You might have driven past dozens of homes with a dumpster out on the street in front of them. However, until you rent one for yourself, you may be unaware of some basic things that you'll need to consider so that you can keep costs down, avoid trouble with your municipal government and make the process easy for yourself. Use the following as a guide.

Check for Permit Requirements

Even if the dumpster is only going to be on your personal driveway, it's possible that your city could require permits before using a dumpster. You can feel free to ignore this information, but should a city employee find out that you're using this kind of equipment without a permit, you could be fined. It's best to simply alert the municipal permits office to your plans and have them direct you accordingly.

Separate Items Beforehand

It's vital that you understand what you'll be dumping and what you'll be preserving. Waiting for the dumpster before making these decisions will only contribute to confusion in the moment. It will be better to know exactly what you're dumping beforehand so you can separate those pieces from other items; for example, you may choose to put everything for the dumpster in the living room so that you don't have to travel throughout the house when the dumpster is there.

Don't Overfill

Dumping unused things into an empty receptacle can be exciting because you can't wait to free up room inside your living spaces. In your eagerness to clean out all the clutter, it's very possible that you may think that one more item on top of an already huge pile won't be a problem. In fact, the rental company could charge you additional fees for overfilling; they could even ask that you remove some of the items you've put in there.

Guidelines regarding overfilling are in place usually to protect trucks and cars on public roads so that the extra lamp, stool or other item you put on the tippy-top of the big pile doesn't fall into the street and cause difficulty for others.

Talk to Neighbors

You certainly don't need to tell your neighbors anything about your personal plans, but you might wish to notify them of dumpster activity so that they can expect some degree of noise and work to avoid possible delays because the road could be blocked while the rental company truck is dropping off or picking up the dumpster. If you and your neighbors aren't the best of friends, a quickly written note stuffed into their mailboxes could be adequate.

When you're able to anticipate some of the issues you'll be dealing with when renting any kind of dumpster, the entire process is more manageable. Ask for more guidelines from your rental company or visit a site like http://www.tcmdumpsters.com so you know more about what to expect.