Furniture removal, carried out and hauled off

Furniture doesn't get heavier with age, but the path out always seems smaller. A sleeper sofa has a steel frame inside. A dresser is easier with the drawers pulled. A bed frame or a big desk may need to come apart to clear a hallway. That's normal, and the crew plans for it.

Most furniture jobs fit one of two levels. If you can roll it to the garage or the driveway, that's ME3 Express. If it's upstairs, in a back bedroom or behind a tight turn, that's White Glove, where the crew takes it from where it sits. Tell us about stairs and narrow doors when you text photos, and the range you get will match the job.

Furniture is priced by the space it takes in the trailer. A recliner takes less than a sectional, and a full bedroom set takes more than either. Disassembly and long carries can add to it, and that gets settled before the crew lifts anything.

You get a firm price before loading, and it doesn't change unless you add pieces. The pricing page has the starting ranges for common items like a sofa or recliner.

Bryan picks up bulky items like furniture once a week. The pile has to sit at least five feet from buildings, fences, cars, meters and hydrants, and brush has to be in its own pile. College Station also takes furniture at the curb every week, as long as it's out by 8 a.m. on collection day.

Navasota is different. It has no curbside bulky pickup at all. Residents haul up to four bulky items per load, like couches and mattresses, to the city's Recycle Center on Saturdays. If you don't have a truck, or you have more than four pieces, that's a long day.

Local detail for the two biggest cities is on the pages for furniture removal in College Station and furniture removal in Bryan.

Most furniture calls are one of a handful of jobs. Each has its own wrinkle, so it helps to know which one yours is.

People ask about mattresses more than any other single piece. There's no state mattress recycling program in Texas. The industry's Mattress Recycling Council runs programs only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island, the states with mattress recycling laws.

So a mattress here goes to curb pickup where a city allows it, to a drop-off like Navasota's, or out with a hauler. If you're replacing a bed, ME3 Junk Solutions can take the old mattress, box spring and frame in one trip.

A solid table or a clean dresser can have a second life. When it's practical, usable furniture goes to donation or reuse. Point out the pieces you'd like to see go that way.

Treadmills and ellipticals get lumped in with furniture, but they're heavier than they look and usually need to come apart. Mention the make if you know it. There's more in getting rid of a treadmill or exercise equipment.