Petworth and Brightwood row houses and bungalows (20011, 20012) with basements and attics full of decades of stuff. We carry it up the stairs and out to the alley, plus furniture and appliances, at a flat photo-quoted price from $75. You don't lift a thing.
Snap a photo — flat price back in seconds
Upload a Photo & Get Quote →Petworth is classic DC row-house-and-bungalow country, and Brightwood just north of it runs the same way: brick porch-front rows, detached bungalows on the side streets, a rear alley behind nearly every block, and — this being the District rather than a sunbelt suburb — an English basement under almost all of it. That combination is the bread-and-butter DC residential job. Not a delicate high-rise choreography, not a mansion. A family house with stairs, an alley, and thirty years of accumulation underneath the floor.
What sits down there is always the same short list in a different order. The sofa that got demoted from the living room instead of leaving the house. Boxes that came from the last address and never got opened at this one. Paint cans, a spare fridge, holiday bins, a lawn mower that hasn't started since two summers ago, metal shelving loaded with things nobody has needed since the shelving was bought. The attic is the smaller, dustier version of the same story — suitcases, a crib, a bed frame, and whatever got put up there the week someone moved in.
The hard part of a Petworth cleanout isn't deciding. It's that everything has to go up. Up the basement stairs, through the kitchen or out the areaway door, then along the side yard or down the alley to the truck. That's the work we're here to do, and it's included in the number rather than surcharged on top of it. We carry, we separate donation from disposal as we go, and we sweep the slab before we leave. (DC sales tax applies at checkout.)
Stand at the bottom of the basement stairs, or in front of the piece, and take a picture. An exact flat price comes back in seconds — no walkthrough, no estimator, no "call for a quote."
Front steps or rear alley? Interior stairs or the areaway door? Is your block parked solid on a weekday? We plan the carry before the truck leaves.
An insured, vetted crew does every lift, protects the stair wall and the floors, routes what's usable to donation, and sweeps behind itself.
Flat and photo-quoted. A single piece prices per item, a corner of the basement prices as a pile, and a whole basement, attic, garage or house prices as truck-fill. The basement stair-carry, the alley carry, the loading and the disposal are already inside the number — there's no stair fee and no basement charge.
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Lawn mower | $88 |
| Bed frame | $92 |
| Metal shelving unit | $95 |
| Bookshelf | $97 |
| Queen mattress | $139 |
| Dresser | $169 |
| Sofa / couch | $170 |
| Dryer | $172 |
| Washer | $179 |
| Chest freezer | $196 |
| Refrigerator | $221 |
Loose piles and bags — for the corner of the basement that isn't "items"
| Load | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Contractor bag (each) | $55 |
| 10 bags | $178 |
| Loose pile — medium | $174 |
| Loose pile — large | $280 |
Basements, attics, garages and whole-house clears — truck-fill ladder
| Truck fill | Flat price |
|---|---|
| 2/8 of the truck | $325 |
| 3/8 | $455 |
| 4/8 (half truck) | $580 |
| 5/8 | $690 |
| 6/8 | $790 |
| 7/8 | $890 |
| Full truck (8/8) | $985 |
$75 order minimum. Clearing more than one thing? Photograph the group rather than the pieces — a basement priced as truck-fill is almost always less than the same contents added up item by item. Renovation debris prices by volume at $162 per cubic yard. DC sales tax applies at checkout.
For an outside benchmark, since "what should a basement cost" is the actual question: HomeGuide's 2026 junk-removal cost research puts 1-800-GOT-JUNK at roughly $400–$600 for a half truck and $700–$1,000 for a full truck, and College HUNKS in the $600–$800+ range for a full load — both priced by truck volume and both normally confirmed only after a crew has come out and looked at your basement in person.
