Can you leave furniture on the curb in Pittsburgh?

The short answer

Yes, if you live inside the City of Pittsburgh and follow the rules. Bulky items can go out with your regular trash, limit two items per week, set out no earlier than 6:00 p.m. the night before and no later than 6:00 a.m. on collection day. Suburbs set their own rules through their own haulers. Anything beyond the limit, or anything the curb refuses, needs another route, such as a flat pickup at $126 for a sofa.

What the City curb accepts

The City's bulk program lists the kinds of items it collects with regular refuse. Furniture is well covered: sofas, recliners, tables, dressers, cabinets, mattresses and box springs. Some appliances are on the list too, including stoves, washers, dryers and hot water tanks. Toilets and windows are accepted. Carpet and fencing are accepted if they are cut and bundled, with each bundle no heavier than 35 pounds or no longer than 5 feet. That bundling rule matters more than people expect. A whole room of rolled carpet dragged to the curb in one piece will not meet it, and neither will a long section of old fence. Cut it down, tie it up and keep each bundle light. Remember that every piece still counts against your two-item weekly limit, so a curb full of furniture is not a plan. Two pieces this week, two the next, is how the free program is meant to work.

What the City curb refuses

Some things never belong at a City curb, no matter which night you set them out. The bulk page lists the exclusions plainly. Televisions, computers and peripherals are refused, because Pennsylvania's Covered Device Recycling Act bans them from the curb. Freon appliances, meaning refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers, are refused. Construction waste is refused, so remodel debris, drywall and old cabinets ripped out during a renovation do not go out with the trash. Hazardous chemicals, batteries, light bulbs, auto parts and tires are refused too. Leaving any of these at the curb does not make them disappear; it leaves you with an item the crew skipped, sitting on your sidewalk. Each has its own route. Electronics go to an e-cycler, freon units need refrigerant recovered, and debris goes as a construction load. JunkRabbit takes TVs, fridges and renovation debris at flat prices.

Suburbs and the Pittsburgh mailing address

A lot of people who say they live in Pittsburgh actually live in one of Allegheny County's 130 municipalities, each with its own trash contract. ZIP codes such as 15227, 15228, 15235 and 15236 carry a Pittsburgh mailing address but cover suburbs. In those places the City's two-item rule does not apply. Mt. Lebanon is a good example of how different it can be. Its contractor, County Hauling, accepts furniture, appliances, household goods and disassembled children's swing sets curbside. Freon appliances go only with a sticker certifying the refrigerant has been removed. It does not take construction debris or TVs and electronics. Items go out after 6 p.m. the evening before. Other boroughs and townships, from Ross to Bethel Park to Penn Hills, set their own rules, and some require a call first. Look up your own municipality's garbage page before you carry anything out.

The "free to a good home" curb

Plenty of people put a decent dresser or a lamp out with a sign and hope someone grabs it. On a busy street in Bloomfield or Lawrenceville, that sometimes works within an hour. The problem is what happens when it does not. A sofa that sits on the sidewalk for three days in the rain is no longer a giveaway; it is a soggy obstacle, and neighbors are within their rights to complain. In the City, the only sanctioned window for bulk items is the evening before your collection day. A piece that has been out for a week can be treated as dumping rather than trash. If you want to give something away, list it with a pickup deadline and keep it inside until someone comes. If nobody shows, put it out properly on the right night or book a pickup.

Renters, landlords and shared curbs

If you rent, the curb may not be yours to use. In multi-unit buildings, which make up a real share of the City's housing, the landlord or management company often sets its own rules for bulk items, and the trash area can be shared by several units. Leaving a couch by the cans without asking can cost you part of your deposit. In student areas around Oakland, Shadyside and the South Side, the end of a lease is when this happens most, because everyone moves out the same weekend and the curb fills up. Landlords handling turnovers between tenants face the same two-item cap as everyone else. A property manager with several buildings can set up a JunkRabbit account covering all of them, so turnovers do not depend on curb nights at all. Ask before you set anything out.

When the curb is not the answer

A week's worth of overflow, say a sofa, a recliner and a dresser, is $126 + $98 + $126 = $350, all in one visit. A fridge and a TV the curb refuses are $164 + $68 = $232. Crews carry from any floor, with no stairs fee, 7 days a week from 8am to midnight, and same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM.

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