Junk removal

Hiring a junk removal crew is simple on paper: someone shows up, loads the truck, and your space is empty. The details that decide how smoothly it goes are what's in the pile, how hard it is to reach, and which city you live in. This section covers those details.

What's included, step by step

1. Photos and a quick check. You text a few wide shots and your ZIP. We look for anything that can't go with ordinary junk, like paint cans or batteries, and flag it before you book.
2. A price by text. The number reflects the share of the truck your things fill and the labor to get them out.
3. A time window. You pick a slot and get a text before the crew arrives.
4. Carry-out from anywhere. Bedrooms, attics, garages, side yards and patios are all fair game. Furniture gets taken apart only if that's the only way through a doorway.
5. Loading with a sort. As things go on the truck, pieces that look donatable and metal that can be recycled are kept apart from the rest.
6. Sweep-up. Once the space is clear, the crew sweeps the floor, garage or driveway where the pile stood.

California and LA rules that apply

Most household junk is ordinary solid waste. A handful of common items aren't, and California law decides where they can go.

It is illegal in California to put hazardous waste in the garbage, down a storm drain or on the ground.^[1] That covers more than people expect:

• Batteries of every kind, from AA cells to car batteries, are banned from trash, recycling and organics bins.^[1]
• Screens and electronics, including TVs, monitors, laptops, printers, microwaves and cell phones, are on the state's trash-ban list.^[1]
• Paint, and even dried paint, can't go in the trash; PaintCare drop-off sites take it.^[2],[3]
• Propane and other gas cylinders, including BBQ and camping tanks, are banned from the trash.^[1]
• Fluorescent tubes and bulbs are banned too, and CalRecycle says LED lights shouldn't go in the trash either.^[1]
• Tires aren't hazardous, but they're also banned from the trash.^[1]

For City of LA residents, the S.A.F.E. Centers take household hazardous waste and electronics for free.^[4],[5] The two closest to the east and central Valley are on Randall Street in Sun Valley and on Balboa Boulevard in Northridge, both open weekends from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.^[5],[6] Each visit is capped at 15 gallons or 125 pounds, and staff unload your car for you.^[4]

What affects the price

No two piles cost the same, and the reasons are mostly physical.

• Volume. The biggest factor is how much of the truck the load fills. A few boxes and a chair take a small slice; a full garage can take the whole bed.
• Weight and density. Dirt, rock, tile and concrete fill the weight limit long before they fill the space, so a small pile of heavy material can cost more than a big pile of light furniture.
• Distance and stairs. A load from a curbside driveway is quicker than one from a third-floor walk-up or the bottom of a sloped backyard.
• Disassembly. Beds, bunk sets, sectionals and play equipment that must come apart to fit through doors add time.
• Parking and access. LA sweeps posted streets every other week and cites cars parked there on sweeping day.^[7] A clear curb or driveway keeps the carry short.

Free city options vs. paying a hauler

The biggest free alternative is your city's bulky item pickup. It's a good deal when you can wait and can get things to the curb yourself. Here's how the four cities in our area compare:

LA's program won't take construction materials, auto parts, paint or chemicals,^[8] and its crews collect only the items listed on the work order, so every piece has to be named when you book.^[13] Burbank doesn't collect business items at all and tells owners to donate, rent a bin or call a junk removal service.^[9] The city guides go deeper: Los Angeles, Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

Taking it to the dump yourself is the other route. Sunshine Canyon in Sylmar takes public drop-offs without an appointment,^[14] but it charges every load a one-ton minimum.^[15] Burbank's landfill is closed to the public,^[16] and Scholl Canyon only accepts waste from Glendale, Pasadena and a few neighboring communities.^[17] The truck-rental comparison walks through that math.

Paying a crew makes the most sense when timing matters, the load is bigger than one curbside pile, or the carry is the hard part.

Where it goes afterward

A mixed load splits several ways after pickup.

• Donation. Goodwill Southern California takes items in clean, sellable condition and doesn't repair anything,^[18] so worn or broken pieces rarely qualify. It does take anything with a plug or battery in any condition.^[19]
• Scrap metal. Scrap yards in Sun Valley take large appliances and other metal.^[20]
• Organics. Under California's SB 1383, lumber, wood and yard trimmings count as organic waste the state wants kept out of landfills.^[21]
• Landfill. What can't be reused or recycled is disposed of. Burbank notes that most of what its own bulky crews collect ends up in a landfill.^[9]

If you'd like to give things away yourself first, the donation guide lists drop-off centers by area.

Related guides and areas

• City bulky pickup vs. a private hauler
• Dumps and landfills near the San Fernando Valley
• How to get rid of paint and chemicals

Junk removal by area: North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Burbank, Glendale, Sherman Oaks, Northridge.