Renovation debris removal in Salt Lake City

The short answer

Bagged material is usually the cheapest route if the crew has already bagged it. Ten bags at $132 beats a quarter truck at $241; thirty bags at $385 sits between three-eighths and a half truck. Minimum visit is $75.

Why renovation debris is priced differently

Household junk is bulky and light. Renovation debris is the opposite: dense, heavy, and charged by weight at the far end. A pile of plaster that fits in a corner of a room weighs more than an entire living room of furniture, and that is what the separate pricing reflects.

Concrete and masonry are the extreme case, which is why they price per quarter truck at $219 rather than by volume with everything else. A quarter truck of broken concrete is close to the practical limit of what a load should carry.

What comes out of an old Salt Lake house

The pre-war stock in the Avenues, Capitol Hill, Yalecrest and Central City produces a very particular kind of debris, and it is all heavy:

• Lath and plaster rather than drywall. Three times the weight of a modern equivalent wall and full of nails.
• Cast iron. A cast iron bathtub is $185, a fiberglass one is $90, and the difference in that price is entirely about what it takes to get one down a staircase.
• Cast iron radiators at $123 each when a house goes from steam or hot water to forced air.
• Original fir flooring under three layers of later flooring, all of which has to come up.
• The bathroom set. Detached toilet $64, bathroom vanity $69.

A bathroom gut in a 1912 house: cast iron bathtub $185 + toilet $64 + vanity $69 = $318. Add the plaster as ten bags at $132 and it is $318 + $132 = $450.

The basement finishing project

Finishing a basement is close to a regional pastime in this valley, because the basements are real and the families are large enough to need the room. The debris profile is distinctive: the old panelling and drop ceiling from the 1970s version of the same project, carpet and pad, framing offcuts, drywall scrap, and whatever was being stored down there before the work started.

Carpet is the item people underestimate. It is heavy, it is awkward once rolled, and old pad holds a surprising amount of dust and moisture. Carpet removal is $71 per room and rolled carpet already up is $68. A three-room basement carpet job is $71 + $71 + $71 = $213.

Kitchen remodels

The other high-volume job in this market, especially through Millcreek, Holladay, Sandy and the south valley, where 1990s and 2000s kitchens are coming due. The debris is cabinetry, countertop, flooring, and the appliances being replaced.

Countertop prices by material: laminate is $56 per section and stone or granite is $111 per section, because a granite run takes two people and cannot be dropped. Appliances go on the same load — a standard fridge is $164, a dishwasher is $109, an electric range is $134 and a gas range is $137.

A worked example: stone countertop two sections ($111 + $111 = $222) + dishwasher $109 + electric range $134. $222 + $109 = $331. $331 + $134 = $465. Against a half truck at $431, the truck fraction takes it if the cabinetry is going too.

Working around a live job site

Four things that make a debris pickup fast:

• Bag what can be bagged. Contractor bags are $41 each, but ten of them is $132, which is far better than loose material occupying volume.
• Separate the concrete and masonry. It prices differently and mixing it into a general load is how a job gets re-quoted elsewhere.
• Pull the nails or fold the lath inward. Nail-out lath is the main injury risk on any old-house job.
• Stage it near the exit. In an Avenues house that means the back porch or the top of the basement stair, not the far room.

Scheduling matters too. Debris pickups mid-renovation work best mid-week, and if you are on a tight sequence — plaster out before the electrician starts — book the slot before you swing a hammer.

What we cannot take

Paint, solvents, adhesives, sealants, thinners, old fuel and anything else on the household hazardous waste list. A renovation generates more of this than a normal household does, so plan a trip to your county's household hazardous waste route as part of the project.

We also do not do demolition, remediation or anything involving suspected asbestos or lead. Pre-1980 houses in this city can contain both in flooring adhesive, insulation and paint, and if there is any doubt that is a testing question for a specialist before any material is disturbed — not something to find out mid-load.

Frequently asked questions