Trash Pull-Out Cabinet Sizes: Widths, Bin Capacities and Where to Put It

A trash pull-out cabinet comes in three working widths: 15, 18 and 21 inches. A 15-inch base holds one bin, an 18-inch base holds two, and a 21-inch base usually holds the same two bins with more room around them, not more trash. What actually sets your capacity is the height of the door. Under a drawer, factory units carry 35-quart cans (8.75 gallons each). Behind a full-height door, Fabuwood fits 50-quart cans (12.5 gallons). Put it beside the sink, on the side away from the dishwasher, and you have covered most of what matters.

We sell cabinets for a living, and the pull-out trash can cabinet is on nearly every kitchen quote we write. Most size guides give ranges like "13 to 20 gallons." This one uses the spec books: the exact bins inside each Fabuwood, US Cabinet Depot and KCD unit we sell, and what they cost. If you are buying Fabuwood specifically, our Fabuwood accessories guide puts the trash unit beside the brand's other pull-outs, drawer inserts and corner parts.

Key Takeaways

• Widths: 15″ for one bin, 18″ for two, 21″ for two with more elbow room. A framed 18″ box leaves roughly a 15″ clear opening, which is what the bin frame has to fit through.
• Door height sets capacity: Fabuwood's standard TC units carry 35-quart cans; the FHD (full-height door) versions carry 50-quart cans at the same price.
• 21″ is not bigger inside on Fabuwood Allure: TC18 and TC21 both come with two 35-quart cans. The 21″ costs $74.75 more.
• Real prices: Fabuwood Galaxy TC15 BLUM $617.50, TC18 BLUM $734.50, TC21 BLUM $809.25. The base box is extra, from $341.25 (B15FD) to $432.25 (B21).
• Placement: next to the sink, with the sink between the bin and the dishwasher. The NKBA recommends one receptacle near each cleanup sink plus a second for recycling.
• Soft-close is standard on the Fabuwood, US Cabinet Depot and KCD insert units (Blum runners or equivalent). With retrofit kits you have to check the listing.

Table of Contents

• Trash Pull-Out Cabinet Sizes at a Glance
• What Each Factory Unit Actually Holds
• Quarts, Gallons and Bags
• Single vs Double Bins
• Where to Put the Bin: Sink, Dishwasher and Traffic
• Bottom-Mount, Top-Mount and Door-Mount Explained
• Slides and Soft-Close
• Factory Unit or Retrofit Kit?
• What the Whole Cabinet Costs
• Before You Order: Five Checks
• Frequently Asked Questions

Trash Pull-Out Cabinet Sizes at a Glance

Every pull-out garbage cabinet in the spec books below is a standard 34½″ × 24″ base box, so width is the only size you choose. The width on the label is the outside of the box, though. On a framed cabinet the face frame takes about an inch and a half off each side. KCD's spec drawings show 1.5″ stiles, and its 18″ trash base lists a 15″ door opening. So an 18″ framed box gives you roughly 15 inches to fit a bin frame through.

The pull-out frames in US Cabinet Depot's spec book show the same pattern. The frame for a 15″ box is 12″ wide, for an 18″ it's 15″, and for a 21″ it's 18″, each about 21⅝″ deep. None of the lines in this guide builds a 12-inch pull-out trash cabinet. If you only have 12 inches, you're shopping for a retrofit single-bin kit and measuring the clear opening first. Standard widths are covered in cabinet sizes in 3-inch increments.

What Each Factory Unit Actually Holds

Store listings give the width and leave out the bins. This table comes from the spec books; prices are what our site shows, except Illume, which is spec-book list.

The Fabuwood unit is not a cabinet. The Allure spec book (p. 47) says "Cabinet not included, cabinet must be ordered separately." The TC code is the carriage, the runners and the cans. The box it goes into is a separate line on your quote. US Cabinet Depot does it the other way and sells the box and pull-out together as one kit (B18TCPO for a door with a drawer above, B18FHTCPO for a full-height door).

On Fabuwood, the FHD version holds more. The TC and TC__FHD units cost the same, but the full-height-door version carries 50-quart cans instead of 35. With nothing above the bin, the can is taller, so in an 18″ box the full-height door is a free upgrade from 70 to 100 quarts. The spec book notes that the FHD units need the FULL-DOORS modification, so have us confirm the box and modification together on your quote. US Cabinet Depot's full-height kits keep 35-quart cans, so this capacity jump is a Fabuwood detail.

The 21-inch Allure unit buys width, not volume. TC18 and TC21 both carry two 35-quart cans. The extra $74.75 buys room around the cans for lifting bags out, not capacity. If you have 21 inches to fill and want more trash space, the TC21FHD's two 50-quart cans are the upgrade that actually adds volume.

Quarts, Gallons and Bags

Bin makers size cans in quarts. Bag boxes use gallons. There are four quarts to a gallon, so the conversion is quick.

Rev-A-Shelf, one of the best-known retrofit makers, uses the same split in its waste container guide: full-height cabinets "typically use 50 qt. containers," and drawer-and-door cabinets use 35-quart ones.

