspirational and I think we’ll do some homemade ornaments with citrus fruits this year as a copy cat :) Also, we are vowing not to buy any ornaments/decor this year, so any crafty advice is welcome! :)

    Reply

  15. Lindsey says

    My husband was given some countertops that were in GREAT used condition. He just finished up using two of them to make a nice long work bench in our garage and is about to make me a big garden shelf to store all my gardening things. We have lived with a messy messy garage for long enough and it feels so great to have some organization now. Now that he knows where all his tools are at he is crossing lots of our “to do list”! Feels GREAT!!! I look forward to seeing what you do to this space so it can give us some more ideas.

    Reply

  16. Lisa says

    Have you ever looked to see if your city will rent you a dumpster? Ours will rent one to us for a tiny fee $30! They drop it off and pick it up and place it right on our driveway where we want it.

    Reply

  17. Ashley @ Happy Penguin Press says

    Purging is SUCH a good feeling!

    We have two cars now, but we both wish we could go back to having one. We were a one-car, carpooling family (of two) for years and really enjoyed it. Not only did we save money on the gas/upkeep/insurance sides of things, but we had that time together in the mornings and evenings when we weren’t distracted by TV and other necessities. We used the time to connect with each other and chat before we got home and busy with dinner. I’d love to go back to that way, if/when our commutes align again. Cheers to one-car families!

    Reply

  18. Ellen says

    I’ve been wanting to use the Bagster ever since I saw an online ad for it a while back. But they don’t service our zip code – boo!! Fortunately, our city rents out dumpsters for $100, so that’s something we’re going to have to use for the rednecksville of renovation crap that is our backyard.

    Reply

  19. Crystal @ 29 Rue House says

    Thanks so much for posting about this! We’ve got a bunch of junk leftover from some minor kitchen remodeling and we’ve got more coming in the next few weeks! I had no idea that this existed and it should surely help us clean out our garage that I would love to be work cave. I need room to do painting and Aaron needs more room for sawing!

    Reply

  20. qs777 says

    Love the idea of the bagster. I actually think it looks a lot nicer than a dumpster. We had always wanted to try it, but in our location (CA) the cost of pick-up was nearly 3 times that of a regular dumpster :( I’m glad it works for you and others, though. The basement is looking good!

    Reply

  22. Sonya says

    I’ve never done bagster, but I’ve done traditional dumpsters in Chicago. Let me tell you, living on one-way street, with no driveway and trying to block off space for your dumpster for the 4 hour window is no picnic. But then, watching the dump truck driver expertly maneuver the dumpster into place against the curb is an unexpected (and weird) obsession of mine. It takes mad skills.

    Reply

  23. Stef says

    We reeeeally wanted to use one of these while moving but the placement instructions were too strict for our house. At the time we lived in a neighborhood on the outskirts of a city – so little 1940s bungalows with a separate garage behind and lots of very large trees, thus no way for the crane to reach. Oh, and Pleasantville-like ordinances against anything in the street. Such a huge bummer.

    Reply

  24. Laura says

    We have had to do ridiculous things to get rid of stuff as we reno our house. I was surprised to find that Bagster isn’t in Seattle. We took down an entire fence (like 60 feet of privacy fence) and cut it into small pieces and put a little in our regular trash for about 3 months! It worked and we got rid of it all! Haha!

    Reply

  25. Chris says

    Do you not have waste pick up in your area for these types of things? In addition to regular trash pick up, our city offers pick-ups once a week for building materials, scrap, etc. so long as it is homeowner-generated waste (i.e. you have do be a DIYer; we couldn’t hire a contractor to renovate our kitchen and let him leave the mess outside for pick up.) My husband recently tore down our old rotten fence and installed a new one. The city took all the old fence pieces away (and there were a lot!!) Anyway, readers might want to call their local government to see if this is offered for free! You might be lucky!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The trash pick up in our county is private, so it all depends on who you hire to take your trash. I could’ve paid ours to bring a dumpster, but that would’ve been more expensive.

      -John

  27. Kate says

    oh oh! i live on the southside too (a little south-ier though…in Woodlake) and DO have a big giant truck…I don’t even need cookie payment if y’all ever need anything! (is that creepy? haha)

    Reply

  28. kara says

    i love that you went to so much effort to give away your stuff before dumpstering (bagstering?) it. thanks for walking the walk, and inspiring a whole lot of people to do the same :)

    Reply

  30. Raven1025 says

    We got one for our kitchen remodel a few years ago. Unfortunately, our neighbors freaked out about it before we were done filling it to have it picked up and they instead had us load it into their van and go to the dump with them. So, we never got the exciting crane action :(

    (Our neighbors were crazy, btw. Nice, but crazy.)

    Reply

  31. Adaena says

    We bought and filled two Bagsters during our house renovations. But, the Waste Management company couldn’t haul them because of the power lines (which I swear were not in the way)! So I had to call a junk debris guy to come get it all, then sold my Bagsters to the neighbor who was tearing out his deck. It all worked out in the end. What a pain it was though!

    Reply

  32. Amy says

    Your wood scraps are nothing! We ripped out 500 sq ft of ceramic tile and cement backer board and filled that bagster up! I thought for sure we would have to shovel out massive amounts when the truck came, but that canvas held, even though the WM guy said it was over 3300 lbs! Oops. Basement looks great, wanna come do our garage?

