Junk Removal in
Washington DC

From the Downtown, Navy Yard, and Rosslyn towers to the Georgetown and Capitol Hill rowhouse basements to the Bethesda, Arlington, and McLean suburbs — flat photo-quoted pricing from a $75 minimum (sofa $170, queen mattress $139, refrigerator $221), vetted local DMV crews, and the basement hauls and steep walk-ups that are the signature DC jobs. We carry it up from the basement or down the stairs. And in Maryland and Virginia, there's no sales tax on the service.

★★★★★ 4.94 · 162 Google reviews

Get your DMV quote — flat prices from $75

Snap a photo of what needs to go — price back in seconds, no walkthrough

Upload Photos & Get Quote →
Free · No login · DC · MD · VA
DC · Maryland · Virginia Insured, vetted crews Private licensed hauler for DC condos COI filed · freight elevator booked Same-day usually open Español · አማርኛ

How it works across the DMV

1 · Send a photo

Photograph the pile, the basement, or the one sofa. A flat number comes back in seconds — priced per item or by truck-fill, whichever is cheaper for you. No walkthrough, no "call for a quote."

2 · Pick a window

Same-day is usually open somewhere in the footprint. If your building wants a Certificate of Insurance and a reserved freight elevator, tell us the management company and we file it — 48–72 hours ahead is the DMV norm.

3 · We carry it out

An insured local crew hauls it up the basement stairs, down the walk-up, or into the service elevator, then sweeps. Usable furniture is donation-routed. You lift nothing and nothing goes to the curb.

Junk removal built for how the DMV actually lives

The DMV is a rowhouse and walk-up town, not a Sun Belt sprawl. The classic DC and close-in-suburb homes have basements where decades of stuff piles up, and clearing them — carried up the stairs and out — is one of the most common jobs we do. Then there are the walk-ups: Dupont, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and U Street are full of no-elevator units, so we haul furniture and mattresses down at no stair fee. Downtown, Navy Yard/Capitol Riverfront, Rosslyn, Tysons, and Bethesda add a high-rise COI + freight-elevator belt; Georgetown, embassy row, McLean, Potomac, and Great Falls bring estate clears; and Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, and Langley Park are Spanish-first neighborhoods we staff accordingly.

We price the same way across all of it: send a photo, get a flat number that already covers the labor, the truck, the dump fees, and the drive. And here's the DMV wrinkle worth knowing: the District of Columbia applies sales tax to junk removal, but Maryland and Virginia don't — so a Bethesda or Arlington pickup has no tax line, while a DC pickup adds the District's rate at checkout. Same-day pickup is usually available.

What we haul out of the DMV every week

How much does junk removal cost in the DMV?

Flat rates, photo-quoted before anyone shows up. The labor, the drive, and the disposal are already in it. The minimum for any pickup is $75. Single pieces price per item; a basement, a garage, or a whole unit prices by how much of the truck it fills.

ItemFlat price
Sofa / couch$170
Loveseat$160
Sectional (3-piece)$249
Queen mattress$139
King mattress$154
Dresser$169
Dining table (6–8 seat)$220
Refrigerator$221
Washer$179
Dryer$172
TV (medium)$91
Treadmill$155

$75 minimum. Disposal included; photo-priced before the truck rolls. DC sales tax added at checkout in the District; no sales tax on the service in MD or VA.

The truck-fill ladder — every tier, published

Basements, garages, estate clears and whole units are volume jobs, so they climb a published ladder instead of an on-site guess. Eighths of a truck, all seven rungs:

Truck filledFlat priceTypical DMV job
2/8 (quarter)$325A closet purge, a small storage locker, a bedroom's worth
3/8$455A packed rowhouse cellar corner or a one-bedroom's leftovers
4/8 (half)$580A typical Capitol Hill basement or a condo turnover
5/8$690Basement plus garage, or a two-bedroom move-out
6/8$790A Bethesda basement-and-attic clear
7/8$890Most of a downsizing job before the estate sale
8/8 (full)$985A full estate or whole-home clear (multiple trucks price the same way)

For context: per HomeGuide's 2026 pricing research, 1-800-GOT-JUNK in this market runs roughly $100–$150 for a minimum load, about $400–$600 for a half truck and $700–$1,000 for a full one; College HUNKS Hauling Junk starts around $150, with half loads $350–$500 and full loads $600–$800+. All three national franchises confirm the number only after an on-site estimate. Ours is quoted from a photo, per item, before anyone drives out.

See the full DMV price guide → — every item and truck-load price, what drives the cost, and how the DC/MD/VA tax line works.

