5 things the City of Riverside's bulky pickup won't take

The short answer

The City of Riverside's bulky-item program does not take: refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners; TVs, computers and other electronics; unwrapped mattresses; tires and auto parts; and construction debris such as wood, drywall, tile and concrete. Household hazardous waste is excluded too. JunkRabbit takes most of these in one visit at flat prices: a standard fridge is $164, a set of four tires $87, construction debris $120.

How the City's program works first

Before the exclusions, the basics. The City allows two appointments per address per year, and each appointment covers five items. Three bags of up to 20 pounds each count as one item, and extra items eat into your second appointment. You book by calling the City at (951) 826-5311. Items must be curbside by 5:30 am on your day and should not go out more than 24 hours early. That timing matters in summer, when a sofa left on a Magnolia Center parkway overnight is fine, but one left for three days draws complaints. If your list is five allowed items and you have a free appointment left, the program is the cheapest route by far. The trouble starts when one of the five items below is on your list.

1. Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners

The City's exclusion list names "Air Conditioners, Freezers, Refrigerators" specifically. They contain refrigerant that has to be recovered before disposal, so they are handled outside curbside collection.

Where they go instead: a retailer haul-away when you buy a replacement, an appliance or scrap recycler that handles refrigerant, or a county landfill, which charges a $7 special-handling surcharge per appliance on top of the load fee.

Flat pickup: standard fridge $164, side-by-side or French door $183, chest freezer $146, upright freezer $149, large window AC $109. The garage fridge plus garage freezer combination common in IE homes is $164 + $146 = $310. After a long summer, the old window units from a 1950s Arlington ranch often come out in pairs: $109 + $109 = $218.

2. TVs, computers and electronics

"Televisions, Computers, Monitors, Cell Phones, Stereos" are all excluded. Electronics are e-waste and go to recyclers or household hazardous waste collection.

Where they go instead: Riverside County landfills accept up to two CRT devices per residential customer per day free. Electronics recyclers and county HHW collection take the rest.

Flat pickup: TV under 42 inches $62, 42 to 65 inches $68, 65 inches and up $73, monitor $58, desktop tower $62, box of electronics $77. A TV and a box of electronics is $68 + $77 = $145. A home office cleared out in a UCR-area condo, with a tower, two monitors and a printer, is $62 + $58 + $58 + $58 = $236.

3. Unwrapped mattresses

Mattresses are allowed, but only if they are completely wrapped or bagged. An unwrapped mattress is treated as excluded and left behind.

Where they go instead: wrap it and use the appointment, take it to a Riverside County landfill where separated mattresses go in free (5 a day at Badlands and Lamb Canyon, 2 at El Sobrante), or use a Bye Bye Mattress drop-off site.

Flat pickup: queen $103, king $114, mattress and box spring set $143. No wrapping needed; it goes straight from the bedroom to the truck. Getting a king into a bag alone is a two-person job, and getting it to the curb from an upstairs bedroom is another one.

4. Tires and auto parts

Tires, rims, engine parts and car batteries are all outside the program.

Where they go instead: Riverside County landfills charge $6 per tire, up to five a day for residential customers. Tire shops may take old tires when you buy new ones. Car batteries go to auto parts stores or household hazardous waste.

Flat pickup: a single tire is $22 and a set of four is $87. A set of four from the side yard plus an old bicycle: $87 + $37 = $124. Note that tires alone under $100 bill at the $100 minimum.

5. Construction and remodel debris

Wood, drywall, tile and concrete from renovations are excluded as construction and demolition (C&D) debris. That catches a lot of people in the Wood Streets and Magnolia Center, where century-old homes get kitchens and bathrooms redone, and in tract homes all over the city where the garage becomes a gym or an office.

Where it goes instead: a self-haul to a county landfill, where the current schedule charges $52.68 a ton for routine loads and $70.26 a ton for hard-to-handle loads, with a $43.20 minimum. Ask at the scale which rate your load falls under. Concrete and dense masonry are heavy, and a trailer of broken tile can weigh more than people expect.

Flat pickup: construction debris $120, drywall $37 per sheet or small bundle, tile or flooring $33 per box or bundle, concrete or masonry $219 per quarter truck. A bathroom tear-out of a fiberglass tub, a vanity and a detached toilet: $90 + $69 + $64 = $223.

And one more: hazardous waste

Household hazardous waste, including pool chemicals, pesticides, motor oil, solvents and batteries, is excluded from bulky pickup and is not a standard JunkRabbit item either; ask us case by case. Use Riverside County's household hazardous waste collection.

Paint is the exception on our side: we accept it. A 1-gallon can is $30 and a 5-gallon bucket $52. Four gallons of leftover paint from a garage shelf: $30 + $30 + $30 + $30 = $120.

Splitting a job between the City and a hauler

Most Riverside garages hold a mix of allowed and excluded items, so the cheapest plan is often a split. Put five allowed things out for your City appointment: a wrapped mattress, a sofa, a dresser, a bookshelf and three bags count as five. Then book a flat pickup for what the City refuses. A typical Arlington or La Sierra garage leftover list is the old fridge, a TV and a set of tires: $164 + $68 + $87 = $319. If you have already used both appointments this year, or the pile is too big to sort, price the whole garage by truck share instead: a quarter truck is $241 and a half truck is $431. Get a fixed price for any mix on the instant quote page. The crew carries everything out from wherever it is, no stairs fee, same day when you book by 4 PM.

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