Junk removal in Portland, OR

Portland’s bulky pickup is paid, per item, on the hauler’s week

Portland has no free bulky item pickup. The city assigns one garbage company to your street, and it takes large items from the curb at rates the city sets: $18 per trip plus a charge per item. A washer, dryer or TV is $6, a dresser or queen mattress $21, a sectional or king mattress $29, and anything with coolant in it, fridge, freezer or portable air conditioner, $51. The hauler has seven days to come. Renters go through the landlord, who holds the garbage account.

Be honest with the numbers. One fridge you can wheel to the curb is $69 through the hauler, and that beats us. We earn the job when the fridge is in the basement, when there are eleven things instead of one, when the landlord is slow, or when a seven day wait does not fit a move-out or a listing photo. We carry from wherever it sits, everything goes in one trip, and you pick a 2 hour window, often the same day.

Portland has been an incorporated city since 1851, so the city rate card covers every address inside the line. A Portland mailing address outside the line is not on the city rate card; ask whoever picks up your garbage what a bulky item costs there.

Free piles count as dumping now

The Portland free pile is a tradition, and the city and Metro both want it gone. The city’s own advice page discourages them, and Metro’s RID Patrol goes further: leaving bulky items on public property is illegal, and the fine covers the cleanup plus penalties of up to $500. From October to May a couch on the parking strip is a sponge within a day.

So we ask before we load. A sound dresser or a dry couch goes to a donation stop first. What is past saving rides in the same truck, and nothing waits at the curb overnight.

What Portland houses hand us, block by block

Hawthorne, Alberta and Montavilla. Mostly craftsman bungalows and foursquares from the 1900s to the 1930s on 5,000 square foot lots. Basements have a steep stair or a hatch off the back porch, and the detached garage sits down a driveway our truck will not fit, so we park at the curb and carry. Since the 2021 infill rules, the city has permitted more than 1,400 ADU and middle housing units in single dwelling zones, and a lot of our calls here are a garage or basement emptied to become one.

Sellwood. Smaller cottages on narrow lots, tight street parking, and a lot of downsizing.

St. Johns. Deeper lots, older bungalows beside postwar houses, sheds and shop buildings out back, and rentals near the University of Portland that tend to turn over in summer.

Lents and outer southeast. Postwar ranches and split levels, flag lots down a shared gravel drive, more rentals, and long ownership. Full truck days are common out here.

Pearl District and downtown. Converted warehouses and towers with a freight elevator, a loading dock and a building manager with rules about both. Name the building when you book and we work inside its schedule.

Multnomah Village and the southwest hills. Midcentury houses on slopes, driveways that drop away from the street, roads with no shoulder. A carry over 100 feet is $25, stated before we lift.

Where a Portland load ends up

Portland loads go to Metro Central Station on NW 61st Avenue. Metro charges $176.70 a ton with a $51 minimum, and that fee is already inside our price. Metro’s free allowance on mattresses and on electronics under Oregon E-Cycles comes off your bill the same way.

The same truck covers Gresham, Milwaukie and Beaverton. See the full price list.

Portland questions

My hauler cannot come for a week. Can you come sooner? Usually, yes. Windows are 2 hours and often open the same day; book online or call (360) 702-7327.

I put a couch out free and nobody took it. Will you take it wet? Yes. Book before the rain and a dry one can go to donation instead.

I am converting my garage to an ADU. Can you clear it before the contractor starts? Yes. A single garage is usually a half to three quarter truck, and the debris the contractor makes later is priced separately.

Does the price change between Portland and the Washington side? No. Same ladder, same windows, no travel fee on either side.