Dumpster Rental in
San Mateo, CA
A container on a driveway off J Arthur Younger Freeway or a San Mateo job site is the same one call. ZTERS runs 10 through 40 yard roll-offs here; the 10 yard is $950-$1125 for 10 days.
Mon–Fri 5am–5pm PT
Fair. Simple. Reliable.
Much of San Mateo's housing stock dates to the post-war building boom. Ranch-style homes and two-story track houses went up through the 1960s and 70s. A remodel in those older homes means tearing out plaster, lath, and sometimes original hardwood. Roofs here run to composition shingle, and a tear-off adds serious weight. A 20 yard container handles most kitchen and bath remodels. A 30 or 40 only makes sense for bulky framing debris or a whole-house gut, not for dense material. When in doubt, err toward the smaller size.
What often decides a San Mateo delivery is the approach. Many driveways are short, and the truck needs roughly sixty feet of straight run to set a 20 or larger. A low limb or a service line over the drive fails more drops than any ground condition. Along El Camino Real or a side street off East 3rd Avenue, look up before delivery day. If the truck can line up straight and you have clearance, the container goes down in minutes. Mark the spot with a cone or a trash can and the driver will place it exactly.
Dumpster Sizes in San Mateo
ZTERS rents five dumpster sizes in San Mateo, from single-room cleanouts to demolition-scale jobs.
- Dedicated account manager
- Best-in-class customer service
- Flat pricing, quoted up front
For jobs that sound small and weigh a lot — tile, plaster, a concrete stoop — the 10 yard is the right call at $950 to $1125. Dense debris hits the weight allowance before it ever needs the space.
Holds about 3 pickup truck loads or 50–70 trash bags. Footprint roughly one standard parking space. Heavy-debris configs can carry up to 10 tons.
Best for dirt and soil removal, brick and masonry, concrete demo, and asphalt shingles. Also fits small bath remodels and garage cleanouts.
The 20 yard is the renovation workhorse, $1045 to $1275. Cabinets, subfloor and trim from a kitchen and a bath together fit with room to spare.
Holds 8–10 pickup truck loads or about 120 trash bags. Footprint roughly two parking spaces end-to-end.
Best for kitchen and bathroom remodels, whole-house decluttering, mid-size garage and attic cleanouts, mid-size landscaping, and roof replacements on smaller homes.
The 40 yard at $1260 to $1435 holds bulk, not weight: the walls run eight feet, so loading means a ramp, a ladder or the rear door, and dense material hits the truck's legal limit long before the rim.
Holds about 12 pickup truck loads or 230–250 trash bags. The 8-ft walls make rear-door loading essential for bulky items.
Best for new construction, major demos, full kitchen-and-bath gut renos, and large commercial cleanouts. Note: dense debris (concrete, shingles) needs a heavy-debris bin instead.
When a 10 would overflow and a 20 will not fit the drive, the 15 yard splits the difference — extra height on the same length, room for a whole-garage clearout.
Holds about 4.5 pickup truck loads or 80–100 trash bags. Roughly the volume of 15 standard washing machines.
Best for multi-room remodels, flooring removal, garage cleanouts, light demo, larger landscaping, and deck builds. Heavy materials need a smaller heavy-debris bin.
A 30 yard takes what a whole house sheds in a remodel — cabinetry, doors, carpet, framing offcuts — for $1130 to $1285. Same footprint as the 20; the extra capacity is all height.
Holds about 9 pickup truck loads or 170–190 trash bags. Footprint roughly two parking spaces end-to-end.
Best for whole-house cleanouts, large home demos, active construction, and commercial mixed debris. Note: cannot accept dirt, concrete, brick, or shingles.
Residential and Construction Dumpster Rental in San Mateo, CA
For homeowners
A garage or basement cleanout is the most common homeowner job, and it is a volume job: bulky, light, and done over a weekend. Kitchen and bath remodels add cabinets and flooring. Either way the container sits on the San Mateo driveway, and the rear door swings open so heavy pieces roll in instead of going over the wall.
For contractors
Contractors mostly need two things: a container that matches the phase and a swap that shows up before the full one blocks the next trade. Demolition and roofing run heavy, so those loads go in smaller containers loaded level; framing and finish stages fill big containers with light scrap.
The Dumpster Rental Process in San Mateo
- Call for a quote. Describe the debris, the address, and the dates. One account manager takes the order and stays on it.
- Pick the size and the spot. Clear a straight run for the truck and check for low branches or wires over the drop point.
- Load it. Keep everything level with or below the top rail, and keep heavy material in a low, even layer.
- Call for pickup. Ring the same number when you are done, or at the end of the rental period.
How Much Does a Dumpster Rental Cost in San Mateo, CA?
Dumpster rental pricing in San Mateo varies with disposal costs, debris weight, rental length, and delivery distance. The ranges below reflect recent local pricing rather than a fixed quote — the final number depends on the size you pick and what goes in it.
Estimated Dumpster Rental Costs in San Mateo
| Dumpster Size | Estimated Price Range | Delivery Estimate* | Rental Period | Included Tonnage** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Yard | $950 – $1125 | — | Up to 10 days | 1–2 tons |
| 20 Yard | $1045 – $1275 | $325 | Up to 10 days | 2–4 tons |
| 30 Yard | $1130 – $1285 | $355 | Up to 10 days | 4–6 tons |
| 40 Yard | $1260 – $1435 | $78 | Up to 10 days | 5–8 tons |
* Delivery is quoted separately and moves with distance from the yard, fuel, and how easy the drop spot is to reach. Where it shows as included, it is already inside the range.
