Hamilton’s bulk pickup works well for one or two things. You book it, wait for your collection day, and the City takes up to four items from the curb. If you’re dealing with a whole basement, a garage full of years of storage, an old fridge, or a house that has to be empty before a closing date, four items at a time with a two week wait doesn’t get you very far.
Moving Co. does junk removal across Hamilton, from the lower city to the Mountain, and out to Stoney Creek, Ancaster, Dundas, Waterdown and Binbrook. We carry everything out, load it, clean up and take it away in one visit. Furniture, appliances, mattresses, garage and basement clutter, estate contents and office furniture all go together, without counting items or booking weeks ahead.
Call 905-752-7787 or request a free quote with a short description or a few photos, and we’ll give you a real price.
Hamilton’s bulk pickup, in plain terms
It’s worth knowing exactly what the City offers before you pay anyone, including us. According to the City of Hamilton’s bulk items and furniture page:
- It’s by appointment. You book online, and pickup happens on your collection day two weeks later, or you call 905-546-2489 at least one week ahead.
- Four items per booking. Each item can weigh up to 90 kg (200 lb) and be no longer than 1.2 metres (4 feet).
- Out by 7 a.m. on your collection day.
- Mattresses and box springs must be wrapped and sealed in plastic. No exceptions.
- Online booking is for single family homes with five units or fewer. Townhomes can’t use the online form, and apartment buildings go through the superintendent or property manager.
If you have a couple of chairs and a box spring, that’s a good deal and you should use it. Where it stops working is volume, weight and time. A sectional often counts as several pieces. A solid wood dresser can be over the weight limit. A wardrobe can be over the length limit. And two weeks is a long time when a new tenant moves in on Friday.
Why junk piles up in Hamilton homes
Hamilton’s regular garbage rules are tight, which is good for the landfill and hard on anyone clearing out a house. The City’s garbage page allows one bag or can per household each week, up to 23 kg and 135 litres. Every extra bag needs a trash tag. Add the four item limit on bulk pickup, and the fact that appliances and construction materials aren’t collected at all, and it’s easy to see how a basement or garage fills up over a few years.
None of that is a problem for normal weekly living. It becomes a problem the week you decide to deal with everything at once: after a renovation, before a sale, when a tenant leaves, or when a parent’s house has to be emptied. That’s the week most people call us.
Appliances: the City won’t pick them up
This is the one that surprises people. Hamilton doesn’t collect appliances or scrap metal at the curb, so there’s nothing to book. The City’s appliances and scrap metal page sends residents to the Community Recycling Centres, where residential appliances are accepted for free. Fridges, freezers and air conditioners should still have their compressor when you bring them in.
That free drop-off is a good option if you have a pickup truck, a dolly and someone strong. Most people don’t, and getting a fridge out of a kitchen and up a basement stair is where floors and backs get hurt.
We take appliances all the time. Tell us about any fridge, freezer, air conditioner or dehumidifier when you book. Those units hold refrigerant, and in Ontario only a certified technician can remove and handle refrigerants, so cooling appliances get handled differently from a sofa. Our crews can unhook a washer, a dryer or a fridge water line. Gas stoves and gas dryers have to be disconnected by a TSSA registered contractor first.
Hamilton’s three Community Recycling Centres
If you’re hauling it yourself, the City lists three Community Recycling Centres:
- Dundas CRC, 27 Olympic Drive, Dundas
- Kenora CRC, 460 Kenora Avenue, Hamilton
- Mountain CRC, 37 Kilbride Road, on the Mountain
All three are open Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed on Sundays and holidays. Trailers aren’t allowed at any of them. In 2026, garbage costs $11.50 for anything under 100 kg, then $14 per 100 kg. Recycling and separated scrap metal are free, and the City takes cash, debit, Mastercard and Visa. Tires from cars and small pickups are accepted, up to 10 a day, as long as they haven’t been cut.
Household hazardous waste is free at the same sites for Hamilton residents, within a per visit limit. The City’s household hazardous waste page lists 40 kg or 40 litres per visit, and covers paint, solvents, pesticides, motor oil, antifreeze, aerosols, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, propane cylinders and pool chemicals.
What our junk removal costs
We charge by volume, meaning how much of the truck your items take up. A recliner and a mattress is a small load. A full basement with a pool table, old couches and twenty boxes is a large one. Three other things affect the price:
- Access. Driveway pickups are fast. A third floor walk-up in the lower city, a basement with a tight turn, or a long carry from a backyard take more time.
- Weight and disposal. Disposal is charged by weight, and some loads are heavy for their size, like renovation debris and appliances.
- Special handling. Refrigerant appliances, mattresses and electronics each go to their own disposal stream.
You get a clear estimate before anything goes on the truck, and we tell you what’s driving it. The price we agree is the price you pay. If there’s more than you described, you hear about it before we load it, not after. A few photos sent with your quote request is the fastest way to an accurate number.
