Junk removal on Cincinnati's hills and rowhouse stairs

The short answer

Cincinnati is built on hills and full of old buildings with steep, narrow stairs, which is why so much junk never makes it to the curb. JunkRabbit prices are flat and include carry-out from anywhere in the home, any floor, with no stairs fee and no walk-up fee. A sofa is $126, a washer $133 and a standard fridge $164, whether the climb is three steps or three flights.

A city of seven hills

Cincinnati grew up on a crescent of seven hills: Mount Adams, Walnut Hills, Mount Auburn, Vine Street Hill, College Hill, Fairmount and Price Hill. Inclines once carried people up some of them. The Mount Adams incline was completed in 1872, and the Price Hill incline climbed 350 feet. The inclines are gone, but the slopes remain. In those neighborhoods and in Clifton Heights, many houses sit well above or below the street, with long flights of concrete or stone steps between the front door and the curb. Driveways are steep and parking is tight. That geography shapes every move and every junk pickup here.

Rowhouses and walk-ups

Over-the-Rhine is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the country. Its brick buildings were built by German immigrants from 1865 to the 1880s, and the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, covering 319 acres. Many of those buildings are now apartments and condos, often walk-ups, with narrow, steep stairs and tight turns at each landing. Covington's historic north side and Newport's Mansion Hill and East Row have similar 19th-century rowhouses, some without rear alleys. Getting a sofa or a dresser out of one of those buildings takes planning, padding and patience.

Basements in early-1900s houses

The other Cincinnati staircase is the one going down. Many houses in Price Hill were built in the early years of the 20th century, and the same era of housing runs through Westwood, Northside and Norwood. Most have basements, and those basements collect things for decades: old appliances, chest freezers, broken furniture, paint cans and boxes. Basement stairs in these houses are often steep, with a turn at the top and a low ceiling. A washer or a chest freezer that went down years ago is hard to bring back up. Carry-out from basements is included in every price, so a basement washer is $133, the same as one in a ground-floor laundry room.

Why the curb program does not solve this

The City of Cincinnati's bulk pickup is free, by appointment, and collects up to five items from the curb, set out the night before. It uses a claw truck, which needs the item curbside and reachable, clear of overhead wires, parked cars and trees. On a hillside street where the curb is forty steps below the front door, or an Over-the-Rhine block packed with parked cars, both requirements are hard. The program does not come inside or up the hill. Nothing over 6 feet tall is accepted either, which rules out many tall armoires and bookcases from older homes. For a lot of hillside and rowhouse households, the free program only helps once the hard part, the carrying, is already done.

Flat prices, any floor

A third-floor Over-the-Rhine move-out of a sofa, a queen mattress and a dresser is $126 + $103 + $126 = $355. A Price Hill basement with a washer and a chest freezer is $133 + $146 = $279. No stairs fee in either case.

Winter on the hills

Winter freezes and snow make hillside access harder. Steps ice over, steep driveways get slick and street parking shrinks. If you are booking a pickup between December and March, choose a morning window, ideally a day or two after snowfall, and clear and salt the steps and walk before the crew arrives. If you are doing it yourself, do not carry heavy items down icy steps; wait for a dry day. Indoor jobs, like basements and attics, are ideal winter work, since the outdoor carry is the only part that is weather dependent.

Making a hillside pickup go smoothly

Take photos of the items and the route out: the stairs, the turns, the front steps and where a truck can park. That helps the crew plan. Clear the path, take down pictures in narrow stairwells and prop doors open. If a piece will not make a turn, the crew can take it apart. If your building requires a certificate of insurance, a COI is emailed within one hour. Choose a two-hour arrival window, seven days a week, 8am to midnight; same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM. The price you see before booking is the price, and it only changes if you approve.

Frequently asked questions