What to do with old furniture in Pittsburgh

The short answer

Old furniture in Pittsburgh has five exits: sell it, give it to someone who will collect it, donate it to a reuse store such as the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Swissvale, put up to two pieces a week at a City curb, or have it carried out. If you need it gone on a schedule, JunkRabbit charges flat prices such as $126 for a dresser, $163 for a large dining table and $160 for a china hutch.

Start with what the piece actually is

Pittsburgh houses are full of furniture that was bought to last, and that matters for what you can do with it. A solid wood dresser from a Squirrel Hill or Point Breeze family home is a different object from a flat-pack bookcase out of an Oakland apartment. Solid hardwood pieces, china hutches, cedar chests and old dining sets often have a resale or reuse market. Particleboard furniture rarely survives a second move and almost never resells. Upholstered pieces are judged harshly on smell and stains. Be honest about condition before you spend time on listings. Check drawers for stuck runners, look for water rings and veneer lifting, and sniff the cushions. A piece that has spent ten winters in a damp basement is usually a disposal item, however good it looked in 1985. Sorting into keep, sell, donate and haul piles first saves you from paying to move something twice.

Selling and giving it away

Selling works best for solid wood, mid-century pieces and anything with a recognizable maker's mark. Price it to move and say clearly that the buyer must collect it. Then be ready for the Pittsburgh complication: whoever buys your armoire has to get it down your stairs. In a rowhouse in Lawrenceville or Bloomfield, or a hillside house in Beechview or Carrick, that is not a small ask. Buyers back out when they see the steps. Giving furniture away to a friend or a neighbor has the same problem, minus the money. Set a deadline for any listing. If a piece has not moved in a week or two, it probably will not, and every week it sits in the dining room is a week of tripping over it. Moving something three times to make a small sale is rarely worth the effort.

Donating it

The Habitat for Humanity ReStore at the Swissvale Shopping Center, on Church Street, lists furniture, appliances, building materials and décor among the things it accepts, and offers free pickup for donations. That makes it the most useful single donation stop on the east side of the metro. Expect them to judge condition, and expect their pickup calendar to run a week or more out at busy times. Clean, complete, working pieces have the best chance. Broken, stained or heavily worn furniture will usually be declined, which is fair: a reuse store cannot sell it either. If timing is the issue, keep in mind that JunkRabbit tries to donate usable items when local charities accept them, and we recycle whatever we can. We will not promise a specific piece will be donated, because that is the receiving charity's decision, not ours.

The City curb and suburban haulers

Inside the City of Pittsburgh, bulky furniture such as sofas, recliners, tables, dressers and cabinets can go out with your regular trash. The limit is two items per week, set out no earlier than 6 p.m. the night before and no later than 6 a.m. on collection day. More than two items costs $173 for the first hour and $54 for each additional hour through the City's paid collection, arranged by phone and paid by check or money order. In the suburbs, your borough or township's own hauler sets the rules, and they differ across Allegheny County's 130 municipalities. Mt. Lebanon's contractor accepts furniture and household goods curbside, for example. If you have one or two pieces and a flat walk to the curb, use the free option. If you have a room's worth, the curb becomes a month-long project.

Flat prices for common furniture

A dining set with a 6-8 seat table and four chairs is $163 + $45 + $45 + $45 + $45 = $343. Add the china hutch and the dining room is $343 + $160 = $503. A bedroom with a standard dresser and a chest of drawers is $126 + $126 = $252. Carry-out from any floor is included, with no stairs fee.

Having it carried out

For many Pittsburgh households, the right answer is a mix: sell the two good pieces, donate what the ReStore will take, and have the rest carried out in one visit. That last step is where flat pricing helps. You photograph the pieces, pick them online or upload a photo, and see the total before you book. There is no on-site estimate to wait for and no hourly meter running while a crew works a dresser down a turning staircase in a 1920s house. If the job is a whole room or a whole floor, truck-fill pricing may come in lower than adding up items; a half truck is $431. JunkRabbit runs 7 days a week from 8am to midnight, with same-day pickup when you book by 4 PM and a 2-hour arrival window you choose. The price is the same in the City and in the suburbs.

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