Five things bulk pickup will not take in Washington DC

The short answer

Collection programs across the District, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax differ on almost everything -- limits, placement, scheduling -- but they converge on what they refuse:

1. Anything with refrigerant in it.
2. Electronics.
3. Construction and renovation debris.
4. Household hazardous material.
5. Anything that is not already outside.

The fifth is the one that actually catches DC residents, because half the housing stock in this city puts the item at the top of a stair or at the bottom of one.

1. Refrigerant appliances

Refrigerators, freezers, window and portable air conditioners, dehumidifiers and wine coolers all contain refrigerant in a sealed circuit and go through a separate recovery stream. Ordinary collection will not take them, and building trash rooms will not either.

This category is oversized in DC because pre-war apartment buildings in Woodley Park, Cleveland Park and Adams Morgan run window units, and every below-grade room in the metro runs a dehumidifier against the summer humidity.

2. Electronics

Televisions, monitors, towers, printers, stereos, and the box of cables behind them. Refused by collection everywhere in the region because e-waste is its own stream.

DC generates more of this than most cities its size. Hybrid federal and contractor work put real office equipment in bedrooms across Arlington, Silver Spring and upper Northwest, and it all comes out at once when a contract ends or a firm consolidates.

3. Construction and renovation debris

Drywall, lumber, tile, flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, shingles, concrete. Bulky programs are for household goods, not for the results of a project, and this is the refusal that surprises homeowners mid-renovation.

This is a heavy-renovation region. Rowhouse rear additions, English basement conversions to rental units, and kitchen gut jobs across Capitol Hill, Petworth, Bloomingdale, Arlington and Bethesda generate a steady stream of exactly this material.

4. Household hazardous material

Paint, solvents, fuel, pesticides, pool chemicals, car batteries, propane. Not taken by any bulky program in the metro, and each jurisdiction runs its own household hazardous waste channel with its own schedule.

Check your own address's current household hazardous waste page. DC, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax all run these separately.

What does price normally: paint in a one-gallon can is $30, a five-gallon bucket is $52, and a 20 lb propane tank is $33. Set anything questionable aside somewhere visible and flag it when you book rather than burying it in a pile.

5. Anything still inside the house

This is the one that matters most in this city, and it is not a category of material at all. Every collection program in the metro starts at the curb, the alley or a designated point. None of them comes inside.

Which is fine if you live in a Silver Spring house with a driveway. It is a real problem if you live in:

• A Capitol Hill rowhouse with a second-floor bedroom and a stair that turns at the landing.
• An English basement under a Petworth stoop, where the only route is a tight exterior stair.
• A fourth-floor Adams Morgan walk-up with no elevator.
• A Ballston or Navy Yard high-rise where the only legitimate route is a freight elevator you have to reserve.

In all four, the free program does not help with the actual work. Carry-out from any floor is included in every published price we quote, with no stair, walk-up or below-grade charge.

What collection does take

Be fair to the programs: for ordinary household furniture, already outside, on a scheduled date, within the allotment, they work and they are cheap. A sofa at ground level in a Silver Spring driveway with a scheduled pickup is exactly what they exist for.

The frictions are the limit on pieces, the lead time on the request, and the placement. All three are jurisdiction-specific, and all three are worth reading before you plan a move-out around them. Check your address's current bulky-item page.

Booking the refused half

The usual DC pattern is a split job: the furniture goes to the scheduled collection, and the refused categories get booked. Common combinations:

• Kitchen renovation, Bloomingdale. Old refrigerator and the cabinet rip-out: $164 + $293 = $457.
• Home office closing, Arlington. Tower, monitor and a laser printer: $62 + $58 + $71 = $191.
• Autumn in a Mount Pleasant walk-up. Two large window units and a dehumidifier: $109 + $109 + $77 = $295.

The minimum visit is $75, and disposal is inside every price.

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