| Option | Cost | Speed | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC DPW bulk trash (311 / dpw.dc.gov) | Free | Scheduled appointment | 7 items per appointment, single-family and ≤3-unit only, no renovation debris — and you carry every piece up the basement stairs and out to the alley yourself |
| Donate (Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat ReStore, A Wider Circle) | Free | Days | Only clean, resellable pieces; pickup slots book out and most locations would rather you deliver it |
| Rent a truck and self-haul | Rental + fuel + tip fee | Most of a Saturday | You do every lift twice, you need somewhere on your block to park a 15-footer, and the regional tip fee is real — Fairfax County charges commercial haulers about $90/ton |
| Franchise hauler (1-800-GOT-JUNK, College HUNKS, Junk King) | ≈$400–$600 half truck, $700–$1,000 full (HomeGuide 2026) | 1–3 days | Priced by truck volume and usually confirmed only by an on-site estimate, so the number can move once they see the stairs |
| JunkRabbit | From $75 · sofa $170 · truck-fill $325–$985 | Same day | None — flat photo price, basement carry-up and alley loading included, donation-routed |
Yes — genuinely, and we'd rather say so than pretend the free option doesn't exist. Petworth and Brightwood are overwhelmingly single-family homes and small row houses, which is exactly the housing stock DC DPW bulk trash was built for. The program serves single-family homes and buildings of three units or fewer, you book the appointment through 311 or dpw.dc.gov, and it doesn't cost you anything. If what you have is an old dresser, a couple of chairs and a headboard, and nobody is waiting on the house, make the appointment. That's your tax money working.
Here's where it stops working, which is where most of the calls from these blocks come from:
So: small, sorted, patient, and already at the curb — use the city. Deep, heavy, renovation-related, or on a deadline — that's ours, and we'll tell you which one you have if you send a photo and ask.
Petworth basements hold a surprising amount that's still perfectly usable, so donation comes first. Sound furniture is routed to Goodwill of Greater Washington, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, which furnishes homes for families leaving shelters and will issue a receipt on request — a much better ending for a solid dresser than a transfer-station floor. The metal shelving, the old bed frame and the appliance shells go to scrap rather than landfill. Electronics go to the District's e-waste drop-off. And the chest freezer or spare fridge in the basement corner goes through EPA-certified refrigerant recovery before anything else happens to it — that's a legal requirement, it's a cost we absorb inside the flat price, and it's the single most common thing homeowners don't realize they can't just put out. What's genuinely waste tips at the regional transfer stations, which is exactly why we sort on the way out of the basement instead of at the scale.
Up, not down. Nearly every Petworth and Brightwood lift runs upward — up the basement stairs, sometimes with a turn at the bottom and a low header at the top. We measure before we lift, take doors off hinges rather than force a dresser through a frame, break bed frames and shelving down in place, and blanket the wall on the pivot. Attics go the other direction: down a steep back stair or a pull-down, one piece at a time, slowly.
The alley is usually the answer. When your block is parked solid — and on the streets off Georgia Avenue and around Upshur it usually is by mid-morning — the rear alley gives us a shorter carry, no front steps, and nothing dragged across the sidewalk in front of the neighbors. Plenty of Petworth houses also have a side areaway door straight into the basement, which is the shortest route of all. Tell us which one exists and we build the job around it.
Detached garages and sheds off the alley are their own small cleanout and price the same way. And none of this carries a fee: no stair fee, no basement fee, no long-carry fee. The quote you get from the photo is the number.
"Rowhouse basement of decades of stuff, carried up and out, swept clean. Flat price from a photo. Didn't lift a thing."
"Old water heater and a fridge up from the basement. Fair flat quote, same-day. Easy."
"Cleared the house before listing — donation-routed, broom-clean, realtor-ready. Professional."
How much does it cost in Petworth?
Flat, photo-quoted: lawn mower $88, bed frame $92, metal shelving $95, bookshelf $97, queen mattress $139, dresser $169, sofa $170, dryer $172, washer $179, chest freezer $196, refrigerator $221. Loose piles run $174 medium and $280 large; contractor bags are $55 each or $178 for ten. Basements, attics and whole-house clears run the truck-fill ladder from $325 at 2/8 up to $985 full. $75 order minimum, stair-carry and disposal included. DC sales tax applies at checkout.
Will DC bulk trash take it instead?
