Start with what your own city will take
Most cities and unincorporated areas across Los Angeles County run some form of bulky-item collection for residents, and a lot of people never use it because they do not know it exists.
We are deliberately not going to tell you what your allowance is, how often you get it or what is excluded — those rules differ between the City of Los Angeles, each of the surrounding cities, and the unincorporated county areas in between, and they change. Look up your own city's sanitation page, or the county's if you are unincorporated, and check the current rules there rather than trusting anything you read on a company website. Ours included.
What is consistent everywhere is the shape of it: there is a limit, construction and remodel debris is almost always excluded, and it has to be at the curb rather than inside the house. That last part is the reason most of our calls exist.
Metal is worth money to someone
Scrap yards across the county buy metal by weight, and a surprising share of household junk is mostly metal — appliance shells, bed frames, filing cabinets, shelving, fencing, gates, pipe offcuts, exercise equipment.
If you can get it there yourself, you get paid rather than paying. It will not be a lot, but it is the right direction. The catch is transport, which is usually the reason people call us instead.
Electronics have their own route
Electronics are regulated separately in California and cannot legally go in with general waste. Certified e-waste recyclers will take computers, monitors, televisions, printers and cabling, and many will take them free of charge.
Pull any drive holding data before it leaves your hands. That is true wherever it goes, including with us.
Donation is the best outcome for anything still usable
Furniture in decent condition, working appliances, tools, books and clothing all have somewhere better to go than a trailer. Several charities across LA will collect larger items, though most have conditions about condition and most need notice.
The rule of thumb: if you would let a friend have it, a charity will probably take it. If you would apologize while handing it over, they will not.
Hazardous material has to go to a proper facility
Paint, solvents, motor oil, fuel, pesticides, propane tanks, car batteries and medical waste cannot be taken by any hauler in the state, us included. The county runs household hazardous waste drop-off events and permanent drop-off sites — check the county's own page for current locations and what they accept.
So when is it worth paying someone?
When the volume is past what a collection will take. When it is inside the house and getting it to the curb is the actual problem. When it is heavy, awkward or up a flight of stairs. When there is a deadline — a handover, a listing, a move — and the free options are all measured in weeks.
If none of those apply, use the free routes. We would rather tell you that than take money for something you could have sorted yourself.
Ready to Clear the Clutter?
Serving Los Angeles and the South Bay. Call or text a photo of what needs to go and you get the price before anyone drives out.