    Reply

  33. Stacey says

    Can’t wait to see what John does with the basement/man-cave! My husband needs some serious motivation to orgqanize his tools in the garage!!
    And even though he thinks I’m silly for reading this blog twice a day, he always suddenly finds you guys amazing when I show him an awesome project of yours for inspiration for our own house!
    so, Inspire on!

    Reply

  34. Meredith says

    Yay! Thanks for sharing this! We just recently ripped out some heinous plant beds and other landscaping terrors at our new house and had NO IDEA what to do with all the brick, wood and dirt. We have a small backyard that is visible to the neighborhood so there is no where to really store it/hide it. We were looking for something just like this. A life saver! Thanks so much. You guys are amazing and have been a HUGE help as we have moved in and started DIY’ing our new house.

    Reply

  35. Julie says

    We used a bagster when we tore out our kitchen and bathroom… It was pretty fantastic and even the bathtub fit! I’m kicking myself that I didn’t google for a coupon though, usually I’m really good about that.

    Reply

  36. Andrea says

    We have a big truck, so we load it down and dispose of the junk at the dump for $10. We don’t have the Bagster service here in NOLA.

    Reply

  37. Amy @ Croquet & Cocktails says

    My husband has a truck. It is, quite literally, the neighborhood truck. I honestly think the neighbors have his work schedule memorized so they can plan moves, mulch hauls, etc while he’s away.

    Sure wish they’d make me some cookies… Too bad you guys don’t live by us. I’d totally put you at the top of the lending list if chocolate chip was involved.

    Reply

  38. Pat C says

    You guys might want to take a look at this magazine by Reader’s Digest. It’s “The Family Handyman”. The issue I got (back in 2010) is called Get Organized!.

    They have 155 DIY Projects and many of them are perfect for a workshop, garage (including suspended storage), kitchen, closet and laundry room. I must say that a good 50% of the projects have to do with the home workshop.

    It’s got some great ideas – which is why I’m keeping this issue – not tossing it like other magazines. Perhaps there is a newer issue you can get your hands on now. I found mine at my local B & N store.
    IGood luck!

    Reply

  39. Jessica C. says

    The bagster is really cool, never heard of it before now! Side thought… have you ever thought about maybe in the future adding stairs somewhere in the house that would lead down to the basement? Also to finish it so it’s more livable sq footage? I love the idea of basements and seeing basement remodels, since I am in FL and we don’t have any. :(

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Here detached basements are common (and adding stairs would cut into our master and make it attached to the basement, which isn’t really ideal for us). A lot of full basements are normal and attached, but the detached ones are usually created only under an addition (ex: they added our master and made a small separate entry basement under it in the 70s). Hope that makes sense!

      xo
      s

  40. Torey says

    We recently got an awesome groupon for a company called green clean and demo here in Omaha, Nebraska. The concept is that they will take anything you want (no paint or hazardous stuff unless you want to pay extra) and they will donate/reuse/rehab whatever they can to prevent it from all ending up in the landfill. Bonus is that they will load it all up for you too. They came and loaded all the stuff up in about and hour. Best part was that we only paid $159 for 8 cubic yards. . so we got rid of a LOT of stuff. I don’t know if the company is a chain but it is a wonderful idea/option for the eco minded.

    Reply

  42. Annie R. says

    I’ve never heard of the bagster! My husband would look at that wood and think “FIRE!!” You couldn’t just burn it?

    Reply

  43. Aarohi says

    ughh you have to pay to take away your trash in America? In my country we get money to give recyclable trash like paper, wood and plastic. But anyways this is so cool to watch, I ended up watching 2 other youtube videos on bagster.
    When you have fun watching bagster videos then you know you’ve changed hah!

    Reply

  46. Chelsea Davis says

    I agree, the bagster is amazing!! I’m just wondering why you didn’t put all that wood on craigslist for free? I am building an upcycled patio sectional, entirely from recycled wood and would have LUV’d to come raid your bagster! :) I’m just sure someone could have used it.

    Reply

  47. heather says

    When we started renovating earlier this summer we rented a huge dumpster for the driveway and I can’t say I’ve been dissapointed. I have no idea how we would have handled all of the (non-recyclable) materials. We burn most of the excess wood scraps (not pressure treated) and we reuse as much of it as we can, even if it’s just for shims. That dumpster though has been awesome, and has encouraged me to finally toss some thing that really needed to be and weren’t good enough for good will or salvagable (like my beloved cowboy boots, which somehow got lost in the back of the truck, in a rainstorm and molded before we knew they were there…uhhhgg sad – I still don’t know why they were in the bed of the truck.)

    Reply

  48. Kirbee says

    I have never seen these Bagsters before, and I have to admit these look like so much more fun to load than a super-tall dumpster :D Also cheaper. Wow, I think we paid $160 for our two dumpster loads, and felt like we got a steal.

    We just reshingled our roof this July (Yes, ourselves. With family and friends, one of whom had two air nailers and sundry tools for the job). Of course, we picked the hottest month on record, but my job (seeing as I was 5mo preggo at the time) was to keep our dear helpers supplied in cookies and my magic limeade (club soda, frozen limeade concentrate and just a hint of guava juice). I believe I baked four dozen palm-sized cookies and went through 8 gallons of juice in two days. Oh, and two dumpsters full of shingles.

    Reply

  50. Donita says

    We burn anything that WILL burn. We have a huge burning barrel in the back yard. My husband made a screen for the top. It saves us lots of money, less dumping!!! ;-)

    Reply

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