Up the Mountain and down the stairs
Hamilton is two cities in one, at least for anyone carrying furniture. The lower city has a lot of older brick homes with narrow staircases, tight front halls and basements that were never designed for a modern sectional. On the Mountain and in the suburbs, there’s more space and more garages, and garages fill up.
Each one needs a slightly different approach. In older homes we look at the route before we lift anything, take off legs and doors where it helps, and protect railings and walls. In newer subdivisions it’s mostly volume: an entire garage brought out onto the driveway, sorted, and loaded in an afternoon.
The amalgamated city is also big. Since 2001, Hamilton has included the former municipalities of Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Glanbrook and Stoney Creek, which means a job in Waterdown and a job in Binbrook are both Hamilton jobs. We cover all of it.
Hot tubs, pool tables and other awkward things
Some items are hard to get rid of no matter where you live, and Hamilton’s own rules show why.
Hot tubs. The City’s bulk program will only take a hot tub if it’s been cut into pieces smaller than 4 feet by 2 feet, with the sharp edges covered. That’s a lot of work with a reciprocating saw. We remove old hot tubs and take them away. Tell us the size and the access to your yard when you book. A hardwired tub has to be disconnected from its power supply before anyone moves it, and that’s a job for a licensed electrician. A plug-in model just needs to be unplugged.
Pool and ping pong tables. The City takes them only if they’re taken apart, and it won’t take slate at all. We remove pool tables, slate ones included. Tell us the table size and the stairs when you book so we send enough people.
Pianos. An old upright nobody plays is one of the hardest things to get rid of, and it’s far too heavy for curbside pickup. We move pianos as part of our regular work, so getting one out of a house is routine for our crews. See our piano moving page for how we handle them.
Exercise equipment. Treadmills and home gyms are heavy, awkward and almost always in the basement. We take them apart if needed and carry them up.
Renovation leftovers
Hamilton is clear on this: construction materials like bricks, concrete and drywall are not picked up by the City. That leaves you with the recycling centres, a bin, or a crew.
For small amounts, like an old vanity, kitchen cabinets, a pile of flooring or the packaging the contractor left behind, we’re a good fit and it’s usually one trip. For a full gut renovation with tonnes of plaster and concrete, a bin is usually cheaper, and we’ll tell you so.
If you do get a bin, check where it’s going to sit. Using part of a Hamilton road or sidewalk temporarily requires a temporary lane and sidewalk occupancy permit, applied for with five days notice. On your own driveway, you don’t need one.
Please don’t leave it in the laneway
Every city has the same problem: a couch on the shoulder of a quiet road, a pile of tires behind a plaza, a mattress in a laneway. Hamilton is clear that illegal dumping of furniture, household garbage, tires, construction materials and yard waste is prohibited, and the City’s illegal dumping page says it can lead to a fine of up to $10,000 on conviction.
It’s also worth knowing who you hire. If someone offers to take a load away for cash and the price seems too low to cover disposal, ask where it’s going. A cheap pickup that ends up in a ravine can come back to the address it came from. Everything we haul goes to proper disposal, recycling or donation.
Getting ready for pickup day
You don’t have to prepare anything. Carrying things out is our job. But a few small steps make the visit faster, and on a volume and time based job that can lower the cost:
- Decide what’s staying. The slowest part of any cleanout is stopping to decide about each item. Even a rough rule, like “everything in the basement goes except the shelves,” keeps the crew moving.
- Pull out anything valuable. Documents, jewellery, the box of photos that ended up in the garage. Once loading starts, we assume everything in the pile is going.
- Set aside anything hazardous. Paint, propane tanks, chemicals and car batteries can’t go on our truck. The recycling centres take household hazardous waste for free.
- Tell us about parking. Narrow streets in the lower city, a shared driveway, a building with a loading area. Knowing where the truck can stop saves time on the day.
Businesses and property managers
We also clear offices, retail units, restaurants and warehouses across Hamilton. Commercial jobs usually turn on timing: a lease end date, a building that only allows work after hours, or a property manager who needs a certificate of insurance before the crew arrives. Tell us all of that when you book and we’ll plan around it, including evening and weekend work. If some of the furniture is worth keeping, we can move it to your new location on the same trip.
Moving and clearing out at the same time
If you’re moving, the cheapest day to get rid of things is moving day. Our truck and crew are already at the house. As we load what you’re keeping, we clear what you’re not: the extra mattress, the basement couch, the boxes that have moved twice without being opened. You don’t pay to move junk to a new address, and you don’t have to book a second visit.
For the moving side, see our Hamilton movers page. We move people within Hamilton, from Hamilton to Toronto and the GTA, and across Ontario and Canada.
Estate cleanouts in Hamilton
When a parent moves into long term care or passes away, someone has to empty the house. It often falls to family members who live elsewhere, are working full time, and are grieving at the same time. A house that’s been lived in for forty years in Westdale or Stoney Creek can hold a remarkable amount.
