First, the one rule that applies to all five

Before the list: what a curbside collection covers, how many items it takes, how far ahead you book and what condition it must be in are all set by the city and its contracted collector, and those terms change. Check San Francisco's current bulky-item page for what applies today. This page is about the categories that are commonly excluded and why, so that you can recognize the pattern rather than memorise a list that will age.

The pattern is simple. Curbside collection handles bulky household items that a truck can take to an ordinary processing stream. Anything that needs a different stream, a license, or a person to come inside your building tends to fall outside it.

1. Anything with refrigerant in it

Fridges, freezers, wine coolers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and heat pumps all contain a sealed refrigeration circuit. That circuit has to be evacuated by someone licensed to recover refrigerant before the unit is scrapped, which makes these a separate category almost everywhere — sometimes handled with conditions, sometimes not handled at all.

What to do: if you are replacing the unit, ask the retailer about haul-away first. Otherwise book a pickup. There is no refrigerant fee on our prices — a standard refrigerator is $164, a side-by-side or French door is $183, a chest freezer is $146, a large window air conditioner is $109 and an outdoor condenser or heat pump is $115.

A San Francisco note: an enormous number of these come out of garages rather than kitchens, and a garage-level collection is the easiest job we do.

2. Electronics

Televisions, monitors, computers, printers and stereo equipment are regulated electronic waste in California, not household trash. Circuit boards carry heavy metals, older flat panels have mercury backlights, and a cathode-ray set contains several kilograms of leaded glass. They go to an e-waste stream, not to bulky waste.

What to do: check the city's e-waste page for drop-off options, or put them on a pickup. A television under 42 inches is $62, 42 to 65 inches is $68, above 65 inches is $73; a monitor is $58, a desktop tower is $62 and a mixed box of electronics is $77.

Since all of those sit below the $95 visit minimum, electronics are the classic thing to add to a visit rather than to book alone. A flat screen and the media unit it sat on is $68 + $96 = $164.

3. Hazardous household materials

Paint, solvents, motor oil, pesticides, pool chemicals, batteries and propane cylinders are hazardous waste. They are excluded from bulky collection everywhere, for obvious reasons — a truck that compacts a paint tin has a problem, and a propane cylinder in a compactor is a serious one.

What to do: the city runs routes for household hazardous waste; check its page for current arrangements. Where it is simpler to include with a clear-out, we handle paint and propane as priced items — Paint (1-Gallon Can) at $30, Paint (5-Gallon Bucket) at $52, and a 20 lb Propane Tank at $33, all handled through the correct disposal route rather than thrown in the load.

This category is disproportionately a San Francisco garage problem. Every garage under every house in the Sunset and the Richmond has a shelf of half-used paint from three previous decorating decisions, and the tins have usually rusted to the shelf.

4. Construction and renovation debris

Plasterboard, timber, tile, broken concrete, ripped-out kitchen units, old bathroom fittings, roofing material and flooring are construction waste rather than household bulky waste. They are heavy, they go to a different processing stream, and the volumes involved are not what a curbside collection is sized for.

There is also a specifically San Francisco reason this gets refused: a pile of building debris on a narrow footway in front of a Victorian is a walkway obstruction, and our pavements do not have the width to absorb it.

What to do: book it as a job. Construction Debris is $120, Drywall per sheet or small bundle is $37, Lumber / Wood Scrap per bundle is $41, Tile / Flooring per box is $33, a Full Kitchen Cabinet Set rip-out is $293 and Concrete / Masonry Debris is $219 per quarter truck. For a whole renovation the truck ladder is usually simpler: $431 for a half truck, $587 for three-quarters, $732 for a full one.

5. Anything that is not already at the curb

This is the exclusion that catches the most San Franciscans, and it is not written down as an exclusion at all. It is simply what "curbside" means.

A curbside collection starts on the pavement. It does not start in your second-floor bedroom, in the garage behind ten years of boxes, in the in-law unit, or on the rear deck. In a city where most flats sit above a garage and there is no lift, the distance between where your sofa is and where the collection begins is the entire job.

That is also why so many free routes quietly fail here. Donation collection is curbside. Resale buyers will not carry. Scrappers will not climb two flights for a dead appliance. The stairs are doing all the work in every one of those failures.

What to do: a pickup starts where the item is. Carry-out from any floor is included in every price — no stair charge, no walk-up fee, no surcharge for a landing turn that a king headboard cannot make.

The bonus sixth: things that are simply too big

Not a category so much as a size limit. Hot tubs, pianos, pool tables, sheds, above-ground pools and home gyms are beyond what a curbside truck and crew are set up for — most of them cannot even be got to the curb without being taken apart first.

These are ordinary work for us, with the disassembly inside the price: Hot Tub / Spa $322 (6-8 person, $390), Upright Piano $290, Baby Grand $438, Pool Table $603, Home Gym / Multi-Station $241, Storage Shed (Small, Disassembled) $186, Above-Ground Pool $145.

In San Francisco the difficulty with all of them is the same and it is not weight. It is that our houses are built to the lot line with no side access, so the only route out of a rear garden runs through your hallway. Cutting the thing down to fit that hallway is the job.

How to tell in advance

A quick test before you plan around any free route. Ask yourself three questions about the item:

  1. Does it need a license or a special stream? Refrigerant, electronics, chemicals, anything with a battery. If yes, it is not bulky waste.
  2. Did it come out of a building rather than a room? Plasterboard, cabinets, tiles, timber. If yes, it is construction waste.
  3. Can I get it to the pavement myself, today? If no, every curbside option is already off the table regardless of what the rules say.

Two noes out of three and you are booking a pickup. One no and it is worth checking the city's page properly.

Frequently asked questions

Will a bulky-item collection take my fridge?

Refrigerant-bearing appliances are handled as their own category, with their own conditions, and sometimes not at all — check San Francisco's current bulky-item page. If you book a pickup instead, a standard refrigerator is $164 with no refrigerant fee and the carry from any floor included.

Can I put a TV out with the bulky collection?

Electronics are regulated e-waste in California rather than household bulky waste, so they follow a separate route. Check the city's e-waste page. On a pickup, a 42-to-65-inch set is $68 — under the $95 visit minimum, so send it out with something else.

What about the paint tins in my garage?

Hazardous materials are excluded from bulky collection everywhere. The city runs household hazardous waste arrangements — check its page. If it is easier to clear with everything else, we take paint as a priced item: $30 a one-gallon can, $52 a five-gallon bucket, handled through the proper route.

My renovation debris is on the pavement. Is that a problem?

Yes, on two counts. Construction waste is not household bulky waste, and a debris pile on a narrow San Francisco footway is a walkway obstruction. Book it as a job instead — Construction Debris is $120, or take the truck ladder at $431 for a half truck or $732 for a full one.

Everything I need gone is on the second floor. Does the city collection help?

Only if you can get it down to the pavement yourself. Curbside means curbside. That is the single most common reason free routes fail in this city, and it is why carry-out from any floor is included in every price we publish rather than charged as an extra.