Heavy Debris
Concrete and Heavy Debris Dumpster Rental in Detroit, MI
Concrete, brick, block, plaster and lath across Detroit and Wayne County. Heavy debris is sized on weight, not volume, so we set a small box, swap it often and keep every load inside legal road limits.
Heavy debris is a weight problem, not a volume problem, and that one sentence saves more money in Detroit than anything else we tell people. Broken concrete runs roughly 2,400 to 2,800 pounds per cubic yard. Brick and block are in the same neighbourhood. Plaster and lath, which is what comes off the walls in almost every pre-1940 Detroit house, weighs two to three times what drywall does for the same space. Fill a big container with any of it and the truck legally cannot lift it.
Detroit generates this material constantly because of the winters. Hard freeze-thaw cycling gets into every hairline crack, road salt attacks the surface and then the reinforcement, and driveways, aprons, front walks, porch slabs, steps and city sidewalk squares spall and heave until they have to come out. Then there is the masonry: chimneys taken down, foundation and porch pier repairs, and the concrete slab under a garage that is being demolished. Our demolition debris service usually runs alongside this one on the same job.
Two things are worth knowing before you break anything. Clean concrete — slab, no rebar, no dirt, no wood, no trash mixed in — can go to a crusher and be recycled, which is a different and better route than a mixed load; rebar and dirty concrete change that. And common brick has genuine value in Detroit. Old salvaged brick from a chimney or a garage wall has buyers, so it is worth stacking on a pallet rather than smashing into the box. See what can go in a dumpster in Wayne County.
Heavy Detroit Loads We Size On Weight
Driveway And Apron Tear-Out
Detroit driveways fail from freeze-thaw and salt, not from age alone. A two-car drive and apron is more tonnage than most homeowners expect, and it usually needs two small containers rather than one big one.
Porch Slabs And Front Steps
Poured steps, cheek walls and porch decks crack and pitch after enough winters. Dense reinforced concrete in awkward pieces, and it is the job most likely to be underestimated on a bungalow.
Sidewalk And City Walk Squares
Public walk squares lifted by roots and split by salt. Flat, heavy and consistent, which makes them easy to estimate and easy to overload, so we cap the fill line and swap.
Chimney Brick And Block
A full brick chimney taken to the basement is several tons. Mortar dust and half bricks fill fast; sound common brick is worth stacking for salvage before the rest goes in.
Garage Slabs And Foundations
The slab under a demolished alley garage, plus block foundation walls and footings. Broken out with a hammer and loaded in a small box, always separate from the framing and siding.
Plaster And Lath
The heaviest surprise in a Detroit gut job. Wet-set plaster over wood lath weighs two to three times drywall, and a full house of it belongs in this conversation, not the mixed-debris one.
Clean Concrete For Recycling
Slab with no rebar, soil, wood or trash in it can be crushed and reused. Keeping it clean on the ground opens a recycling route that a contaminated load closes off.
Dirt, Sod And Fill
Excavation spoil, old fill and sod from a Detroit lot. Wet soil is among the heaviest material a container ever sees, so it goes in a small box and never mixes with anything else.
Why A 40 Yard Is The Wrong Answer For Concrete
The 10 yard is the default for concrete, brick, block, plaster and soil, and it is not us being cautious. At roughly 2,400 to 2,800 pounds per cubic yard, a 10 yard box reaches legal road weight while it still looks half empty — and that is by design, because the alternative is a truck that cannot lift the can. A 15 yard works for lighter mixed masonry, and a 20 yard is about as far up as heavy material goes. The 40 yard is genuinely the wrong tool: you would fill a corner of it, pay to move a huge empty box, and still be over weight. Multiple small containers with fast swaps move more tonnage per day than one oversized one ever will.
10 Yard Dumpster
Concrete, brick, block, plaster and lath, tile and soil — weight fills it first.
View this size →15yd³15 Yard Dumpster
Single-room remodels, roof tear-offs to about 20 squares, garage cleanouts.
View this size →20yd³20 Yard Dumpster
Full basement clear-outs, kitchen guts, multi-room renovations, porch demo.
View this size →Protecting The Surface Under A Heavy Load
A loaded heavy-debris container concentrates a lot of weight on four small contact points, so protection matters more here than on any other job. Boards go under the rails on every set, and we will look hard at where the box lands before it comes off the truck — an original 1920s Detroit driveway that is already spalled from salt will not improve under several tons of broken slab. Often the right answer is to set the container on the section of driveway you are about to demolish anyway. Spring thaw is the other trap: ground that carried a truck in January will rut in March. Our driveway protection guide covers what we check, and roll-off placement explains the clearance we need to hook.
