A lot of houses around Richmond and Wayne County were built before drywall existed. Open up a wall in one and you'll find plaster and lath, thin wood strips nailed across the studs with plaster pushed through and troweled over. It made a good wall. It also weighs like concrete, and it's the single most common reason a remodel dumpster quote around here turns out wrong.
Here's the math that catches people. A room's worth of drywall is light, a few hundred pounds. The same room in plaster and lath can run three or four times that, because you're hauling out inch-thick plaster plus the wood behind it, usually with decades of paint on top. A full-house replaster tear-out is a genuinely heavy load, in the same class as a roof tear-off.
That's why Jeff bills it as heavy material. Plaster and lath goes in the 12-yard dumpster only, with 1,000 pounds included and $50 a ton past that, off the scale ticket. It never goes in the 16-yard, because a tall dumpster full of plaster would be over the trailer's legal weight while still half empty. The heavy material page covers the full rule, which also applies to concrete, dirt and shingles.
The practical advice is one sentence: if your house is old enough to have plaster walls, say so when you call. Jeff asks every customer what the project is anyway, that's how he's kept weight surprises off invoices since 2022, but "we're gutting the upstairs of a house built in 1925" tells him everything he needs to quote it right the first time. If the job is contents plus some wall demo, it sometimes makes sense to run the light load in the 16 and the plaster in the 12 as separate rentals, and he'll tell you honestly whether that's worth it for your job.
Planning a remodel in an older place? Call or text (765) 238-1393, Monday to Saturday, 8 to 5. The renovation dumpster page has more on how remodel loads get sized.
Rent a Dumpster in Richmond
12 and 16 yard roll-offs at published prices, delivered by the owner. Call to schedule: (765) 238-1393.