How to get rid of appliances in Charlotte

The short answer

A washer and dryer pair: $133 + $128 = $261. A full kitchen ahead of a renovation — refrigerator, electric range and dishwasher: $164 + $134 + $109 = $407. Minimum per visit is $75.

Route one: the retailer, on delivery day only

If you are buying a replacement, ask about haul-away at the point of sale and take it if it is offered. It is the cheapest route by a distance.

But understand what it is: a delivery-day service. The crew bringing the new refrigerator will take the old one out of the same slot, disconnected and clear, at that moment. They will not:

• Come back another day for it.
• Take a second appliance that is not a direct swap.
• Walk out to your garage for the spare fridge.
• Take a unit still holding food or water, or one they cannot reach.

So the window is one morning wide. Miss it and the old unit is yours, which is how the typical Charlotte garage ends up with a decade-old refrigerator in it.

Route two: scrap and the refrigerant wall

Scrap collectors will sometimes take metal appliances free. They will not come inside, they will not disconnect anything, and they will decline anything with a sealed cooling system.

That last one covers a lot: refrigerators, freezers, window and portable AC units, dehumidifiers, and outdoor heat pump condensers. Refrigerant has to be recovered by a certified technician before the metal can be scrapped. That is federal, not a local rule, and it is the reason a collector who happily loads your old dryer waves off the fridge beside it.

We handle that routing, and it is not a surcharge. There is no refrigerant fee, no EPA fee and no disposal line on your quote. A refrigerator is $164, full stop.

Route three: county drop-off

Mecklenburg County runs full-service drop-off centers that accept a range of household material. If you have a truck, a helper and a free morning, check the current accepted-items list, hours and any charges before you drive out — they are shorter and narrower than people assume, and appliances are a category with their own handling.

This is a genuine option for one ground-floor unit. It does nothing for a water heater in a crawlspace or a stacked washer-dryer on a second floor.

Route four: a pickup, and the Charlotte reasons for it

Three access problems come up here constantly, and none of them change the price.

The garage refrigerator. Near-universal in established Charlotte houses, because the Piedmont's red clay pushed this region to slab and crawlspace construction and there is no basement to put an overflow fridge in. It goes in the garage or the carport instead, runs for fifteen years, and costs a fortune to keep cold through a Carolina summer. $164, or $146 if it is a chest freezer beside it.

The crawlspace water heater. With no basement, the tank sits in the crawlspace or a garage closet. Getting one out is a low, awkward drag across red clay. It is still $131 — there is no crawlspace charge.

Second-floor laundry. Standard in the newer Waxhaw, Indian Trail, Highland Creek and Fort Mill builds. A stacked washer-dryer coming down a turned stair is $189, exactly the same as one in a ground-floor laundry room.

Disconnect first: what is on you

We are a removal crew, not licensed plumbers or electricians. Before the pickup:

• Gas ranges need the gas line professionally disconnected and capped. This matters in the older neighborhoods in and near the I-277 loop, where gas service is common — out in the newer subdivisions ranges are more often electric.
• Tank water heaters need the plumbing disconnected and the tank drained.
• Hardwired appliances need the circuit made safe.
• Dishwashers need the supply and drain disconnected.

Anything on a plug is fine as is — unplug it and we take it from there, including pulling it out of its slot and taking doors off if that is what it takes to clear a narrow doorway.

Measure the doorway in an older house

Worth thirty seconds in the 1920s and 30s bungalows in Dilworth, Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood, Wilmore and NoDa. Those kitchens were not designed around a French door refrigerator, and the doorways, the back hall, and often the back steps are narrow.

A modern wide-body unit frequently goes out with the doors off, and sometimes leaves by a different route than it came in. Tell us it is an older house when you book and the crew plans for it. No surcharge for any of that.

HVAC leftovers and seasonal units

Charlotte is heat-pump country, and after a system replacement the old outdoor condenser very often sits on its pad for months because the HVAC quote did not cover removal. That unit is $115.

In the older houses where central air was retrofitted, there is usually a retired stack of window units in the carport or crawlspace: $87 for a small unit under 8,000 BTU, $109 for a large one, $85 for a portable. And this climate retires a lot of dehumidifiers — $77 each, and most Charlotte crawlspaces have one that has stopped working.

Booking

Say what the appliance is and where it sits. The price shows before you book and does not change on the day. Carry-out from any floor, the garage, the crawlspace or an apartment building is included, along with the refrigerant handling, the recycling and the disposal.

If the building is a South End or Uptown tower, give us the name so the certificate of insurance and the freight elevator window are arranged in advance — also at no cost.

Frequently asked questions