7 ways to get rid of junk in the DMV

OptionCostSpeedCatch
DC DPW bulk trash (311)FreeScheduled appointmentSingle-family and ≤3-unit buildings only, 7 items per appointment, curbside, no renovation debris — and condos are excluded outright
Montgomery / Prince George's County bulkFreeScheduled or on-callEach county sets its own item cap and exclusion list; curbside; you carry it out
Arlington / Alexandria / Fairfax County bulkFreeScheduled or on-callSame story on the Virginia side — own caps, own exclusions, own calendar
DonateFreeDays to weeksGoodwill of Greater Washington, Salvation Army, Habitat ReStore, A Wider Circle — clean, sound pieces only, and pickup slots book out
Rent a truck and self-haulTruck + fuel + tipping (Fairfax County charges commercial haulers ≈$90/ton, FY2026)A weekendYou load it, drive it, and pay by weight at the scale
Traditional franchise hauler~$100–$150 minimum to ~$700–$1,000 full truck (HomeGuide 2026)Same/next dayVolume-priced and confirmed on site — you learn the real number when the truck is already at your door
JunkRabbit$75 minimum · sofa $170 · truck-fill $325–$985Same dayNone — flat photo quote, we carry it out, donation-routed, COI filed

Does DC, Maryland or Virginia pick up bulk junk for free?

Three jurisdictions, three different answers — and this is the thing almost nobody explains to DMV residents before they've already waited two weeks for the wrong appointment.

District of Columbia — DPW Bulk Trash Collection

The District runs a free Bulk Trash Collection program, requested through 311 or dpw.dc.gov. It serves single-family homes and buildings of three units or fewer only, takes up to 7 items per appointment, and does not accept renovation or construction and demolition debris. If you own a Petworth bungalow or a Capitol Hill rowhouse, it's a genuinely good deal — provided you can get the sofa to the curb yourself and can wait for the date they give you.

Then comes the part that reshapes the whole market: condos, co-ops and apartment buildings of four or more units are excluded, and District rules require those residents to have bulk items removed by a private, licensed hauler. That is a District rule, not a sales pitch. It means every resident of Navy Yard, NoMa, the West End, the Wharf and the downtown condo towers has no free option at all — the neighbor in the rowhouse two blocks away does, and you don't. If you live in one of those buildings, hiring a private hauler isn't the convenient choice, it's the only compliant one.

Maryland — Montgomery County and Prince George's County

Montgomery County and Prince George's County each run their own scheduled or on-call bulk collection, each with its own item caps and its own exclusion list — and the two programs don't match each other. Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Potomac and Rockville sit on one side of that line; College Park, Hyattsville and Langley Park on the other. Check your own county's current rules before you count on it, because the caps and the accepted-item lists are set locally and change.

Virginia — Arlington County, City of Alexandria, Fairfax County

Same pattern across the river. Arlington County, the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County each operate a bulk program with its own limits and exclusions, and each serves only the households on its own collection route — plenty of Vienna, Falls Church, McLean, Tysons and Great Falls addresses are on private trash contracts instead. Old Town Alexandria and Del Ray residents in particular find that the historic-street loading reality matters more than the program rules.

The honest summary: three jurisdictions, three different free programs, none of them same-day, all of them curbside, all of them capped — and one of them locks out every condo in the District. Anything over the cap, off the schedule, from a 4+ unit building, or that you physically can't drag to the street is our lane.

What happens to it after pickup

Nothing goes straight to a hole in the ground if it doesn't have to. Furniture that's clean and structurally sound is donation-routed firstGoodwill of Greater Washington, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity ReStore locations around the metro, and A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, which furnishes homes for families leaving homelessness and issues donation documentation. Metal — bed frames, shelving, appliance shells, exercise equipment — goes to scrap. Electronics go to the county e-waste drop-offs that DC, Montgomery, Prince George's, Arlington and Fairfax all operate. Refrigerators, freezers, wine coolers and AC units get EPA-certified refrigerant recovery before anything is crushed, which is a legal requirement and a real cost line.

What's genuinely finished tips at the regional facilities — Fairfax County's I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 complex, Montgomery County's Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station in Derwood, Prince George's Brown Station Road Landfill. Disposal in the DMV is expensive by national standards, and every bit of it is already inside your flat price.

Buildings, basements, and access — the DMV specifics

High-rises. Navy Yard, NoMa, the West End, the Wharf, Rosslyn, Ballston and Tysons buildings want a Certificate of Insurance filed 48–72 hours ahead naming the management company or association as additional insured, plus a reserved freight-elevator and loading-dock window. We file the COI, book the window, and split sectionals down to what fits the service elevator. There is no high-rise surcharge — the flat price you were quoted is the price.