** Each rental carries a base weight allowance. Debris over that allowance is billed as an adjustment at pickup.
Why Is There a Price Range?
Five things move the number inside that range:
- Debris type. Clean wood and household junk dispose cheaply. Shingles, plaster, tile, dirt and concrete are billed by weight and hit the allowance early.
- Weight. A container can reach its tonnage cap while it still looks half empty, which is the single most common surprise on a first rental.
- Rental length. The quote covers 10 days. Longer rentals are extended for an additional fee.
- Delivery distance. How far the truck runs from the yard to your address, and whether it can make a straight approach.
- Local disposal rates. Landfill and transfer-station fees are set locally and are the largest single input to the price.
What Is Included in the Base Rental?
- Delivery to your San Mateo address on the date you book
- A 10-day rental period
- Pickup and haul-away when you call
- Disposal up to the size's included tonnage
- One account manager handling the order from quote through pickup
Charged separately: weight over the included allowance, days past the rental period, and any load containing prohibited material.
How to Get an Exact Quote
Have these ready and the quote takes a couple of minutes:
- What the debris is — remodel, roof tear-off, cleanout, yard waste, concrete
- Roughly how much of it there is
- The delivery address and where the container should sit
- The date you want it dropped
Call (888) 664-7740 and describe the job. If two sizes both look plausible, say so — the gap between them is usually smaller than the cost of a second haul.
What You Can Put in a Dumpster in San Mateo
Most of what comes out of a house or a job site is fine. The restricted list is set by the disposal facility, not by us, and it is short.
Accepted
- Household junk, furniture, and general trash
- Renovation debris — drywall, lumber, trim, cabinets
- Flooring, carpet, tile, and countertops
- Roofing shingles and underlayment
- Yard waste, brush, and branches
- Appliances with the refrigerant already removed
- Concrete, brick, dirt, and asphalt — mention these when you book, because they are priced by weight
Not accepted
- Paint, solvents, and other liquids
- Motor oil, fuel, and antifreeze
- Batteries and propane tanks
- Tires
- Asbestos and other hazardous material
- Medical or biological waste
- Appliances still holding refrigerant
Everything has to sit level with or below the top rail — an overfilled container cannot be tarped, so the driver has to leave it until the load comes down. If you are not sure about an item, ask before it goes over the side.
Need a dumpster fast?
Speak with one of our San Mateo account managers. Most quotes take less than five minutes by phone.
Frequently Asked Questions
San Mateo dumpster costs can be impacted by dumpster size, local landfill fees, fuel prices, and any required permits. San Mateo dumpster costs range from $950 for a 10 yard dumpster up to $1435 for a 40 yard dumpster.
Each dumpster size includes a maximum allowable tonnage and a 10-day rental period. If you need the dumpster longer, you can extend your rental period for an additional fee. Delivery is quoted separately and moves with distance, size, and access. The full breakdown by size, including the delivery estimate and the included tonnage, is in the pricing section above.
Usually quickly, but it depends on the week. Deliveries are grouped by direction, so how soon a container reaches San Mateo comes down to what is already on the schedule for that part of the map.
If the project has a firm start date, call a couple of days ahead of it. Same-week drops happen all the time; counting on one without asking first is how people end up waiting.
For a typical 20 yard container on your own driveway, no permit is needed in San Mateo. A permit does become necessary when the container sits in the public right of way. That includes a street or sidewalk. The City of San Mateo Public Works Department issues those permits.
Measure the job by its debris, not its square footage. One bathroom or a single room of flooring is a 10. A full kitchen, cabinets and counters included, fills a 20. Whole-floor gut jobs and big cleanouts run to a 30.
The larger sizes share the same footprint and only grow taller, so a bigger container does not need a bigger driveway. The exception is heavy material: shingles, tile, concrete or dirt hit the weight limit long before the container looks full, so mention them when you call and let the tonnage set the size.
On a narrow street, a 20 yard container in the lane can block traffic. The driver will set it as tight to the curb as possible, but you still need a permit from Public Works before it goes in the street. On a wider commercial street, the same container may go in with just a parking space blocked off, also under permit. In every case, the permit tells you exactly where the container may sit and for how long.
Preparation is mostly about the truck. It needs a firm, level surface, a straight run at the spot, and clear air above it, because the bed rises well above the container height during the drop.
Beyond that: cars off the driveway before the window opens, gates unlocked, and the spot marked if nobody will be home. If the driveway surface is decorative or freshly sealed, lay plywood where the rails will land. A blocked delivery usually costs a trip charge, so five minutes of prep pays for itself.
San Mateo's housing stock is older, and the city's permitting office handles requests in the order they arrive. Apply at the Public Works counter at City Hall. Or call ahead to ask which forms you need. A short conversation is usually enough to get the process started.
ZTERS Dumpster Rental Customer Reviews
"Aisha was by far the most pleasant business call I ever had. To be able to relate with another human over the phone so genuinely definitely boosted chances of a sale. I believe the company is most blessed with her on the team. She deserves a raise and a free lunch!"
"Jaimie Monti is the best. Jaimie is quick to respond to any service requests needed and never forgets to follow up on requests as well! Highly recommend!"
"I worked with T'Lycia Cotton at Zters to schedule 2 dumpsters for my house tear down and yard cleanup. She was very helpful and professional. I enjoyed working with her."
Other Services We Offer in San Mateo
Call today for a free quote.
One call, one quote, one delivery to your San Mateo job site. Speak with a real account manager who answers the phone.