Bed frame disposal in Washington DC

The short answer

Disassembly is included. So is the carry, from a third-floor rowhouse bedroom or up out of an English basement. The minimum visit is $75.

The three frames DC produces

The metal frame at $68. The default in every group house and short-lease unit in the city. It came flat-packed, it has been apart and back together three times, and the bolt heads are rounded. It goes out in a bundle.

The upholstered platform at $126. Bought new for an apartment in Navy Yard, NoMa, Ballston or the Wharf, usually within the last five years, usually assembled in the bedroom and never moved since. These are the ones that will not come back apart cleanly, because the fabric is stapled over the joints.

The solid wood frame, often with a storage base. Older houses in Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, Bethesda and Arlington. Heavier than the price suggests, and the rails are usually longer than the stair turn allows.

All three are ordinary work. The price band is published before anyone arrives.

Why the frame is the hard part in a rowhouse

A mattress is flexible. A frame is not.

DC rowhouse bedrooms sit at the top of a narrow stair that turns at a landing, and the bedroom doors are often 28 to 30 inches. A queen side rail is around 80 inches. It goes up that stair only in pieces, and it comes down only in pieces, which is why the frame -- not the mattress -- is the piece that gets abandoned when a tenant runs out of time.

English basements are worse in one specific way: the exterior stair under the stoop turns hard at the bottom, and there is a ceiling above it. A king frame at $152 comes out in components, and the crew plans for that.

The important part is that disassembly is inside the price. There is no charge for taking the bed apart, and no charge for the stair.

The bunk bed and the family house

Bunk beds at $123 and loft or solid wood bunks at $148 come mostly out of the suburbs -- Silver Spring, Rockville, Falls Church, Annandale, Vienna, Bowie -- when the children outgrow them, and out of District rowhouses where a third bedroom was made to work for two children.

They are bolted, tall, and awkward in exactly the way a rowhouse stair punishes. They also frequently have a mattress in each tier, so the real booking is usually the bunk plus two twins: $123 + $82 + $82 = $287.

Murphy beds and small-unit DC

The Murphy bed at $130 is a DC apartment item. Small units in Dupont, Foggy Bottom, Columbia Heights and Old Town Alexandria get them because the floor plan demands it, and they are mounted to the wall and sometimes to the floor.

Before the visit, know whether it is a freestanding cabinet or fixed to structure. If it is fixed, the mounting comes off the wall and that leaves holes, so decide in advance whether you are patching or whether the landlord is. The removal itself is included at the published price.

What usually goes with it

Frames almost never travel alone. The whole-bedroom prices:

A full Petworth guest room -- queen set, metal frame, nightstand -- is $143 + $68 + $57 = $268. A primary bedroom in a Bethesda house with a king frame, king mattress and a standard dresser is $152 + $114 + $126 = $392.

The collection route, and why it often fails for frames

Bulky collection exists across the metro -- the District, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and private subscription hauling through much of Fairfax County -- and every one of them is request-based with limits on how much goes at once.

Frames run into two problems there. First, a disassembled frame is often counted as several pieces rather than one, which eats an allotment fast when the mattress and box spring are going too. Second, nobody comes inside: the program starts at the collection point, and getting 80-inch rails down a turning rowhouse stair is the actual work.

Check your own jurisdiction's current bulky-item page for what it accepts and how many pieces. If the answer does not fit your date or your stair, booking is the route.

Booking it well

Say four things and the day runs: the size, whether it is metal or solid or upholstered, which floor it is on, and whether the unit is an English basement or a walk-up. Add the block, because permit parking and rush-hour standing restrictions on the arterials shape the window more than the job does.

Everything else is included -- disassembly, the carry, the stoop, the alley, transport and disposal. Metal frames are largely steel and recover well; solid wood separates from the upholstery and hardware.

Frequently asked questions