How Junk Removal Works in Southern New Hampshire: A Plain Guide

This is for anyone in southern New Hampshire or northern Massachusetts with stuff that has to leave: a basement that filled up, a couch nobody wants, the leftovers after a move, a parent's house that needs clearing. It walks through the choices in plain terms: your town's transfer station, a curbside bulk program if your town has one, or a hauler who does the lifting and the trip for you.

It is written by Trash King, a junk removal company based in Salem, NH that works in Salem, Derry, Londonderry, Nashua and Manchester, NH, and in Lowell and Dracut, MA, so the hauler side comes from doing the job. The town side is kept general on purpose. Every town sets its own rules and changes them, so this guide tells you what to check rather than quoting rules that may be out of date by the time you read them.

Junk removal in New Hampshire covers most of what ends up in a basement, garage, attic or back yard. A crew like Trash King's will take:

• Furniture: couches, sectionals, recliners, dressers, tables, desks, bed frames, mattresses and box springs.
• Appliances: refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, stoves, dishwashers, air conditioners.
• Household junk: boxes, bags, books, toys, clothes, rugs, electronics, exercise equipment, bikes, grills.
• Yard and outdoor items: brush and branches that are already cut, old fencing, patio furniture, planters, the pile behind the shed.
• Move-out and tenant leftovers: whatever the last tenant or owner did not take.
• Big awkward things: hot tubs, pianos, safes, the boards from a deck or shed. Send a photo first so Tyler can tell you what is involved. Reviewers have had decks taken: "The took my whole deck!" (Maya Niles, Google review)

What to ask about before the truck arrives: paint, stains and solvents, chemicals and pesticides, fuel, oil, propane tanks, tires, anything medical, and anything you cannot identify. Some of it a hauler can take and some of it has to go to your town's household hazardous waste collection. Tell the hauler first and you will get a straight answer.

Most New Hampshire towns run a transfer station or a drop-off facility rather than a landfill, and each town writes its own rules. The patterns are similar across southern NH, but the transfer station rules themselves are not, so treat this as a checklist of things to look up on your town's website, not as the rules themselves:

• Who can use it. Nearly every town requires proof of residency, a permit or a vehicle sticker. Some charge for the permit, some do not.
• Bulky items. Couches, mattresses, dressers and the like are usually accepted, but often as a separate category with a per-item fee, a coupon system or a yearly limit on free items.
• Appliances with refrigerant. Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers are commonly a separate line with their own fee or drop-off rule, because the refrigerant has to be recovered.
• Televisions and electronics. Usually accepted, usually a separate fee, and many towns will not take them curbside at all.
• Construction and demolition debris. Drywall, lumber, shingles, tile and fixtures are often handled through a separate coupon, fee or facility, not with household trash.
• Yard waste and brush. Typically accepted in season only, with size limits on branches.
• Household hazardous waste. Paint, chemicals and pesticides are normally refused at the station and collected only on scheduled hazardous waste days.
• Curbside bulk pickup. Some cities offer it by appointment or for part of the year; many towns do not offer it at all.

Massachusetts treats mattresses differently from New Hampshire: they are banned from regular disposal there, so in Lowell and Dracut a mattress has to go through a recycling program or a hauler who handles that.

For the specifics on three facilities in the area, Trash King keeps separate articles on the Manchester transfer station, what it accepts and what it refuses, the Nashua transfer station, its hours and sticker requirements, and what the Salem transfer station will not take. For every other town, start at the trash and recycling page on the town website, and call before you load the car.

Hauling it yourself makes sense when:

• It is a few bags or a couple of small items that fit in your vehicle.
• You have the sticker or permit, and the station is open when you are free.
• You can lift it, load it and unload it without help, and nothing is on a staircase.
• You have a truck or trailer, or can borrow one.

Hiring a junk removal crew makes sense when:

• It would take more than one trip.
• Anything is heavy or awkward: appliances, furniture, a hot tub, a piano, a safe.
• It is in a basement, an attic, an upper floor or a walk-up.
• You do not have a truck, a sticker, a free Saturday or a second pair of hands.
• There is a deadline: a closing, a move-out date, a tenant turnover, a listing photo shoot.
• It is a whole room or a whole house rather than a load.

Weigh the real cost of doing it yourself: the vehicle, the fees your town charges per item or per load, the time, and the lifting. For the big stuff the difference is mostly the lifting and the trip, which is exactly what a hauler does. One reviewer's single-car garage: "They cleaned out a single car garage brimming with junk in just under an hour." (Scott Howard, Google review)

For what moves a hauler's price up or down, see what drives the price of junk removal.

The calendar shapes junk removal here more than in most places.

• Spring. Garages and basements get tackled once the snow is gone, and the winter's yard debris comes out. Transfer stations reopen their yard waste areas. Haulers are busiest, so give yourself a little lead time.
• Summer. Moving season: furniture that is not making the trip, apartment turnovers, and whole-house cleanouts after a sale.
• Fall. Decks and sheds come down, renovation debris piles up before the cold, and the last of the yard waste goes out before the stations close those areas for the season.
• Winter. Indoor jobs: basements, attics, a relative's house. Snow matters for access, so a plowed driveway or a cleared path to the door is part of planning the day. Transfer station hours are often shorter.

1. Reach out. Call or text (603) 404-0386 or use the quote form. Photos of everything that is going, plus a note on where it sits, speed things up.
2. Get a free quote. For most jobs the photos are enough. For a packed basement or a whole house, Tyler comes out and walks through it with you. The price is agreed before anything is scheduled.
3. Pick the day. Tyler sets the date with you when you book. Most reviewers mention same-day or next-day service, but it depends on the schedule and the job.
4. The crew does the work. Tyler and the crew sort, lift, load, haul and dispose of it. You point at what goes and what stays, and anything the crew is unsure about gets set aside for you to decide.

"Called them at 5pm and they showed up at 8am the next day! Very fast, easy, and kind. Thank you!" (isabelle schena, Google review)

Where to start, depending on the job:

• A load of mixed junk from a home or business: the junk removal service page.
• A full room or a full house: house, basement and garage cleanouts.
• One couch, one mattress or one appliance: mattress, furniture and appliance pickup.
• A packed home where someone needs patience as much as a truck: hoarder cleanout services.
• Clearing a loved one's home: estate cleanout services.

Every hauler pays to get rid of what it hauls, and where the load goes is part of the price and part of doing the job right. Mixed household junk goes to a transfer station or disposal facility, metal usually goes to a scrap yard, and construction debris has its own facilities. You do not need to know the whole route, but you should be able to ask "where does my stuff go?" and get a plain answer. Ask Tyler about your load when you get the quote, and be wary of any hauler who cannot or will not say.

1. Is the quote free, and is the price agreed before the crew starts?
2. Does the price include the lifting, the loading, the trip and the disposal fees?
3. Will you take it from where it sits, or does it have to be at the curb or in the driveway?
4. What will you not take, and what should I do with those items instead?
5. Where does the load go?
6. What do your Google reviews say, and are they recent?

Trash King's answers: the quote is free and agreed before the crew starts; the lifting, loading, hauling and disposal are the job; the crew takes it from where it sits; anything hazardous or unusual is sorted out with Tyler up front; and there are 300+ five-star Google reviews to read.