Not sure this is the right service? Describe the job on the phone and we will point you at the right container even if it is a different service page. Call (586) 600-7076.
Get a flat quote
Two minutes on the phone gets you a size, a price and a delivery slot. No forms.
(586) 600-7076Recommended sizes
How it works
Concrete & Heavy Debris in four steps
- 1
Call us
Tell us the project, your address and when you want it. Two minutes on the phone and you have a flat price.
- 2
We deliver
Our driver walks the drop, lays protection boards and sets the container exactly where you want it.
- 3
You load it
Take your time within your rental window. Keep it level with the top rail and we handle the rest.
- 4
We haul it
Call or text when you are done. We pull it, sort what can be recovered and dispose of the rest properly.
Concrete & Heavy Debris FAQs
How much does broken concrete actually weigh?
Reckon on roughly 2,400 to 2,800 pounds per cubic yard for broken concrete, and brick and block are close behind. That means a 10 yard container of clean slab is already at the top of what a truck can legally carry on Detroit streets, even though the box looks nowhere near full. Michigan enforces axle and gross weight limits on the road — MDOT publishes them, and they are revised from time to time.
What is the difference between clean and dirty concrete?
Clean concrete is slab, curb or block with nothing else in it — no rebar, no soil, no wood, no plastic, no trash. It can go to a crusher and come back as aggregate, which is a genuinely better route than burying it. Dirty concrete, or anything with mesh and rebar left in, gets handled differently. Sort it on the ground before it goes in the box, because once it is mixed you cannot unmix it. Wayne County lists local options.
Can plaster and lath go in a regular construction container?
It can, but on a Detroit gut it usually should not. Wet-set plaster over wood lath runs two to three times the weight of drywall for the same volume, so a full house of it will put a mixed-debris box over weight long before the walls are full. We treat plaster as heavy debris: smaller container, more swaps. Pre-1980 plaster skim coats can also contain asbestos, so test before you start pulling walls.
Is old Detroit brick worth saving?
Often, yes. Common brick from a chimney, a garage wall or a foundation has a real market here, and reclaimed Detroit brick turns up in patios, walkways and interior features all over the metro. Whether it is worth the labour depends on the mortar: soft lime mortar cleans off, hard modern mortar frequently does not. Knock a dozen loose and see how they come. Stack the sound ones on a pallet, and everything else goes in the container.
Why do you fill heavy containers only part way?
Because a roll-off truck has a legal weight limit and so does the road under it. With concrete at well over a ton per cubic yard, a container reaches that limit at roughly a third to half full. A fill line on a heavy box is not us being difficult — an overloaded can cannot be lifted, cannot legally travel, and puts the driver and the equipment at risk. Two small loads beat one that never leaves the driveway.
More services
Other things we haul
Residential Dumpster Rental
Driveway and alley placement for basement, attic and garage cleanouts and remodels.
Learn more →Commercial Dumpster Rental
Scheduled and on-call containers for retail, restaurants, offices and property managers.
Learn more →Construction Dumpster Rental
Jobsite roll-offs and next-day swap-outs for builders, rehabbers and GCs.
Learn more →Roofing Dumpster Rental
Weight-rated cans sized by squares and layers, including multi-layer tear-offs.
Learn more →Roll-Off Dumpster Rental
10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 yard roll-offs delivered across Detroit and Wayne County.
Learn more →Same-Day Dumpster Rental
Call before the cut-off and we can usually get a container to you this afternoon.
Learn more →Junk Removal Dumpsters
Clear a full basement, attic, back-lot garage or storage unit on your own schedule.
Learn more →Estate Cleanout Dumpsters
Discreet, patient container service for families clearing a lifelong home.
Learn more →Demolition Debris Removal
Containers and fast swaps for gut-outs, porches, chimneys, garages and sheds.
Learn more →Yard Waste & Lot Clearing
Separate clean loads for brush and limbs — Michigan keeps yard clippings out of landfill.
Learn more →Where we deliver
Concrete & Heavy Debris across Wayne County and metro Detroit
Same service, same flat rates, every town below. Pick yours for local placement and permit notes.
Talk to a real person
Need concrete & heavy debris in Detroit?
Tell us what you are clearing out and we will tell you the right size and the flat price to put it in your driveway. No forms, no waiting on an email — just call and we will sort it out in a couple of minutes.
Serving Detroit, Wayne County and metro Detroit · Mon–Fri 6:30am–6pm, Sat 7am–3pm