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Garage cleanout in a weekend: a step-by-step plan

By Fin Vollmer, GM, IronBay Rentals7 min read

Short answer

Book a 6x12 dump trailer for the weekend, any 2 or 3 days in a row, for $199 ($210.94 with tax). Sort on Friday night. On Saturday, make a landfill run before Alpha Ridge's transfer station closes at 3pm, and drop paint and chemicals at the county's Saturday hazardous waste site. Load the rest on Sunday and return it with Return It Loaded.

Key takeaways

6x12 weekend: $199 ($210.94 with tax), any 2–3 days.
A 6x12 holds 4.44 yd³; a 10 x 6 x 4 ft pile is about 2 loads.
Alpha Ridge transfer station: Mon-Sat 8am-3pm; closed Sunday.
Howard hazardous waste drop-off: Saturdays 8am-4pm through Nov 28, 2026.
Return It Loaded: county scale price + $49.

What does the weekend look like?

Friday is for sorting, Saturday is for hauling and drop-offs, and Sunday is for the last load.

When	Task	Deadline to know
Friday afternoon	Pick up the 6x12 (24/7 pickup). Pull everything onto the driveway and sort it into four piles.	Weekend rate covers any 2–3 days
Saturday morning	Load the haul pile and drive to Alpha Ridge. Take hazardous waste in your own car.	Transfer station closes 3pm; hazardous waste site 4pm
Saturday afternoon	Drop donations. Sweep, then put the keep pile back.	Check each donation site's hours
Sunday	Load the second round, tarp it and return it loaded.	No landfill is open Sunday
Monday, same time as pickup	Trailer back at Berger Road. Text OFF.	Three days from pickup; after that, another day is charged

Book the 6x12 dump trailer. If your garage is packed to the ceiling, step up to the 7x14.

How should you sort it?

Use four piles: keep, donate or sell, special drop-off, and haul.

Item	Where it goes in Howard County
Paint, solvents, pesticides, pool chemicals, gasoline, batteries	Household hazardous waste drop-off, Alpha Ridge: Saturdays 8am-4pm, April-November (last 2026 date Nov 28). Residential only.
Electronics with a plug, scrap metal, grills, mowers (drained)	Alpha Ridge Residents' Convenience Center, Mon-Sat 8am-4pm
Dry mattresses and box springs	Residents' Convenience Center
Tires	Four a year, no rims, per the county's landfill guide
Usable furniture, tools, sporting goods	Donate; the county keeps a donation directory of groups that pick up
Broken items, old shelving, junk	The dump trailer

Asbestos, ammunition, explosives and medical waste aren't accepted at the hazardous waste site. Don't put them in the trailer either.

Rent the 6x12 10K Dump

$119/day · $199 weekend · $449 week. Total with tax shown before you book.

See prices and book

How much will fit in a 6x12?

About 4.44 cubic yards per level load. Measure your haul pile to see how many loads you have.

Multiply length x width x height in feet and divide by 27. Example: a haul pile 10 ft long, 6 ft wide and 4 ft high is 240 cubic feet, or 8.9 yd³. That's two 6x12 loads, or a bit more than one 7x14 load (7.17 yd³).

Household junk weighs about 250-300 lb per cubic yard (EPA), so a full 6x12 is roughly 1,100-1,330 lb, well under its 6,800 lb payload. You'll run out of room long before weight. Break down shelving and bag small loose items so they pack tight. For loading tips, read how to load a dump trailer.

What if the garage has heavy or problem items?

Keep concrete, soil and masonry separate and call ahead, because Alpha Ridge may refuse them.

Concrete, block, brick, stone: Alpha Ridge has stopped taking soil or large quantities of stone, brick, block, asphalt or concrete from commercial contractors. A trailer is a commercial load there, so call first. See whether you can put concrete in a dump trailer.
Old fuel, oil and propane: drain mowers and equipment. Bring fluids to the hazardous waste drop-off in your own car.
Refrigerators and freezers: take them to the designated appliance area at the Residents' Convenience Center, not into the trailer.
Lumber and old shelving: treated lumber counts as C&D and goes to the scale.

Heavy items also change the trailer math. A 6x12 has 6,800 lb of payload, but your tow vehicle's limits are usually lower. Your vehicle's manufacturer ratings and manual always win.

What should you know before the landfill run?

At Alpha Ridge, a trailer makes you a commercial customer, so you go across the scale.

Any resident using a trailer or rental vehicle is treated as commercial and weighs in and out.
Expect a $40-a-year commercial permit, C&D at $106 a ton, and a 2.45% card fee. Rental vehicles may need a special-exception form, which asks for your license and the vehicle registration.
Alpha Ridge takes Howard County waste only and requires proof of residency.
The transfer station runs Monday to Saturday, 8am to 3pm.

Landfill fees, hours and rules are set by each county or site and can change without notice. We don't control them; call the site before you go. Alpha Ridge's number is 410-313-6444. See our Howard County dump guide.

Should you have the trailer delivered?

If you can't tow, or don't want to back a trailer up your driveway, delivery is $75 each way in Howard County ($79.50 with tax).

We drop the trailer where you can load it straight from the garage door, and pick it up when you're done. Delivery is $125 each way ($132.50 with tax) in Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Carroll counties and the City of Laurel. Before you book, check where it can sit:

Driveway: best. Some Columbia villages restrict trailers stored in the open; Oakland Mills bans it, so check your covenants for a multi-day rental.
Street: Howard County Code § 21.232 limits commercial vehicles on residential streets to 6 hours, with fines of $250, $500 and $750.
Sykesville: on-street trailers are limited to 48 hours.

More on our pickup and drop-off steps is in how it works.

What does the whole weekend cost?

Plan on about $440 for two 6x12 loads of household junk, all in.

Line item	Estimate
6x12 weekend rate, with 6% tax	$210.94
Saturday load, about 0.67 ton at $106 + 2.45% card fee	$72.76
Howard commercial permit (once a year)	$40.00
Sunday load via Return It Loaded: about 0.67 ton at scale price + $49	$120.02
Estimated total	$443.72

This is an example; your tonnage and the county's rate decide the final number. Hazardous waste drop-off is free for residents. Prefer to skip the scale on Saturday too? Return both loads.

For comparison, HireAHelper puts a half-truck junk removal job at $200-$400 nationally, and LawnStarter's average half truck is $375. Two 6x12 loads (about 8.9 cubic yards) sit in that half-truck range, so the trailer saves the most when you'd otherwise pay for a full truck.

Questions

Can I take the trailer straight to the hazardous waste drop-off?

It's for residential customers, and rental vehicles can trigger commercial rules. Bring paint and chemicals in your own car.

What if it rains Saturday?

Load anyway and tarp it. The weekend rate covers 3 days, so a Friday pickup runs into Monday, and Return It Loaded handles a full trailer on Sunday.

Can I get the trailer delivered to my driveway?

Yes. Delivery is $75 each way in Howard County ($79.50 with tax).

Fin Vollmer
General manager of IronBay Rentals on Berger Road in Columbia, MD. Fin checks every trailer before it leaves the yard and answers renters' texts.