What kind of dirt do you accept at dump sites?

Clean fill dirt, clay, topsoil, sand, and most uncontaminated excavation material. If you're unsure, your dispatcher will ask for a photo and confirm whether your material qualifies before you haul.

What if there's no dump site near my job?

We're actively expanding real dump site coverage across DFW and Denver metro. Check the live map at dumpsite.io/dfw or dumpsite.io/denver to see exactly what's open right now — if nothing's close enough yet, your dispatcher will find the best alternative and let you know before you commit.

What makes DumpSite different from other dump site options?

Two things nobody else offers: a real dispatcher who tailors the match to your project — material type, yardage, truck access, and location — instead of handing you a generic list, and a live public map (dumpsite.io/dfw and dumpsite.io/denver) showing exactly which sites are open right now. Use either path — text a dispatcher for a custom match, or check the map yourself.

How does the savings guarantee work?

If you don't save more on disposal costs than your membership fee in your first month, we refund your subscription in full AND give you the next month free. We track your loads, so the math is simple.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. Month-to-month, cancel anytime, no contracts, no cancellation fees. We keep you because the service works, not because of fine print.

I'm a driver, not a contractor. Do I have to pay?

No. Drivers never pay. Our driver network is completely free. If you're a driver looking for dump sites or paid hauling work, visit our driver page or just reach out — we'll get you set up at no cost.

How fast can you get trucks to my site?

Average dispatch time is under 1 hour. Members with priority access often see trucks within 30 minutes. Your dispatcher will give you a real ETA before you commit to anything.

Dirt by project type/What to Do With the Dirt From a Basement Excavation

What to Do With the Dirt From a Basement Excavation

A full basement excavation can throw off 200 to 600+ cubic yards of excess dirt — more than any other residential project, and almost none of it comes back. Here's how the numbers actually work, and why calling in the full volume up front is what gets a job this size matched and moved without turning into a truck-by-truck scramble.

A basement excavation moves more dirt than almost any other job on a residential lot — and it's not close. A typical foundation cut can net out close to zero once you backfill around the perimeter and grade the yard. A basement doesn't work that way. You're excavating a void that stays a void, and nearly every cubic yard that comes out of it has to go somewhere else.

The math behind a full basement dig

Take a common example: a 1,500 square foot footprint excavated to an average depth of 8.5 feet. (Basements aren't a flat-bottom box — depth varies with footings, sumps, and step-downs, so "average depth" is the number that matters here, not the deepest point.) That works out to:

1,500 sq ft × 8.5 ft ÷ 27 = about 470 cubic yards of in-bank volume — dirt still sitting undisturbed in the ground before anyone touches it.

Once that soil is dug up, it doesn't stay the same size. Clay and loam mixes — common in both DFW and Denver metro soils — typically swell 15-25% once excavated, because the compacted structure breaks apart and air mixes in. Run that swell factor on 470 in-bank yards and you're hauling roughly 540 to 590 loose cubic yards by the time it's actually sitting in truck beds. That loose number, not the in-bank number off the plans, is what your dispatcher needs to hear.

Why almost none of it comes back

This is the part that catches first-time excavators off guard. On a lot of residential digs — a shallow foundation trim, a pool cut, a driveway regrade — a meaningful share of the spoil gets pushed back around the structure and graded out on-site. The job nets close to balanced, and you're only hauling off a modest surplus.

A basement doesn't balance that way. The entire point of the excavation is to create a void that stays open — that's where the finished basement lives. There's no filling it back in. The only dirt that returns to the site at all is the modest volume reserved for perimeter backfill against the finished foundation walls, and that's material the general contractor sets aside and manages directly as part of the build. It's not something you need to route through a dispatcher. Everything else — which, on a full basement, is nearly all of it — has to leave the property for good.

Why this needs multi-load coordination, not a single trip

Run the numbers on hauling. A standard dump truck moves about 10 cubic yards a load. A 470-yard basement job is roughly 47 truckloads — full stop, no single trip covers this, no matter how big the truck is.

That volume also outruns a homeowner-scale approach to membership. A Pickup membership ($99/mo) covers up to 50 yards a month — barely more than one load past the first truckful, and nowhere close to what a full basement produces even spread across a couple of months. This is exactly the kind of job that calls for Fleet-tier membership ($599/mo, unlimited yards a month, guaranteed availability) or driver-matched multi-load coordination through a dispatcher who lines up capacity across the whole excavation schedule instead of hunting for a home for each load as it fills.

The one thing that actually matters here: tell the dispatcher the full number, up front

This is the one that trips people up. It's tempting to just start hauling and figure out where each load goes as trucks fill up — but on a job this size, that turns into 40-plus separate scrambles instead of one plan.