Now the bags. A 35-quart can holds 8.75 gallons, so a standard 13-gallon tall kitchen bag will bunch up in it. Buy bags sized to the can, or go with the 50-quart full-height version if you want to keep using the bags you already buy. For reference, US Cabinet Depot lists its 35-quart can at 14³⁄₁₆″ × 10½″ and 17⅞″ tall.

The 15″ Fabuwood units add what the spec book calls a "bags bin" beside the single can. As we read it, that's bag storage, not a second waste can, so count only the can.

Single vs Double Bins

Deciding between one bin and two is really a question of whether recycling lives in the kitchen. The NKBA's Kitchen Planning Guideline 14 recommends at least two waste receptacles: one near each cleanup or prep sink, and a second for recycling "either in the kitchen or nearby" (NKBA Kitchen Planning Guidelines). A double trash pull-out meets that in one cabinet. A single pull-out meets it only if recycling has another home, such as a mudroom, garage or pantry.

Where to Put the Bin: Sink, Dishwasher and Traffic

You use the bin while you scrape plates, peel vegetables and clear the counter, and nearly all of that happens at the sink. Put it within one step of the sink bowl. Every step further is a step people will skip, and scraps end up on the counter.

The dishwasher also wants to be beside the sink. The NKBA recommends keeping the nearest edge of the dishwasher within 36 inches of the sink edge, with at least 21 inches of standing space between the dishwasher and any cabinets set at a right angle to it. Put the bin on the same side and the open dishwasher door blocks it at exactly the moment you're scraping plates to load it.

The layout that works is bin, sink, dishwasher, with the sink between the other two. On a straight run that's three consecutive cabinets, typically an 18″ trash base, a 33″ or 36″ sink base and the 24″ dishwasher opening. Sink base widths and bowl sizes are covered in our sink base cabinet guide.

When that layout won't fit:

• Short galley or tight L: put the bin around the corner on the return run. It's still one step from the sink, and it opens across the walkway instead of into the dishwasher's space. Don't plan it into the blind corner; the trash units are built for a standard base of their own width (see blind corner cabinet sizes and solutions).
• Sink on an island: put the bin on the island next to the sink, on the working side, not the seating side. Leave the aisle clearances in our island clearance guide, since an open bin drawer projects about as far as a full-extension drawer.
• Second sink or bar: a 15″ single is enough there. Our wet bar layout guide sizes the rest of that run.

Avoid a walkway people cut through while you cook, where an open bin is a shin-height obstacle. The broader rules are in our kitchen layouts guide.

Bottom-Mount, Top-Mount and Door-Mount Explained

How the carriage attaches decides how easy it is to install and how high the bins sit. Retrofit listings use three terms, and they are often combined in one product.

Rev-A-Shelf's own selection guide sums up the trade-off: bottom mount "creates a lower deck height," while side mount puts the deck higher. Most kitchen units combine the first and third: Rev-A-Shelf's 4WCSC-1835DM-2 double, for example, is a bottom-mount carriage sold with door-mount brackets. The factory units we sell follow the same idea. US Cabinet Depot's spec book says its pull-out "is mounted to the cabinet floor and door."

A small can that hangs on the back of a hinged door (Rev-A-Shelf's 4SOWC holds 8 quarts) suits a vanity, not a kitchen. For a bathroom, Fabuwood's vanity-depth TCV15 BLUM is $708.50, and our vanity sizes guide covers the cabinets it fits.

Slides and Soft-Close

A loaded bin drawer gets shoved shut with a hip several times a day, so the runners matter. On every factory unit whose spec we could confirm, soft-close is standard:

• Fabuwood Allure: Blum Tandem plus Blumotion, full-extension concealed runners (spec book p. 47).
• Fabuwood Illume: a Blum MERIVOBOX drawer rated 175 lb static and 150 lb dynamic.
• US Cabinet Depot: full-extension slides with Blumotion soft-close, rated 110 lb.
• KCD YN-TCCK insert: undermount, full-extension, soft-close slides on a dovetailed solid-wood frame.

Full extension matters for a bin more than for most drawers. On a ¾-extension slide, the back can stays partly under the countertop, and that's the one you lift the bag out of. If you're comparing retrofit kits, check that the listing says full extension and soft-close, and look at the weight rating. Our comparison of undermount and side-mount drawer slides explains the hardware.

One limit worth knowing: the Allure spec book marks its trash units "Not for ADA cabinet use." If you're planning an accessible kitchen, go through our ADA cabinet heights and clearances guide with your designer before you lock in the waste location.

Factory Unit or Retrofit Kit?

If you're ordering new cabinets, get the factory unit. If you're keeping your cabinets, a retrofit kit is the only option, and it works well as long as you measure the opening rather than the box.

The Rev-A-Shelf double we priced measures 15.0″ wide, about 22″ deep and 20⅜″ tall, and retailers list its minimum opening as 15″ wide, 21¾″ deep and 20⅝″ high. That's why it's an 18″ framed-cabinet part: it needs the full 15″ opening. Two things trip up retrofits: a center stile in a double-door base, which the frame can't pass, and plumbing or a back rail that stops a 22″-deep carriage short. Measure inside, at the narrowest point.