Often, yes — Petworth is mostly single-family and small row houses, and DPW serves single-family and ≤3-unit buildings through 311 or dpw.dc.gov. But it's seven items per appointment, it's a scheduled date rather than same-day, renovation and construction debris are not accepted at all, and it's curbside, so you carry everything up the basement stairs and out to the alley yourself.
Can you haul things up from the basement?
That's the neighborhood's defining job. Every lift here runs upward and we do all of them — doors off hinges, pieces broken down in place, stair walls blanketed, no stair fee.
Do you load from the alley?
Usually, and gladly. When the street is parked solid, the rear alley or a side areaway door is the shorter, cleaner route. Tell us which one you have.
Do you take renovation debris?
Yes — it's the category the city flatly excludes. Demolition material is $162 per cubic yard; contractor bags $55 each or $178 for ten.
What about the old chest freezer?
$196, carried up from the basement, with EPA-certified refrigerant recovery before the shell is scrapped. A refrigerator is $221 on the same basis.
Can you come the same day?
Usually for a piece or a small pile. Book a full basement or a whole-house clear a day or two ahead so we send the right crew and enough truck.
Flat and photo-quoted. Single pieces: bed frame $92, shelving unit $95, bookshelf $97, queen mattress $139, dresser $169, sofa $170, dryer $172, washer $179, chest freezer $196, refrigerator $221, lawn mower $88. A pile in the corner of the basement prices as a pile — medium $174, large $280. A whole basement, attic, garage or house prices as truck-fill: 2/8 of the truck $325, 3/8 $455, 4/8 $580, 5/8 $690, 6/8 $790, 7/8 $890, full truck $985. The order minimum is $75. Stair-carry, alley carry, loading and disposal are all inside the number, and DC sales tax applies at checkout.
Yes, and for a lot of Petworth addresses it is the right call. Petworth and Brightwood are mostly single-family homes and small row houses, and DC DPW bulk trash serves single-family homes and buildings of three units or fewer. You request an appointment through 311 or dpw.dc.gov and it costs nothing. The limits are what send people to us: seven items per appointment, no renovation or construction and demolition debris, a scheduled date rather than same-day, and it is a curbside program, so you carry everything up the basement stairs and out to the alley yourself.
That is the Petworth job in one sentence. Almost everything here goes up, not down — up the basement stairs, through the kitchen or the areaway door, and out to the alley. Our crew does every one of those lifts. We break beds and shelving down in place, take doors off hinges where a dresser will not turn the corner, and blanket the stair wall on the pivot. There is no stair fee and no charge for the basement.
Whenever it is the better route, which on most Petworth and Brightwood blocks it is. When the street is parked solid — and on the blocks off Georgia Avenue and Upshur Street it usually is — the rear alley gives us a shorter carry, no front steps, and nothing dragged across the sidewalk. Tell us which side loads more easily when you book and we plan the carry around it.
Yes, and this is the one thing DPW will never do for you. Renovation and construction and demolition debris are excluded from the DC bulk-trash program outright, so torn-out cabinetry, an old vanity, plaster, lath and countertop are not a 311 appointment no matter how few pieces there are. We take them. Demolition material prices by volume at $162 per cubic yard, and contractor bags are $55 each or $178 for ten.
A chest freezer is $196 and a refrigerator is $221, carried up from the basement by us. Because both hold refrigerant, they go through EPA-certified refrigerant recovery before the shell is scrapped — that is a legal requirement, not an upgrade, and it is already in the flat price. Washers at $179 and dryers at $172 go to metal recycling.
Constantly. A Petworth basement that has been the household attic for twenty or forty years is the most common booking we take on these blocks, and it is usually the first step before a contractor can price a finished basement or an English-basement rental. Send a photo from the bottom of the stairs, we price it as truck-fill, the crew sorts donation from disposal as it goes, and the slab is swept before we leave.
Usually, yes. Petworth and Brightwood sit in the middle of our DC routing, so a single piece or a small pile booked in the morning is often gone the same afternoon. A full basement or a whole-house clear is better booked a day or two out so we bring the right crew size and a truck with room for all of it.