A Dumpster Saves the Day! Sort of. A Case Study.

Using a Dumpster as a Last Resort

Our client Julie is the subject of the following case study, which we hope you will find interesting. Julie gave us permission to publish her experience since it demonstrates the (unexpected) benefit of renting a roll-off dumpster.

Julie, like many others, had never considered the possibility of renting a dumpster. She'd employed a rubbish removal service once before, but she didn't have a lot of garbage to dispose of, and she could always make the sporadic trip to the landfill on her own schedule.

After that, there was a "incident." While Julie's child was upstairs, her husband and I were downstairs. It seemed like the day was unfolding like any other Saturday until Julie saw pouring water. There was a lot of it. She walked into the neighboring room in the direction of the sound, only to discover water flowing from her light fixtures over her head and down through the roof. It took Julie a few moments to realize what was going on – but a brief stroll upstairs helped her put things into perspective fast. There was a large utility sink in the upstairs laundry room that was overflowing, dumping hundreds of gallons of water onto the floor. The water had already begun to pool in her basement, which was two floors below, after making its way through the ceiling and into her room.

It turned out that Julie's child had placed an article of clothing in the sink, which had caused the drain to become clogged. In addition, because the sink did not have a secondary drain, the water had nowhere to go but up and out. That's exactly what happened. There is a lot of it!

After hastily shutting off the water, Julie put down any towels she could get her hands on and dashed to the nearest bathroom to get more towels. She snatched up anything she could get her hands on, including blankets, old ragged dog towels, and even leftover furniture pads from her previous relocation; anything that might absorb water. Anything to attempt to keep her hardwood floors from becoming scratched. She was successful in soaking up a significant amount of water, but she made a sloppy mess in the process.

Following an inspection of the damage in the basement, she discovered that water had poured into several storage boxes, which had likely damaged the contents of the boxes. She told us that she had mostly holiday decorations and a box of old files and papers in her possession. Julie spent the rest of the weekend removing soaked materials from the basement and second floor - both of which were located below the location of the leak. Because it was snowing, she was unable to schedule an appointment with a water damage restoration firm. Instead, she set up a dehumidifier and every fan she could get her hands on to keep the room comfortable. As the house dried, she set about figuring out what to do with the masses of wet, heavy, absorbent material that had accumulated. She made the decision to throw the majority of the cloth rather than attempt to dry it out in the midst of the winter.

It had become impossible for her to dispose of the water-logged waste in her small home garbage cans, and she wasn't going to carry hundreds of pounds of wet, filthy blankets into her car. She pondered junk removal, but the two or three phone calls she made resulted in either no replies or long wait times due to the weather. She eventually decided against it. Then Julie tracked us down! We were able to arrange for her to hire a dumpster (for the following day), which made all the difference in the world. Our team delivered our smallest size unit to Julie's home and placed it in her driveway, making the entire procedure much simpler for her. It was only a short walk from the house to the dumpster, where Julie disposed of all of her old towels, blankets, broken boxes, and other accumulated trash. When she told us how much she enjoyed using the dumpster, we were amazed. She told us how she used it to do an impromptu winter cleaning of her home — throwing away old clothes, cardboard, and other garbage she'd put off sorting through. She even went so far as to walk through her yard and collect rotting wood from her garden, as well as a few broken buckets and gardening tools. She was able to completely fill the trash, and our team returned a few days later to carry it to the landfill.

Julie expressed her gratitude for having discovered us, and we expressed our gratitude for the opportunity to assist her with a dumpster rental. Renting a dumpster proved out to be the perfect answer for her, and she expressed her gratitude for our assistance. She stated that she would consider using a dumpster in the future because of the ease and convenience of the entire process.

Next time you're faced with an emergency cleanup duty like Julie's – or you have a large project at home - consider renting a dumpster to help you get the job done faster and more efficiently. It could be exactly what you're looking for, yet it could also be the most straightforward component of your project!