Estate cleanout: container, weight and what you cannot throw in
A 30 yard container. Decades of household contents are almost pure volume, and the job is emotionally hard enough without running out of container halfway through. Expect $400 to $950 for the rental, and check the material list below before you start — this job produces 7 things worth verifying.
- Recommended
- 30 yd³
- Constraint
- Volume-limited
- Weight limit
- 3–5 tons
- Typical cost
- $400–$950
How much debris this job produces
A furnished three-bedroom house typically fills 25 to 35 cubic yards once furniture, mattresses, clothing, papers and garage contents are all in. Take the larger container: a second delivery costs more than the size upgrade did.
Why this size and not the next one
Decades of household contents are almost pure volume, and the job is emotionally hard enough without running out of container halfway through. At 6 feet, the 30 yard is the first size where you stop throwing debris over the wall and start carrying it through the swing door. That changes how long the job takes more than most people expect.
What goes wrong on this job
- This is the job where prohibited items hide: paint in the basement, a propane tank in the garage, medication in the bathroom, a car battery on a shelf
- In Massachusetts, the mattresses, textiles and televisions in this house are all banned from disposal — which changes the whole plan, not just one item
- Sort for scrap metal before you fill. An estate cleanout usually contains several hundred pounds of it
Materials from this job that need checking
- Conditional
Mattresses and box springs
This is the clearest case on the site of a question with a different correct answer depending on where you live. Most haulers take a mattress in a general container and add a per-item charge because mattresses wrap around landfill compactor drums. In Massachusetts they are banned from disposal outright.
Massachusetts: Banned from disposal since November 1, 2022, including any foundation or box spring. The ban has a real exception: a mattress contaminated with mold, bodily fluids, insects, oil or hazardous substances is excluded, so a genuinely soiled mattress can still be disposed of. (310 CMR 19.017)
We have not verified this material against your state’s own regulator. That means unknown, not allowed — check with your state before you load it.
Varies by state Household MA - Conditional
Textiles, clothing and bedding
Physically unremarkable in a container, and banned from disposal in Massachusetts since November 2022 — which covers bedding, clothing, curtains, fabric, footwear and towels.
Massachusetts: Banned from disposal since November 1, 2022. Textiles contaminated with mold, bodily fluids, insects, oil or hazardous substances are exempt. (310 CMR 19.017)
We have not verified this material against your state’s own regulator. That means unknown, not allowed — check with your state before you load it.
Varies by state Household MA - Prohibited
Televisions, monitors and electronics
Old tube televisions and monitors contain leaded glass in the cathode ray tube, and roughly half the states restrict electronics from landfill disposal. Massachusetts bans CRTs specifically. Assume no, and check your state before you put a screen of any kind in a container.
Massachusetts: Cathode ray tubes — televisions and computer monitors — are banned materials. (310 CMR 19.017)
We have not verified this material against your state’s own regulator. That means unknown, not allowed — check with your state before you load it.
Varies by state Electronics MA - Accepted
Furniture, couches and tables
Accepted everywhere as bulky waste. The catch is volume, not permission — one sectional sofa can eat a quarter of a 10 yard container.
Hauler policy Household - Conditional
Paint and stain
Liquid paint is not allowed in a container anywhere — it is a liquid, and oil-based paint is a hazardous waste. Fully dried latex paint in an open can is a different material and is commonly accepted, because what is left is solid pigment.
Federal rule Hazardous and regulated - Prohibited
Propane tanks and gas cylinders
A sealed pressure vessel in a load that gets compacted is an explosion risk, and this is one refusal that is genuinely universal across every hauler in the country. Even an empty-feeling grill tank holds residual vapour.
Hauler policy Hazardous and regulated - Prohibited
Medical waste and sharps
Regulated medical waste is controlled state by state and never belongs in a rental container. This comes up most often in estate cleanouts, where a lifetime of prescriptions and diabetic supplies turns up in a bathroom cabinet.
We have not verified this material against your state’s own regulator. That means unknown, not allowed — check with your state before you load it.
Varies by state Hazardous and regulated
Sources
- Primary source MassDEP Waste Disposal Bans — Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection · last reviewed 2026-08-17
mass.gov refuses automated requests from this build environment (HTTP 403). The ban list was read from the publisher’s own guide through a search index and cross-checked against the October 2021 amendment document below. - Primary source 310 CMR 19.000 Final Waste Ban Amendments (October 2021) — Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection · last reviewed 2026-08-17
- Primary source Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) — US Environmental Protection Agency · last reviewed 2026-08-17