Junk removal costs in Fresno

In Fresno, a pile that goes out too early can be referred to code enforcement. That's the timing rule for Operation Clean Up, the city's once-a-year curbside cleanout for households that pay for city solid waste service. Put things out no more than seven days ahead. Any earlier, and the city treats the pile as a hazard.

Your date is set by neighborhood. Use the city's lookup tool or call 311 to find yours, and check again as it gets close, since the city says dates can shift. Have everything out by 6 a.m., 1 to 2 feet from the curb where your garbage normally goes. There's no alley service. Crews sometimes work ahead and come early, but if they do, they'll come back on your scheduled day.

The limit is 10 cubic yards, about two piles 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high. Tape windows and mirrors with duct tape. Cut lumber, pipe and tree limbs into 4-foot pieces, and take apart odd things like swing sets and garage doors. Concrete, rock, brick and dirt are capped at two wheelbarrow loads combined. It all goes to the city's Cedar Avenue Recycling and Transfer Station, called CARTS, for sorting.

It's also only for your own household's trash. Debris hauled in from somewhere else, or from a business run out of the house, doesn't qualify.