Pick the bins first. For a pull-out trash can cabinet, decide what it has to hold — one bin or two, and which size — then check that the cabinet’s real opening holds those bins, then choose the spot on the run. Settle all three on the drawing before the cabinets are ordered.
That order matters because cabinets get built to a drawing. Bins that don’t fit the opening, or a pull-out that shares floor space with something else that opens into it, such as the dishwasher door, can mean different bins or a reworked cabinet plan after the order is placed. Width, construction and position on the run are all fixed before the base cabinets arrive.
A base cabinet is the one that sits on the floor under the counter. Your trash pull-out lives inside one of them, which makes this a cabinet decision rather than an accessory you pick out later.
Three things have to line up: the bins, the opening and the position.
Trash and recycling can get left until the end of a kitchen remodel. They’re worth moving up the list.
How Wide Does a Pull-Out Trash Can Cabinet Need to Be?
Wide enough for the bins you pick — and that gets measured at the cabinet opening, not at the cabinet’s outside width on the plan. One maker’s wood pull-out series is designed for 15-inch, 18-inch and 24-inch base cabinets, in single-bin and double-bin versions. Those are one maker’s sizes, not a rule for every cabinet line.
Your designer can check the cabinet you’re considering against the unit you want.
You can read that maker’s page for the series yourself. It lists the base cabinet sizes the series is designed for.
That same maker is specific about how to measure. Side to side for width. Front to back for depth. Top to bottom for height. Then double-check that the product fits inside those numbers, and account for obstructions such as plumbing and hinges. Those obstructions are where a bin that looked right on paper stops short.
Opening is the word doing the work here. It means the space you can actually reach into once the frame and the hinges are counted — not the width written on the cabinet in the plan. A maker’s guide describes two constructions. A face frame cabinet has a wood frame around the front of the cabinet box. A frameless cabinet, also called full access, has no inside edge of a frame partly blocking the cabinet opening. So, as a general rule, the opening you get to use can be narrower than the cabinet looks on the drawing.
You can read that maker’s guide to waste containers yourself. It covers cabinet types, mounting and slides.
Which construction your cabinets use is a separate decision, with trade-offs well beyond the trash pull-out. Our post on how framed and frameless construction compare works through that one.
Pick the Bins, Then the Mount and the Slides
Start with the count. One bin or two sets which unit the cabinet needs, and a double-bin unit isn’t the same product as a single-bin one, so as a general rule it can call for a different cabinet. Decide the count before you settle the width.
Then the size of the bins. That maker’s guide describes two base cabinet layouts and pairs each with a container size. A full-height cabinet — one opening behind a door or a pair of doors — is listed as typically using 50-quart containers. A drawer-and-door cabinet, with a drawer opening and a larger door opening, is listed as typically using 35-quart containers. Those are that maker’s pairings for its own products, not a rule you can carry to another cabinet line. Ask for the specification of the actual unit going into your cabinet.
Mounting is next. The same guide describes a bottom-mount unit as mounting to the cabinet floor, which creates a lower deck height, and a side-mount unit as mounting to the cabinet’s side walls, with a higher deck height. Deck height is roughly how high the bins sit off the cabinet floor. As a general rule, that changes how much room is left above the bins. It matters when a drawer sits above the opening, so have your designer confirm it against the plan.
Slides decide how the unit feels day to day. That guide describes full-extension slides as using a telescoping design that lets the full length of the product clear the cabinet, and 3/4 extension as opening three-quarters of its length. Soft-close slides slow the product as it closes so it doesn’t slam. The practical question is how far the thing opens. A bin you can’t reach the back of defeats the point.
And a full bin is heavy. Ask what load the slides are rated for, then compare that with the bins you plan to use.
McDaniels designers also help you design customized storage accessories for your kitchen and bath cabinetry. You can read more about custom cabinetry on the McDaniels site.
Where Should the Pull-Out Trash Can Cabinet Go?
Within a step of the sink and your prep spot, and clear of anything that opens into the same floor space, such as the dishwasher door. As a general rule that keeps scraping, rinsing and tossing in one area. Test the spot on the plan with the doors around it drawn open, and let your designer check it.
The sink base is an obvious candidate. As a general rule it’s also the cabinet where the drain plumbing runs, and plumbing is one of the obstructions that maker’s sizing instructions tell you to account for. So ask your designer to lay the pull-out out in the sink base and in the cabinet next to it, then compare the two drawings. We’re not going to tell you which one wins. The plan will.
Draw it with the doors open. A plan with everything closed hides the conflict. A plan with the dishwasher door and the pull-out shown open at the same time shows it right away.
Then walk it in your head. Scrape at the counter, rinse at the sink, toss in the bin. If the bin sits across the room, that trip gets made with a plate in one hand.
A garbage disposal would compete for that same sink base, so the two choices meet in one cabinet. Our post on garbage disposal and septic system covers that decision.
One Bin or Two: Ask Who Collects Your Recycling
Whether a second bin earns its space comes down to two things: how your household sorts, and how your recycling gets collected. Those aren’t the same question, and the second one isn’t yours to answer.
Your city or township, or your hauler, can tell you what they collect and how it has to be sorted. Ask them while the cabinet run is still a drawing.
The reason is mechanical. A second bin changes which unit you need, and the unit can change which cabinet the plan calls for. That’s a change you want before the order, not after it.
It works the other way too. If recycling is going to live in the garage or a mudroom, a single bin may be all the kitchen has to hold, and the cabinet can be drawn to suit that. Say so early either way, so the width gets set once.
Bring the Bins and the Sink Wall Plan
Three decisions, one conversation: what the cabinet holds, whether the opening fits it, and where it sits on the run. All three are easier to settle in front of a drawing than in front of a delivered cabinet.
At McDaniels’ Lansing showroom you can meet a designer to discuss your plans, and that designer works with you to coordinate the cabinets, plumbing fixtures, appliances and more — so the bins you use and the sink wall plan are good things to bring to that conversation.
Your designer will work with you both in your home and in our showroom to measure your kitchen and evaluate your design goals. Our experienced designers are available for complimentary consultations.
When you’re ready, book a complimentary design consultation and bring the bins and the plan with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size trash can fits in a pull-out cabinet?
It depends on the cabinet’s opening and on the unit you choose, because the unit’s bins set the size. Measure the opening the way that maker’s sizing instructions describe — width, depth and height, with allowance for plumbing and hinges — then compare those numbers with the specification of the unit. Your designer can check it against the plan before anything is ordered.
Can a pull-out trash can go in the sink base?
Sometimes, depending on the plumbing and on the unit. The sink base also holds the drain plumbing, which that maker’s instructions list among the obstructions to account for, so the unit has to be chosen to work around it. Ask your designer to lay out the sink base both ways and compare the drawings.
How does the cabinet door attach to a pull-out trash can?
One maker’s page for a wood series mentions pre-assembled door mount brackets, so door mounting is a feature to look for in a unit’s specification. Whether the door rides on the unit or opens on its own hinges is part of how the plan specifies the cabinet. Ask your designer which one the drawing calls for.
Is a pull-out trash can better than a freestanding can?
It’s a trade-off rather than a verdict. A pull-out puts the bins behind a door and uses cabinet space. A freestanding can leaves the cabinet free and uses floor space instead. Which trade works depends on how much cabinet space your plan can spare once the rest of the storage is drawn in.
Can you add a pull-out trash can to cabinets you already have?
It depends on the opening you already have. Measure it the way that maker’s instructions describe, then compare it with the unit’s specification. If it doesn’t fit, the answer may be a different unit or a different cabinet. Ask a designer to look at the opening before you buy anything.