Washington DC junk removal price list

The short answer

You price a DC job one of two ways. Item by item, if you know what is going: sofa $126, dresser $126, queen mattress $103, treadmill $115, standard refrigerator $164. Or by volume, if it is a pile: quarter truck $241, half truck $431, three-quarter truck $587, full truck $732.

The minimum for any visit is $75. That number is what a single small item costs in a Dupont studio -- one $53 mirror and one $36 floor lamp do not add up to $75, so the visit is $75.

What is included: the carry, the labor, the transport, and the disposal. What is not charged: a stair fee, a walk-up fee, a basement fee, a same-day fee. A Capitol Hill rowhouse with eleven steps up to the door and a turning stair inside costs the same as a Rockville rambler with a two-car garage.

Furniture

The oversize sofa line matters more here than most places. DC rowhouse front doors are narrow and the stair to the second floor usually turns hard at a landing. A sofa that went up in one piece before a previous owner rebuilt the stair sometimes does not come down in one piece, and $185 is the published price for cutting it apart rather than a negotiation at the door.

Beds and mattresses

A full guest-room strip in a Petworth rowhouse -- queen set, metal frame, nightstand -- is $143 + $68 + $57 = $268.

Appliances

The mini fridge line is a Foggy Bottom and Georgetown line. Every May, GW and Georgetown undergrads leave one behind in every other unit, and $115 is what it costs to make it someone else's problem on a date you choose rather than the building's.

Electronics and exercise equipment

The home gym price is the one that surprises people in Arlington and Bethesda basements, where a multi-station rig was assembled in place and has to come apart to clear a 30-inch door. $241 covers the disassembly.

Piles, bags and truck volume

When it is not a list of items, it is a volume. The truck ladder:

And for bagged material, which is how most attic and basement clears in this city actually present:

How the price holds up in a DC building

Three things routinely move a hauler's number after arrival elsewhere in this business. None of them move ours.

• The stoop. Rowhouse front steps in Shaw, LeDroit Park and Capitol Hill run eight to twelve up from the sidewalk. No charge.
• The English basement. Below-grade units under the stoop, with a tight exterior stair that turns at the bottom. No charge.
• The building. Navy Yard, NoMa, Rosslyn, Ballston, Tysons and Bethesda high-rises want a certificate of insurance naming the association and the management company, and a reserved freight elevator. We produce the COI. No charge.

The parking is the one thing worth planning for rather than paying for. Permit-parked residential blocks and rush-hour restrictions on Connecticut, 16th, Wisconsin and Rhode Island mean the arrival window matters. Tell us the block and we schedule around it.

Worked examples

• Hill staffer leaving after a session -- sofa, queen set, and a standard dresser: $126 + $143 + $126 = $395.
• Bethesda basement gym clear -- treadmill and a weight set: $115 + $93 = $208.
• Georgetown kitchen swap -- standard refrigerator and an electric range out: $164 + $134 = $298.
• Columbia Heights one-bedroom, everything goes -- half-truck volume at $431.
• One mirror off a Kalorama wall -- the $53 item price is under the floor, so the visit is $75.

Frequently asked questions