When your spring cleaning overwhelms your trash cans or temporary storage space, you can call on companies to help you tackle that humongous job.
You might even find inspiration. For instance, people tend to continue cleaning until they completely fill a trash bin, known as a roll-off — whether they originally intended to or not, says Carina Amsden-Reid, owner of Desert Mini Roll-Offs.
"I've had customers who had to have them for therapy reasons because they were pack rats," says Amsden-Reid. "Having the roll-offs gave them incentive to open the doors and throw the junk out."
The willingness of some companies to recycle discards also gets people cleaning.
Knowing that others will put one's junk to good use "eases the feeling of what I call 'disposa-phobia,' " explains John Mall, co-owner with his wife, Peggy, of 1-800-Got-Junk?
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Using an on-site storage bin eases a disruptive remodeling job by getting stuff safely out of the way, says Carlos Esteban, branch manager of Southwest Mobile Storage.
Here's a sampling of companies. Look for others in business directories.
Haulers. Folks come with trucks and take away discards.
● 1-800-Got-Junk?, 1-800-468-5865 or 270-5250.
What: Helps sort items and loads a truck that holds as much as four tons, then dumps or recycles the contents.
Cost: $99 minimum. Half a truck load costs $270; full truck, $485.
● City of Tucson, 791-3171 or www.tucsonaz.gov/esd.
What: Picks up green waste and bulky items that residential customers set out on scheduled days and delivers them to a landfill.
Cost: Included in trash service fee. Fees to pick up outside the schedule start at $55.
Roll-offs. Rental company delivers a trash bin, then takes away the full container.
● Desert Mini Roll-Offs, 977-6398.
What: Delivers a bin 5-by-8-by-12 feet, then takes it to a landfill. May recycle items.
Cost: $110 for an eight-day rental, plus $28 a ton. Extra charges for long-distance delivery and pickup and for longer rental time.
● Waste Management Inc., 744-2600.
What: Delivers and picks up one of four sizes that hold from 10 to 40 cubic yards, either dumping or recycling contents.
Cost: $75 to $150, depending on service time and distance, for 30 days. Additional fees cover disposal and longer rental time.
Temporary storage units. Metal bins hold items at your house or the company's facility.
● Southwest Mobile Storage, 292-1232.
What: Rents one of four sizes of containers.
Cost: 28-day rental is $80 for 8-by-20-foot container, $55 for 8-by-10.
● PODS (Portable On Demand Storage), 1-866-767-7637.
What: Rents one of two sizes of containers.
Cost: $99.99 for 8-by-8-by-12 feet or $109.99 for 8-by-8-by-16 feet a month, plus $99.98 for delivery and pickup.
» Cleaning considerations
• Check with your homeowners association before renting a large container.
• A 5-by-8-by-12-foot roll-off has the hauling capacity of about 12 pickup trucks. An 8-by-8-by-12-foot storage bin holds 1,000 square feet of furniture.
• Trash collection companies won't take certain materials such as hazardous waste. Each company has its own list of prohibited items.
• Some companies will separate trash from reusables and recyclables; others won't.