Text a dispatcher at (214) 753-8096 before the first truck ever leaves the site, and give them the real total — 470 yards, 230 yards, whatever the actual number is — not a rough guess and not "however much fits today." A dispatcher who knows the full volume up front can line up one or more approved sites that can actually absorb that much material, stage loads across the excavation timeline, and hold capacity so a truck never shows up to a site that's already full for the day. Truck-by-truck matching on a job this size just means more calls, more idling trucks, and a higher chance a site closes out before your last few loads find a home.

Smaller basement digs count too

Not every basement job is a 470-yard extreme case. A partial or smaller-footprint basement — say a 900 square foot footprint at 7 feet of average depth — works out to about 230 cubic yards in-bank (900 × 7 ÷ 27), or somewhere in the neighborhood of 265 to 290 loose yards after swell. That's still roughly 26 to 29 truckloads, and it still blows past the Pickup tier's 50-yard monthly cap fast. It's a smaller version of the same problem, and it gets the same answer: get a real number before you call anyone, and give the dispatcher the whole figure at once, not a load at a time.

What actually qualifies as clean fill from a basement dig

Basement spoil is usually clay and native soil, which is exactly the kind of material approved sites want. But basement digs go deeper than most residential excavation, and depth is where problems tend to show up — mainly at the bottom of the dig, where groundwater or old buried organic material is more likely to turn up than near the surface.

Clean fill dirt, clay, and native soil are accepted without issue. Wet or muddy soil is usually fine too, as long as it's actually soil and not standing water. What's worth flagging to your dispatcher specifically is anything pulled from the base of the excavation that looks different from the rest — tree roots or organic matter, or soil that's saturated rather than just damp. A load that mixes in enough of that material can get the whole truck turned away at the site, and one bad load holds up the schedule on a job with this many loads to move. If in doubt, mention it before that truck leaves, not after it's turned around at the gate.

Getting matched on a job this size

Start with a real number, not an estimate off the top of your head. Your excavator's plans usually have it, or run it yourself with the yardage calculator (Length × Width × Depth ÷ 27 = cubic yards) — just use average depth on a basement, not the deepest point.

From there, text that full number to a dispatcher at (214) 753-8096. They'll match you to one or more approved sites that can take the volume, and can schedule staged loads that track your excavation timeline instead of piling everything up at once. Between scheduled loads, or if you just want to see what's open right now, the live maps at dumpsite.io/dfw and dumpsite.io/denver show exactly which approved sites are open in real time — a useful self-serve option for a driver who's ready to roll between planned matches.

And remember: your first load is free at any approved site regardless of membership tier, and drivers hauling loads are never charged. On a job with 30, 40, or 50-plus loads to move, the real value is in the coordination — not scrambling site to site, but having a dispatcher who knows the whole scope before the first truck ever leaves.

The honest summary

A basement excavation is the single biggest dirt event most residential lots ever see, and it behaves differently from almost every other project type. Nothing comes back, the volume is real, and it needs a plan built for multiple loads across a schedule — not a single trip and not a truck-by-truck scramble. Get the real number, call it in up front, and let a dispatcher build the plan around the whole job instead of one load at a time.

Common questions

How much dirt actually comes out of a basement excavation?

It depends on footprint and depth, but it's a lot more than people expect. A 1,500 sq ft footprint at 8.5 ft average depth works out to about 470 cubic yards in-bank, which swells to roughly 540-590 loose cubic yards once it's excavated and loaded — call it around 47 truckloads. A smaller, partial basement (900 sq ft at 7 ft deep) still runs about 230 cubic yards in-bank, or roughly 26-29 loads. Run your own numbers with the length × width × depth ÷ 27 formula, using average depth, not the deepest point of the dig.

Can one dump site take an entire basement's worth of dirt, or does it need to be split up?

It depends on the site and the volume, which is exactly why you tell the dispatcher the full number up front instead of showing up truck by truck. A dispatcher can match a job this size to one large-capacity site or split it across a couple of approved sites and stage the loads across your excavation timeline — but they can only plan that if they know the real total before hauling starts.

What if there's wet or organic material mixed into the dirt from the bottom of the dig?

Flag it before that truck leaves the site. Wet or muddy soil is generally fine as long as it's soil and not standing water, but material with roots, grass, or other organic matter mixed in can get an entire load turned away at the gate. On a job with dozens of loads, one rejected truck holds up the whole schedule, so it's worth a heads-up to your dispatcher rather than finding out at the site.

Does a job this size actually need Fleet membership, or can Pickup work if I space it out?

Pickup's 50-yard monthly cap doesn't come close to what a full basement produces, even spread across a couple of months, and a partial basement clears it fast too. Fleet ($599/mo, unlimited yards, guaranteed availability) or driver-matched multi-load coordination through a dispatcher is built for exactly this kind of volume — moving dozens of loads on a schedule rather than treating each truck as its own separate transaction.

Ready to get this matched?

Text your dispatcher the material and yardage — they'll take it from here.

Text (214) 753-8096 →

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