Furniture just leaves. An appliance is connected to something — water, gas, or a sealed refrigerant system — and that connection decides what has to happen before it can go, who has to do it, and what it costs. Sorted by disconnection, including the one you should never do yourself.
Fridge $221 · washer $179 · dryer $172 · dishwasher $147 — carried from any floor
Upload a Photo & Get Quote →Every appliance in your home falls into one of four groups, and the group — not the size — determines the process.
Sealed refrigerant systems need certified recovery. Water-connected units need the supply shut off and the line disconnected. Gas-connected units need a licensed professional, full stop. Everything else just needs unplugging.
Work out which group yours is in and the rest of this page is short.
What's in it: refrigerators $221, large refrigerators $246, mini fridges $155, chest freezers $196, upright freezers $201, window air conditioners $107, portable air conditioners $114, dehumidifiers $104.
What has to happen first: nothing by you beyond emptying and defrosting it. The refrigerant recovery happens downstream through a certified process — it isn't something a homeowner does or should attempt.
Why these cost what they do: that recovery step is real, non-optional and priced in. It's the reason a $155 mini fridge costs far more than its size suggests, and why a fridge outprices a similarly sized non-cooling appliance.
Defrost it the night before — a freezer that's been running until an hour before pickup leaks meltwater across the floor and down the stairs.
What's in it: washers $179, stacked washer-dryer units $225, dishwashers $147, and any refrigerator with a plumbed ice maker — which puts some fridges in two groups at once.
What has to happen first: shut off the supply valve, disconnect the hoses, and drain the unit. A washer holds water in the drum and pump after its last cycle; a dishwasher holds it in the sump. Both will find your floor if they're tipped without draining.
The honest catch: old shut-off valves in Boston's older buildings sometimes don't close cleanly, or don't close at all. If yours weeps when you turn it, that's a plumber's job before it's a removal job — and finding out on removal day is the expensive version.
Dishwashers specifically are usually secured to the counter and hard-wired or plugged behind the cabinet, so they need releasing before they'll slide out.
What's in it: gas ranges $176 and gas dryers.
What has to happen first: a licensed professional disconnects and caps the gas line. This is the one step on this page that isn't a matter of preference or convenience.
We don't do it, and no hauling crew should offer to. Disconnecting a gas appliance means closing the supply, breaking the connection and capping the line correctly — work that is licensed for good reason. If a removal company offers to handle it as part of the job, that's a question rather than a convenience.
The practical sequence: licensed professional disconnects and caps, then we remove. Book them first; the removal is the easy half.
If you're not sure whether yours is gas: look behind it for a flexible metal connector running to a valve in the wall or floor. If one is there, treat it as gas and get a professional.
What's in it: electric ranges $172, electric dryers, microwaves $40, built-in microwaves $73, range hoods $71, trash compactors $82, garbage disposals $63.
What has to happen first: unplug it. Electric ranges and dryers often use a high-amperage outlet rather than a standard one, but it's still a plug.
The exceptions that aren't quite "just unplug": built-in microwaves are mounted to cabinets and often to a wall bracket; range hoods are ducted and screwed in; garbage disposals are plumbed to the sink drain. None are dangerous, all take a few minutes and a screwdriver, and all can be done in advance or left to the crew.
Worth separating because it involves more than one connection. Tank water heaters price at $176 and tankless at $121.
A tank heater has a water supply, a drain, and either an electrical connection or a gas line — and if it's the latter, the gas rule above applies. It also holds a great deal of water, so it has to be drained before it moves, which takes longer than people expect.
This is almost always a job where a plumber has already been involved because you're replacing it. Let them handle the disconnection, then the old unit is simply a heavy object. Full Boston price list.
Everything above is the paperwork. The physical job here is the staircase.
Most appliance removals in this city involve a triple-decker or an older walk-up — a full-size refrigerator down two or three flights of turning stairs, with a landing that doesn't have room to pivot. It's a two-person job with straps, and the doors come off when the turn demands it.
What matters for your quote: the stairs don't change the price. A third-floor kitchen in Allston is quoted the same as a ground-floor unit in West Roxbury. In a city where access is genuinely hard on most jobs, that's the difference worth checking with any company you call.
Worth trying first, and worth being honest about.
A working, reasonably current appliance has a genuine secondhand market and reuse organisations that take building materials often accept them. That's a better outcome than paying us.
Anything that doesn't run, anything much over a decade old, or anything with a failed sealed system has no market at all. Listing it wastes the fortnight you needed for the actual solution.
The retailer route: if a new appliance is being delivered, ask about takeaway of the old one at purchase. It's the only route that skips the staircase entirely, and it has to be arranged before delivery rather than after. Other free routes and what they accept.
Appliances are dense and individually priced, so the crossover comes at two or three units.
Washer and dryer together: $351 priced individually, against a $325 quarter truck that comfortably holds both — the truck saves $26.
A full kitchen suite — fridge, electric range, dishwasher and microwave — is $580 individually. That volume needs a three-eighths truck at $455, which saves $125. Note it's the three-eighths and not the quarter: four appliances including a full-size fridge don't fit four cubic yards, and quoting them against a tier they wouldn't fit in would be a fiction.
We calculate both units and charge the lower. Seven itemised Boston jobs.
Appliances are among the better-recovered things we handle, because they're mostly steel.
Refrigerant units go through certified recovery first, then the shell to scrap. Washers, dryers and ranges are predominantly metal and route straight to scrap recovery. Small appliances and anything with significant electronics route to appropriate processing.
This is one category where the honest answer is genuinely good rather than hedged — and it's why appliance pricing reflects processing rather than disposal. Compare with mattresses, which are restricted differently.
$221, large $246. Empty and defrost the night before. Refrigerant recovery included.
$155 — expensive for its size because the refrigerant rule doesn't care about size. The classic September 1 item.
$196 / $201. Defrost thoroughly; these hold more meltwater than a fridge.
$179. Shut off supply, disconnect hoses, drain the drum.
$172. Unplug. Check the vent duct isn't screwed to the wall.
Range $176. Licensed professional disconnects and caps the line first. Not a DIY step.
$225. Heavy and top-loaded in weight — never a solo job on stairs.
$147. Water off, disconnected, and released from the counter.
$172. Unplug; heavy but straightforward.
Tank $176, tankless $121. Drain it, and if it's gas the licensed-professional rule applies.
$107 / $114. Sealed system — refrigerant recovery applies here too, which surprises people.
$40 / $71 / $82 / $63. All below or near the $75 minimum individually — batch them with something else.
Book the disconnection before you book the removal. Every appliance job that goes wrong goes wrong in the same order: the crew arrives, the gas line is still connected or the shut-off valve won't close, and now you need a licensed professional on a day you'd set aside for something else. Work out which of the four groups your appliance is in, get the water or gas handled first by whoever is qualified to handle it, and the removal itself is the simplest part of the day — even down three flights.
Free quote — flat prices, carried down from any floor
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