Junk removal costs in Phoenix

Phoenix gives you four bulk trash pickups a year, so each one is worth planning. The city moved bulk trash to appointments. You book at least three business days ahead, and the pile can't go out more than seven days before your date. Putting it out earlier than that breaks a city ordinance.

Check one thing before you book. Some HOAs and neighborhoods have a community appointment that covers every house at once, and the city posts the list with each community's dates. If yours is on it, you may not need your own.

The pile has limits. It's one pile, no bigger than 10 cubic yards, within 5 feet of the street and never on top of the water meter. Furniture and toilets go. Tires, fridges, freezers and air conditioners don't, and neither does glass: old windows, shower doors, patio doors and mirrors all stay behind. If you're redoing a bathroom, that glass rule is the one to watch.

Timing around the holidays is its own wrinkle. The scheduler blocks Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, plus the seven days after each one. If you want the garage cleared before family shows up for Thanksgiving, book early or plan on hiring a crew.

Cancel at least two business days ahead and the appointment doesn't count against your four.