Rowhouses and walk-ups. English basements, cellar stairs with a turn at the bottom, and third-floor Dupont walk-ups with no elevator are the everyday job here, not the exception. Wall and banister protection is standard, and the stair-carry is included, not a line item.

Historic blocks. Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria and Capitol Hill mean cobblestone, rear-alley carry-outs, tight on-street loading and finishes you don't want gouged. Crews plan the alley approach before they start moving furniture.

Suburban estates. Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac, McLean and Great Falls bring long driveways, full basements, detached garages and attic pull-downs — and MD and VA quotes carry no sales tax on the service.

When people call us in the DMV

Why the DMV chooses JunkRabbit

Washington DC neighborhoods

Maryland & Virginia — no sales tax on the service

Serving the District, close-in Montgomery & Prince George's County MD, and Arlington/Alexandria/inner Fairfax VA. Outer exurbs coming in a later phase.

What DMV customers say

★★★★★

"Cleared a Capitol Hill rowhouse basement — 20 years of furniture, boxes, an old workbench. They carried it all up the stairs, flat price from a photo, gone same-day. Didn't lift a thing."

— Marcus H., Capitol Hill
★★★★★

"Downsizing my parents' house in Bethesda — discreet, careful with the good furniture, donated most of it. One fair flat price, and no sales tax in Maryland. Realtor-ready."

— Janet W., Bethesda
★★★★★

"Rosslyn high-rise — they filed the COI and booked the freight elevator, sectional gone same-day. Flat price, professional. Lifesaver."

— Priya R., Arlington

DMV junk removal questions, answered

How much does junk removal cost in DC?

Flat and photo-quoted: sofa $170, loveseat $160, 3-piece sectional $249, queen mattress $139, king $154, dresser $169, large dining table $220, refrigerator $221, washer $179, dryer $172, medium TV $91, treadmill $155. The minimum for any pickup is $75. Volume jobs run the truck-fill ladder from $325 at 2/8 to $985 for a full truck. Disposal is included.

Will DC pick up my old couch or mattress?

Only if you're in a single-family home or a building of three units or fewer. DC DPW's bulk collection (via 311 or dpw.dc.gov) takes up to 7 items per appointment, is curbside-only, and won't take renovation debris — and you get the couch to the curb yourself.

I live in a DC condo — can I use city bulk trash?

No. Condos, co-ops and buildings of four or more units are excluded from DC DPW bulk trash, and District rules require those residents to use a private, licensed hauler. There's no free alternative — that's the rule, and it's why Navy Yard, NoMa, the Wharf and the downtown towers call us.

Is there sales tax on junk removal in the DMV?

It depends which side of the line you're on. The District treats junk removal as taxable, so DC pickups have the District's rate added at checkout. Maryland and Virginia don't tax the service — no tax line at all on a Bethesda, Silver Spring, Arlington or Alexandria bill. The cost guide works the math out.

Do you carry it up from the rowhouse basement?

Yes. Basement stairs, cellar hatches and third-floor walk-ups are the normal job in this metro, and the carry is in the flat price — no stair fee.

Can you file a COI for my building?

Yes — filed 48–72 hours ahead naming your management company or association as additional insured, with the freight elevator and dock window reserved. No high-rise surcharge.

Do you cover Maryland and Virginia?

Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Rockville, Potomac, Takoma Park, College Park, Hyattsville and Langley Park in MD; Arlington, Alexandria, McLean, Tysons, Vienna and Falls Church in VA — plus all of the District.

Do you have Spanish- and Amharic-speaking crews?

Yes — Spanish across Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan and Langley Park, and Amharic around Shaw/U Street and downtown Silver Spring. Ver esta página en español →

Is this cheaper than 1-800-GOT-JUNK or College HUNKS?

It's a different model. HomeGuide's 2026 research puts 1-800-GOT-JUNK at roughly $100–$150 for a minimum load up to $700–$1,000 for a full truck, and College HUNKS from about $150 to $600–$800+ — all quoted by volume after an on-site estimate. We quote flat, per item, from a photo, before anyone drives out.

Related DMV guides

Frequently asked questions

Do you cover Maryland and Virginia too?

Yes — Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Rockville, Potomac, College Park and Hyattsville in MD; Arlington, Alexandria, McLean, Tysons, Vienna and Falls Church in VA — plus all of DC.