· by Michael Blair, Nashville's Junk Removal
An old couch is one of the most common things people want gone and one of the hardest to move on your own. It is too big for a trash cart, too heavy for one person, and often too worn for anyone to want it. Before you call anyone, know that Metro Nashville has a free option for Davidson County residents, and for a lot of people it is the right answer. Here is how that drop-off works, the situations where it does not fit, and what changes when the couch is a sectional, a sleeper or has bed bugs. When the drop-off is not the answer, our furniture and appliance removal service carries the couch out of the room and takes it away.
Can I take an old couch to a Metro convenience center for free?
Yes, if you live in Davidson County and can haul and unload it yourself. Metro Waste Services’ bulky item collection page says items too big for a curbside cart should go to a convenience center, lists couches, chairs and sofas among the furniture it accepts for disposal, and says residents can bring up to one bulk trash item at no charge. The same page asks you to consider whether the furniture could be donated through a secondhand store or an online marketplace before it goes to the landfill.
The rules that come with the free visit are on Metro’s convenience center page. The free allowance is three bags of trash, each no larger than 30 gallons, plus one bulk item, once a day, at any center. You have to show a Tennessee driver’s license with a Davidson County address, you unload your own material, and waste that arrives in a commercial vehicle, one with commercial tags or one with any business advertising on it is refused. Anything not priced by material type is charged by volume: $10 for a load under 1 cubic yard that does not rise above the truck bed, and $20 per cubic yard between 1 and 8. Cards carry a 2.8% fee with a $1.95 minimum.
If you have a pickup or a trailer, a friend to help lift, and a couch that comes out of the house without a fight, that is a good way to get rid of it. Check the Waste Wizard in Nashville’s Waste and Recycling App or call 615-924-2633 if you are not sure a piece qualifies.
When doesn’t the free drop-off work?
It does not work when any one of its rules does not fit your situation. The license rule means the centers are for Davidson County residents, so a household in Franklin, Murfreesboro or Hendersonville cannot use them. The commercial vehicle rule means you cannot hand the job to a hired truck and still get the free visit. And because residents unload their own material, someone still has to get the couch out of the house, into a vehicle and off it again at the center.
That last part is where most couch jobs get stuck. A full-size sofa is awkward rather than just heavy: it has to be tipped and turned through doorways, down stairs and around the tight landing in a split-level or an older house, and a sleeper sofa adds a steel frame inside. Rain is the other problem. A couch left on a porch or at the curb through a Middle Tennessee storm soaks up water, gets heavier and is no longer something anyone will take for reuse. If the couch is upstairs, you do not have a truck, or it is one piece of a larger clear-out, that is the work our couch and furniture removal is for. Our crews carry it out of the room, load it and haul it, anywhere from Nashville itself to the surrounding counties.
What if the couch has bed bugs?
Treat it first if you can, and destroy it before it leaves if you cannot. The EPA’s do-it-yourself bed bug control page says not to throw out furniture you can safely clear of the bugs, and to discard it responsibly when you cannot. Responsibly means making sure nobody else brings it home: the same page suggests ripping the covers and pulling out the stuffing, and spray painting the words “Bed Bugs” on the piece. It also says to seal infested items in plastic bags and to have them picked up as soon as possible.
A couch on a curb in a Nashville neighborhood rarely sits there long before someone looks it over, which is exactly what the EPA advice is meant to prevent. Tell us about bed bugs when you ask for an estimate, so the couch can be wrapped in plastic before it is carried through the house and nothing brushes along the walls on the way out. Our post on getting rid of a mattress, fridge or TV covers the same steps for a bed.
- Ask whether the couch can be treated before deciding to throw it out
- If it cannot, cut the cover and mark the piece so nobody takes it
- Seal cushions and loose pieces in plastic bags
- Get it out of the house and off the property quickly
Sectionals, sleeper sofas and the donation question
A sectional is several pieces held together, and it should leave the house in those pieces. Most sections are joined by metal brackets or clips underneath that lift apart once the cushions are off, and the legs on many couches unscrew, which can be the difference between fitting through a door and not. A sleeper sofa is easier to carry with the mattress pulled out and the frame folded shut. If a section will not separate, do not cut into it to force it; we work out how it comes out when we see it.
Donation is worth trying before the landfill, and it is what Metro’s own page asks. Upholstered furniture is the hardest thing to give away, though, because a stain, a tear, pet hair or a smell is usually enough for it to be turned down. A clean couch with a sound frame has a chance; a sagging one that lived with a dog for ten years usually does not. Our donation and recycling service sets aside what can be reused before the rest goes to disposal, and donate, recycle or dispose explains how we sort a load. When the couch needs to go, ask for a free estimate and tell us which floor it is on and how wide the doorways are.
Sources
- Metro Nashville Waste Services, Bulky Item Collection — couches, chairs and sofas accepted for disposal; one bulk trash item at no charge; consider donation before the landfill
- Metro Nashville Waste Services, Convenience Centers — free three bags and one bulk item a day; Davidson County license; residents unload; commercial vehicles refused; volume fees; card fee; Waste Wizard and 615-924-2633
- US EPA, Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Control — do not discard furniture that can be cleared; destroy and mark what cannot; seal infested items in plastic; have them picked up quickly
FAQ
Getting Rid of an Old Couch in Nashville — questions
How do I get rid of a couch in Nashville?
Davidson County residents can take one bulk item, a couch included, to any Metro convenience center for free once a day, with a Tennessee driver’s license showing a county address, unloading it themselves. If you live outside the county, have no truck, or cannot get it out of the house, a hauler carries it out and takes it.
Can I take an old couch to a Nashville convenience center, and what does it cost?
Yes. Metro’s free allowance is three bags of trash and one bulk item per day at any center. Items beyond that are charged by volume, $10 for a load under 1 cubic yard and $20 per cubic yard from 1 to 8. Cards carry a 2.8% fee with a $1.95 minimum.
How do I dispose of a couch with bed bugs?
The EPA says to keep furniture you can safely clear of bed bugs, and to destroy what you cannot so nobody takes it home: rip the cover, remove stuffing and spray paint “Bed Bugs” on it. Seal loose pieces in plastic and get it picked up quickly. Tell a hauler beforehand so it is wrapped first.
Can I use a business truck or trailer to take a couch to the dump?
Not to a Metro convenience center. Metro refuses waste that arrives in a commercial vehicle, in one with commercial tags or in one carrying business advertising of any kind, and it does not accept commercial waste. A personal pickup or trailer with a Davidson County resident’s license is what the free drop-off is built for.
How do I take apart a sectional sofa to remove it?
Take the cushions off first, then look underneath where the sections meet for the metal brackets or clips holding them together, which usually lift apart. Unscrew the legs if they come off, since that often gets a piece through a narrow door. If a section will not separate, leave it whole rather than cutting into it.