Frameless boxes (Fabuwood Illume and Ovela, US Cabinet Depot Palermo and Torino) have no face frame, so the opening is nearly the full inside width, and Rev-A-Shelf's guide sorts its units by face-frame and full-access cabinets. Our framed vs frameless guide explains the difference.

What the Whole Cabinet Costs

Every trash pull-out cabinet has two prices, the box and the unit, and quotes that list only one of them are what lead to the surprise at checkout. Here are the full routes on Fabuwood Galaxy at the prices our site shows. The standard painted and stained finishes, such as Frost, Nickel and Cobblestone, carry the same numbers for these codes; the oak finishes cost more. The box prefix changes with the finish, for example GF for Frost.

The full-height routes are $32.50–$35.75 cheaper and, on Fabuwood, hold more, because the full-height box costs less than the one with a drawer. One caveat: the spec book says the FHD units need the FULL-DOORS modification, which it describes as building a full-height door onto a base cabinet. We price them here on the stock B__FD box, as our site does, and confirm the exact box and any modification charge on your quote. What you give up is the drawer front above the bin, which matters only if you want the drawer line unbroken along the sink wall.

A plain 18″ base with a store-bought can costs about $700 less. For a rental or a kitchen that rarely sees cooking, that saving can win; in a kitchen cooked in every day, a hidden, soft-closing bin you can open with a knee is one of the better upgrades on the quote. To see where it lands in a whole kitchen, our cost estimator and Fabuwood cost breakdown put the accessories in context. You can browse the units on our trash can pull-out page.

Before You Order: Five Checks

1. Box and unit are both on the quote. On Fabuwood the TC code is the carriage only; on US Cabinet Depot the kit includes the box. Match widths: a TC18 needs an 18″ base.
2. Door style matches the run. The standard unit goes under a drawer front; the FHD unit behind a full-height door. Mixing them breaks the line of drawer fronts.
3. Bin count and quarts are written down. Two 35s, two 50s or one plus a bag bin: get it in writing for the exact code.
4. The bin is next to the sink, with the sink between it and the dishwasher. Check it on the plan with both doors drawn open.
5. Retrofit only: measure the clear opening (width inside the face frame, depth to the first obstruction, height under the drawer rail) and buy to that, not to the cabinet's label.

If you're ordering online, our five-step ordering guide will help you catch a missing box before it ships.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size cabinet do I need for a pull-out trash can?

The standard trash cabinet size is 18 inches wide, for two bins (trash plus recycling), which is what most kitchens get. For one bin, 15 inches. A 21-inch base gives the same two bins more room around them. On a framed cabinet, the opening is about 3 inches narrower than the label, so an 18″ box leaves roughly 15″ for the carriage.

How many gallons is a pull-out trash can?

Most factory units use 35-quart cans (8.75 gallons). Fabuwood's full-height-door versions use 50-quart cans (12.5 gallons). A double 18″ unit therefore holds 17.5 or 25 gallons in total, depending on the door.

Will a 13-gallon trash bag fit a pull-out trash can?

It's oversized for a 35-quart (8.75-gallon) can and will bunch. A 50-quart can (12.5 gallons) is much closer, so pick the full-height-door version to keep your usual bags.

Is an 18 or 21 inch trash pull-out better?

For most kitchens, the 18. On Fabuwood Allure, the TC18 and TC21 both carry two 35-quart cans, and the 21″ costs $74.75 more for room, not volume. Choose 21″ when the plan leaves 21 inches to fill, and choose the full-height-door version if you actually want more capacity.

Where should a trash pull-out go in a kitchen?

Directly beside the sink, on the opposite side from the dishwasher, so the open bin and the open dishwasher door never block each other. The NKBA recommends a receptacle near each cleanup or prep sink, plus a second for recycling.

Can you add a pull-out trash can to an existing cabinet?

Yes, with a retrofit kit, as long as the cabinet has one open door (no center stile) and a clear inside opening big enough for the kit's stated minimum. Doubles for 18″ framed cabinets typically need about a 15″ opening and 21¾″ of depth. Remove the shelf first.

Do trash pull-outs come with soft-close?

The factory units whose specs we checked do: Blum Tandem plus Blumotion on Fabuwood Allure, Blum MERIVOBOX on Illume, and Blumotion slides on US Cabinet Depot's kits. Retrofit kits vary, so check the listing for full extension and soft-close.

Get the Bin Cabinet on the Right Side of the Sink

Send us your sink wall measurements and tell us whether recycling lives in the kitchen, and we'll come back with a free 3D design and an itemized quote showing the base box, the pull-out code and the bins it holds. Your designer replies within one business day, and the 3D design and quote follow within 24–48 hours.

Start on our design service page, reach us through the contact page, or call 609-900-3358. To see the lines side by side first, visit the Fabuwood and US Cabinet Depot brand pages.