The City publishes a list of prohibited construction waste, and it is a good guide to what needs a container rather than the curb. It names lumber over four feet long, wire, sheetrock, broken brick, shingles, glass, pipes, concrete, paving materials, metal, plastic and plastic pipe over four feet, paints, coatings, solvents, asbestos, any liquid, compressed gases and semi-liquids, and the empty containers of any of those.
Everything on that list except the hazardous items belongs in a rented container. The hazardous ones stay out of any container anywhere: paint, coatings, solvents, fuel, used motor oil, pesticides, pool chemicals, compressed gas cylinders and asbestos. Liquids are out, and so are sharps.
The City does allow residents to set out small amounts of remodeling material for scheduled bulk waste collection, limited to pieces no more than four feet long and no heavier than 50 pounds. Anything beyond that, which is most of a real project, is container work.
Tires, electronics and appliances need naming at booking. Televisions and computer monitors in particular are scheduled items in Manassas rather than ordinary trash. Anything unusual goes past your account manager before it is loaded at a Manassas address.