We work at a pace that respects what’s happening. You decide ahead of time what goes to family, what gets donated and what gets sold. We clear the rest, room by room, including the basement, garage and attic. Tell us about any closing date and we’ll schedule backwards from it. If you’re coordinating from Toronto or further away, we can often arrange access in advance and keep you updated.
Landlords and student rentals
Hamilton has a large student population around McMaster University and Mohawk College, and student leases usually end at the same time of year. That means the same thing happens in many houses at once: tenants leave, and the landlord finds the couches, the mattresses, the broken desk chairs and the bags of whatever didn’t fit in the car.
Turnovers have a deadline, so tell us yours when you book. We clear rooms, basements and backyards, and we can often work with access arranged in advance so you don’t have to drive over. If you manage several properties, call us before the end of the term and we’ll plan the visits together.
Where your things go
We don’t dump everything in one place. Where it’s realistic, we sort the load: usable furniture and appliances go to charities and reuse programs, and metal, electronics and cardboard go to recycling. Things that are done are disposed of properly. We won’t promise a green result we can’t deliver.
If you’d like to donate a few things yourself, the Mountain CRC on Kilbride Road includes the Drop ‘n’ Shop Thrift Store, run by Community Living Hamilton. It takes items in good condition, though not mattresses, cribs, car seats or bike helmets. Every CRC also has a reuse shed where residents can pick up leftover paint and similar products in season. Tell us about anything you’d like us to donate and we’ll do our best to route it there.
Areas we cover in Hamilton
We do junk removal in every part of the city: downtown and the lower city, Westdale, Kirkendall, the East End, the Mountain, Stoney Creek, Winona, Ancaster, Dundas, Waterdown, Binbrook and Mount Hope. We also work in nearby Burlington, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. We do junk removal in every city in Ontario, so if you’re outside these areas, ask.
How a Hamilton junk pickup works
- Tell us what’s going. Call 905-752-7787 or use the quote form. A list or a few photos is enough.
- Get your price and a date. You get a clear estimate before anything moves, and we book the crew.
- We do the carrying. The crew protects floors and doorways, takes things apart where needed, and does all the lifting.
- It leaves in one trip. Everything goes on the truck. We sweep up, and we check with you before we leave.
Our crews are insured, and we can send a certificate of insurance to any building or property manager who asks for one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does junk removal cost in Hamilton?
It’s priced mainly by volume, meaning how much of the truck your items fill, plus access and disposal. Before we start you’ll have a clear estimate, and the agreed price is the price you pay. Send photos with your quote request for the most accurate number.
How many items can I put out for Hamilton’s bulk pickup?
For houses, the City takes a maximum of four items per booking. Each item can weigh up to 90 kg and be no longer than 1.2 metres. You book online or call 905-546-2489 at least a week ahead, and items go out by 7 a.m. on your collection day.
Does the City of Hamilton pick up old appliances?
No. Appliances and scrap metal aren’t collected at the curb. Residents can take them to a Community Recycling Centre for free, with the compressor still in fridges and freezers. If you can’t move it yourself, we can take it. Mention cooling appliances when you book so the refrigerant is handled properly.
Do mattresses have to be wrapped in Hamilton?
For the City’s bulk pickup, yes. All mattresses and box springs must be wrapped and sealed in plastic. If we take your mattress away, you don’t need to wrap it.
Do you offer same day junk removal in Hamilton?
Sometimes. We run seven days a week, and same day depends on what’s already booked and where the crews are working. Call 905-752-7787 and ask. If we can’t do today, we’ll give you the earliest time we really have.
Can you remove an old hot tub?
Yes. Tell us the size and the access to your yard. A hardwired tub needs to be disconnected by a licensed electrician before it’s moved; a plug-in model just needs unplugging. The City’s bulk program only takes hot tubs cut into pieces under 4 feet by 2 feet, so most people would rather have it taken away by a crew.
What won’t you take?
Hazardous materials such as paint, solvents, fuel, oil, propane tanks, pesticides, car batteries and asbestos. Hamilton takes household hazardous waste for free at its recycling centres, within a 40 kg or 40 litre limit per visit.
Do I need a permit to put a bin on the road in Hamilton?
If it occupies part of a road or sidewalk, the City requires a temporary lane and sidewalk occupancy permit, with five days notice. A bin on your own driveway doesn’t need one.
Can I leave old furniture in a laneway or on a vacant lot?
No. Hamilton prohibits illegal dumping of furniture, garbage, tires, construction materials and yard waste, and says it can lead to a fine of up to $10,000 on conviction. Use the bulk pickup, a recycling centre, or a hauler who takes it to proper disposal.
Do you cover Stoney Creek, Ancaster, Dundas and Waterdown?
Yes. We cover all of Hamilton, including the former municipalities of Stoney Creek, Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough and Glanbrook.
Tell us what needs to go and we’ll give you a clear price and a date: insured crew, no surprise fees, gone in one visit. Request your free quote or call 905-752-7787.