Can you leave furniture on the curb in Cincinnati?

The short answer

Yes, but only on the City's terms. Inside Cincinnati you book a bulk appointment, set up to five items out the night before, and place them where the claw truck can reach them. In Newport and Rumpke areas you call ahead and follow their wrapping rules. If you would rather skip the curb entirely, a sofa carried out of the house is $126 and a dresser is $126.

Inside the City of Cincinnati

The City runs bulk item collection by appointment only, booked online or through 311. Without an appointment, a couch at the curb is not scheduled for anything. With one, these rules apply. You can set items out the night before, not earlier. Each appointment covers up to five items. Up to three small items, under 45 pounds and smaller than 4 by 4 by 4 feet, can also go out weekly next to your carts. Items have to be curbside and reachable by the claw truck, so keep them away from overhead wires, parked cars and trees. The City takes couches, mattresses and box springs, refrigerators and freezers, stoves, washers and dryers, water heaters, exercise equipment, cabinets, doors and rolled carpet up to a limit of ten. It does not take anything over 6 feet tall.

What the claw truck needs from you

A claw truck grabs from above, which is why placement matters so much here. On a narrow Northside or Over-the-Rhine street with cars parked bumper to bumper, there may be no curb space the claw can reach without swinging over a car. On a tree-lined street in Clifton or Hyde Park, a low branch can block the reach. Hillside streets in Price Hill or Mount Auburn may have the curb at the bottom of a long flight of steps, which means you have a long carry before the truck ever arrives. Think about your exact spot before the night before. Group everything together in one place. Do not stack pieces on top of each other in a way that falls into the street. And if your street truly has no reachable spot, the curb route may simply not work for your address.

Northern Kentucky and Rumpke areas

In Newport, Rumpke collects weekly trash and handles bulky items when you call at least 24 hours before your trash day. Carts can go out from 5 pm the day before until 6 am on collection day. Mattresses and upholstered furniture with bedbug risk must be encased in plastic. Rumpke's residential bulk rules more broadly require a mattress and box spring to be wrapped and sealed in plastic, counted as one item. Appliances with Freon need the refrigerant removed by a certified technician and a sticker or statement attached. Covington, Bellevue, Fort Thomas and the Boone County cities each run their own programs or contracts, so check your own city's page rather than borrowing these rules.

Lawrenceburg, Indiana

Lawrenceburg's City Garage picks up items too big for the 95-gallon toter for free on Mondays and Fridays, by calling the garage. Same-day requests need to come in before 10 a.m. Mattresses do not need wrapping there, but Freon items have to be tagged to confirm removal. The City Garage no longer operates as a public dump, so you cannot drive items over yourself. Aurora and Greendale have their own arrangements. If you live in Dearborn County outside Lawrenceburg, ask your trash provider what it accepts.

What happens when you get it wrong

The most common mistake is putting furniture out without an appointment, or several days early. Then it sits, it gets rained on, and a soaked couch is heavier and less likely to be accepted. The second most common mistake is putting out more than the program allows; the extra pieces stay behind. Third is placement: a dresser behind a parked car does not get picked up. In apartment buildings, leaving furniture beside the dumpster is usually against the lease, and property managers bill tenants for it. In HOA subdivisions like those in West Chester, Mason or Independence, the association may send a violation letter long before any city cares. And dropping furniture anywhere that is not your own curb, like an alley or a vacant lot, is illegal dumping.

Skip the curb: flat prices for carry-out

Nothing goes to the curb. The crew carries items from wherever they are, any floor, and there is no stairs fee. A sofa, a recliner and a queen set come to $126 + $98 + $143 = $367. Same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM.

How to decide

Use the curb if you live inside the City, you have five or fewer qualifying items, nothing is over 6 feet tall, your curb has a clear reachable spot, and you can do the carrying. Use your hauler's bulky-item program in Northern Kentucky or the suburbs if you can meet its call-ahead and wrapping rules. Use a pickup if the furniture is upstairs or in a basement, if you are on a tight move-out date, if the curb is at the bottom of a hillside staircase, or if you have more than the program allows. Getting a price takes a couple of minutes with a photo. The price is shown before you book and only changes if you approve it.

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