Appliance Removal Los Angeles

What appliance removal looks like on the Westside

The single most common text we get is a photo of a refrigerator standing in a kitchen with the new one due to arrive in the morning. Retailers often deliver but will not take away the old unit, or they will take it only if it is already unplugged and out of the way, so the old fridge becomes the customer's problem. Along the apartment corridors of Santa Monica, Pico, Sawtelle and Palms, that fridge is on a second or third floor of a walk-up with a 30-inch doorway. In the condo towers of Marina del Rey and the Wilshire Corridor it is behind a loading dock that closes at four.

The house side of the business is different. Brentwood, Cheviot Hills, Westchester and Torrance send us the garage fridge that finally died, the washer and dryer that stayed behind when a tenant left, and the kitchen's worth of range, dishwasher and hood that a remodel is replacing. Landlords in Mar Vista and Lawndale text us several units at once during a turnover. Water heaters come from everywhere, usually after a plumber has already installed the new tank and left the old one standing on the driveway.

How an appliance pickup works

Start with a photo of each unit and a note on where it is: kitchen, garage, second floor, laundry closet. Add whether it is still connected. Miles texts back a single number for the space the appliances take in the truck, and that number already covers the carry, the stairs and the recycling drop. If you say yes before noon, we can usually come the same day.

The one thing we ask you to do ahead of time is make sure the unit is disconnected. Pull the plug on electric appliances. For gas ranges and gas dryers, have the gas valve shut and the line capped by a plumber or the appliance installer; we do not cap gas lines. Water heaters need the water and gas shut off and the tank drained, which the plumber who replaced it normally does. Dishwashers need the water supply and drain hose unhooked and the hardwire junction box disconnected. If any of that is not done when you text, say so and we will tell you what to arrange first.

On the day, two of us arrive with an appliance dolly, straps, floor runners and a socket set. A fridge that will not clear the door loses its doors at the hinges and gets them back on at the truck. Washers get their hoses capped so they do not drip across your floor. Dryers get the vent duct pulled and the cord bundled. A single appliance is in the truck in 15 to 20 minutes; a whole kitchen plus a laundry pair runs about an hour.

Load sizes for appliances

Appliances are dense for their footprint, so the space they take in the truck is the main driver, not the weight. The exception is commercial equipment: walk-in compressor units, two-door reach-in coolers and cast-iron ranges from a restaurant are heavy enough that we flag it in the quote.

Where the appliances go

Nearly every appliance we take ends its trip at a scrap metal recycler. A refrigerator is mostly steel, copper and aluminum once the compressor, insulation and plastic liner are separated, and a water heater is mostly a steel tank. The recycler pays by weight for that metal, which is why appliances almost never belong at a landfill.

Refrigerators, freezers, window units and portable air conditioners carry refrigerant, and federal rules require a certified technician to recover it before the unit is crushed or shredded. California's appliance-recycling rules add steps for older units, such as pulling mercury switches and capacitors. We take refrigerant appliances only to recyclers set up to do that recovery, and we never cut lines in your driveway. Microwaves and other countertop electronics ride with the load and go to an e-waste recycler, the same route as our e-waste pickups.

Working appliances are the exception to the scrap route. A fridge that still cools, a washer that still spins and a range with every burner working can be offered to The Salvation Army, which may take working large appliances at its drop-offs; smaller working appliances can go to either partner. You get a either way. Whether a given location takes the big pieces is its decision, so we check before the trip.

Access situations we plan for

• Second- and third-floor walk-ups: Pico, Sawtelle, Palms and the Marina Peninsula are full of 1960s buildings with exterior stairs and tight landings. An appliance dolly with stair climbers and two people handles a fridge down three flights. Tell us the floor when you text.
• Towers: a fridge crossing a lobby needs the manager's approval, elevator pads and a dock window. We send the certificate of insurance the day before and book the window with your manager.
• Garages and side yards: the second fridge in a Westchester or Torrance garage is usually behind a car and a workbench. Clear a path three feet wide and we take it from there.
• Walk streets and alleys: Manhattan Beach's Sand Section, Hermosa's walk streets and the Venice Canals have no truck access to the door. We park at the closest cross street or alley and wheel the unit out on the dolly; the carry is in the price.
• Hillside driveways: Bel Air, Beverly Crest, the Hollywood Riviera and Topanga have driveways our truck cannot turn into. We stage at the street and bring the dolly up.
• Water heaters in closets and attics: many Westside closets were framed around a 40-gallon tank. If the new one is tankless and the old tank is still in a hall closet or on a platform in the garage, send a photo of the opening so we bring the right straps.

When the city program covers appliances, and when it doesn't

City of Los Angeles residents (Venice, Mar Vista, West LA, Westwood, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Westchester, Playa del Rey and the other LA City neighborhoods) can schedule a free LA Sanitation bulky-item pickup through 311 or MyLA311, and LASAN lists large appliances among the items it collects. You schedule a business day or more ahead, roll the fridge to the curb on your trash day, and the city handles it. For one dead fridge with a curb and a few days to spare, use it.

Where it stops: LASAN crews pick up at the curb, so the fridge has to get from your third floor to the street on its own. The incorporated cities add caps. Santa Monica counts every appliance against a five-item pickup and gives three of those a year. Culver City allows two free appointments a year for single-family homes and one for multifamily, with a wait the city estimates at about two weeks. Torrance's Large Item Pick Up excludes water heaters outright and anything two workers cannot lift, and it is one free pickup per address per year. Manhattan Beach's hauler caps each item at about 150 pounds according to third-party listings, which rules out most full-size refrigerators. Beverly Hills collects on request, usually in one to three business days, from the alley. In each of those cases a photo quote from us covers the carry, the disconnect check and the same-day timing the city program does not.

Two things no city program handles: appliances still hard-wired or plumbed in, and propane tanks attached to grills. We do not take those either. Have the tank removed and take it to a propane exchange; have the plumber or electrician disconnect the unit before either we or the city collect it.

Timing notes

Appliance calls follow the moment a new unit is ordered: the old one has to be out the morning before delivery or the same day. Between-tenant turnovers in Pico and Westwood apartments bring batches of fridges and stacked washer-dryers at once. Kitchen remodels drive the rest. If your contractor is pulling a kitchen, send us the demo date and we will schedule the appliance load for that afternoon so nothing sits on the driveway overnight.