How to get rid of appliances in Austin, step by step

The short answer

Four steps, in this order: decide before the replacement is delivered, get it safely disconnected, get it to somewhere a two-person crew can reach it, then book the pickup.

Most of the pain in this job comes from doing those out of order - typically discovering on delivery day that the old dryer is still bolted to a gas line in a laundry closet, with a new one sitting in the driveway and a delivery crew that cannot wait.

Our prices: a washer is $133, a dryer is $128, a stacked combo is $189, a dishwasher is $109, an electric range is $134, a gas range is $137, a standard refrigerator is $164 and a tank water heater is $131. Minimum visit $75, carry-out and disposal included.

Step 1: decide before the new one is on a truck

The cheapest removal is the one the retailer does on delivery day, and that has to be arranged when you place the order. Nobody can add it at the curb.

Decide at the same time what happens to any secondary appliance. The garage refrigerator, the spare chest freezer, the dead microwave on the shelf - these never get taken by a delivery crew, and if they are not on a list now they will still be there in two years. A mini fridge is $115, a chest freezer is $146, an upright freezer is $149.

If the old unit still works, check whether your electricity provider currently runs an appliance recycling or rebate program. Those exist to retire working units, especially garage refrigerators, and they come and go - look at your own provider's current page rather than assuming.

Step 2: disconnect it safely

We handle straightforward disconnection - unplugging, uncoupling a dryer vent, pulling a standard fridge out from the wall, dragging a washer clear of its pan.

What needs a trade first: gas lines, hard-plumbed supply lines that have not been touched in decades, and anything wired directly into a panel. This is more common in Austin than people expect, because so much central housing stock is pre-war. A 1930s bungalow in Travis Heights or Hyde Park may have a laundry area added in the 1960s and plumbed once, with a shut-off valve that has not moved since. Forcing it is how a Saturday becomes a flood under a pier-and-beam floor.

Have a plumber or electrician cap what needs capping, then book the removal. Tell us at booking which appliances are gas.

Step 3: think about the path out

You do not have to move the appliance - carry-out from any floor is included - but it helps to know what the crew is walking into so the slot is the right length.

The Austin access patterns we see most: second-floor laundry in the newer Round Rock, Pflugerville and Leander builds, with a turn at the top of the stairs that a side-by-side will not make assembled. Laundry closets in older central houses with a door narrower than the machine, which means the door comes off. Downtown and Domain high-rises where the freight elevator has to be booked by the building for a window. Alley-loaded garages in Mueller and the older grid, where the truck stages behind rather than in front.

None of those change the price. All of them change the plan, so mention them when you book.

Step 4: book it, with the number in front of you

Worked examples

A kitchen remodel in Rosedale. A standard refrigerator at $164, a gas range at $137, a dishwasher at $109 and a range hood at $53. That is $164 + $137 + $109 + $53 = $463. The half truck at $431 is lower, so the job books as a half truck.

A Cedar Park laundry replacement. A washer at $133 and a dryer at $128 comes to $133 + $128 = $261. The quarter truck at $241 is lower, so that is the price.

A single dead dishwasher in a Bouldin duplex. $109, one visit, above the $75 minimum so nothing rounds up.

A water heater swap in Crestview. A tank water heater at $131 plus the old microwave at $30 is $131 + $30 = $161.

What the heat does to this

Two Austin-specific effects worth planning around.

Garage refrigerators and freezers here work far harder than the same units would in a conditioned space, because the garage runs hot from May into October. They fail earlier. A lot of the fridges we collect in this city are not old, they are simply cooked, and the replacement will be too unless it moves indoors.

The second is timing on outdoor AC equipment. Nobody replaces a condenser in Austin in January. It happens in the first genuinely hot week, which is also when every HVAC company in the metro is booked solid, and the old outdoor unit gets left beside the house afterwards because the installer was already running four hours late. An outdoor AC condenser or heat pump is $115 to collect whenever you get to it.

What we cannot take

Appliances themselves are fine, including sealed-system units, with no refrigerant fee. What sits outside any hauler's scope is bulk hazardous material: solvents, pesticides, automotive fluids, fuel and pressurised containers. Anything requiring a licensed abatement contractor is also out.

If you are unsure about something - an unlabelled drum in the back of a Hutto garage, an old tank of unknown contents - send a photo with the quote request. You get a straight answer before booking rather than a crew declining it on the day.

Frequently asked questions