What a Low Junk Removal Quote Actually Covers in Denver.
By Darius Schultz, owner · Updated
Before a hauler pays for fuel, labor or insurance, the dump charges for the trip. Here are the 2026 gate rates a Denver hauler actually pays, what a low price can honestly buy, what it can't, and the five questions that tell you which kind of quote you're looking at.
What's Included in a $99 Junk Removal Service?
A $99 junk removal service usually covers one small item, often only from the curb or the driveway. The $99 is usually a "starting at" number, with add-ons for stairs, mattresses, appliances or anything heavy. That can be a perfectly honest offer, but it is a different product from clearing a garage.
The reason is the dump. Transfer stations and landfills charge by the trip, the ton or the yard, with a minimum on every run. At STS, the two transfer stations most of our own loads go to, the posted minimum works out to $75 a run at the North station and $85 at the South station. That money is gone before the hauler has paid for fuel, the truck, insurance or an hour of anyone's labor. So the useful question is never "is $99 cheap?" It is "what does $99 have to pay for?"
This guide does that math with the facilities' own 2026 rate sheets, explains truck-fraction pricing, covers the two legal costs that catch people out (refrigerant and electronics), and ends with the questions to ask any hauler, us included. We don't name other companies. We don't need to: the gate fees are the same for everybody.
If It's One Item, Check the Free Route First.
The cheapest quote is no quote. With Denver city trash service, Large Item Pickup collects up to 5 large items and 10 bags every nine weeks. Items go out by 6am on your collection day. It does not take appliances, electronics or construction materials, and the city is blunt that setting items out on any other day counts as illegal dumping. If your couch can wait for your week, that beats every price on this page.
Several suburbs run their own versions. How each one works, and when it beats hiring anyone, is on our city pages for Golden, Arvada, Thornton and Edgewater, and on our junk removal in Denver page.
Paying a hauler makes sense when the item can't wait, can't go out on the curb, isn't on the city's list, or is really a whole load. That is where the price has to cover the dump.
What One Dump Run Costs a Hauler in 2026.
These are the facilities' own posted gate rates, checked September 26, 2026. They are what anyone pays to dump legally, before labor, fuel or insurance.
| Facility and load | Posted rate |
|---|---|
| STS North, 3711 E 54th Ave, Denver: by weight | $75 a ton, 1-ton minimum, so at least $75 a run |
| STS North: pickup filled to cab level | $75 each |
| STS South, 1600 W Harvard Ave, Englewood: by weight | $85 a ton, 1-ton minimum, so at least $85 a run |
| STS South: pickup filled to cab level | $85 each ($170 for heavy material) |
| Foothills and Tower landfills: pickup filled to the top of the cab | $105 base, about $134 with the landfill's fees |
| Foothills and Tower landfills: trailers | $38.50 a yard, 5-yard minimum (about $235 and up with fees) |
| Foothills and Tower landfills: mattress or box spring | $55 each, on top of the load price |
| Foothills and Tower landfills: appliance with Freon | $77 each ($55 without Freon) |
| All of the above: uncovered load | Charged double |
STS also posts lower introductory rates on some lines, so check the station's page before you go. The landfills add a fuel recovery fee of 8 to 15% of the load, an environmental fee of $19.71 a load and a small state solid waste fee; their "with fees" figures are their own estimates. Neither STS station nor the landfills accept electronics or tires. The full list is in the sources at the bottom of this page.
The one fact that surprises people: the gate charges by the trip, the ton or the yard, never by how nice the item is. A pickup carrying one recliner pays the same pickup rate as a full one. On our own two-load remodel job in University Park, the gate fees were $130 at STS South and $117 at STS North, about $247 before fuel, and that is written up with the receipts in the remodel debris case study.
The Math on a Low Quote.
Take the lowest number in that table: $75, the STS North minimum for a hauler who weighs in by the ton. A $99 quote for one couch leaves $24. That $24 has to pay for the drive to your house, the drive to the station, fuel, wear on the truck, the time to load and unload, and the insurance that covers your doorframe. On a single trip, it doesn't add up. That doesn't make every low price a scam. It means a low price only works in a few specific situations, and you should know which one you are in.
What a Low Price Can Honestly Cover
- One small item on a route. If the truck is already headed to the station with other customers' junk, your chair shares one gate fee with several jobs. That is real math, and it works.
- Curbside only. You carry it out, so there is no labor inside the house and no risk to your walls.
- A stated promotion. A company can choose to lose money on a first job to earn the next one. Fine, as long as the fine print says what the price covers.
What It Can't Honestly Cover
- A real load. A pickup filled to the cab is $75 to $85 at STS and about $134 at the Foothills and Tower landfills, before one minute of labor.
- The extras at a landfill. Add one mattress at the landfill ($55) or a fridge ($77) and the gate bill alone passes $99.
- Anything heavy, upstairs, or two trips. Heavy material pays more at the gate, stairs take time, and a second trip means a second gate fee.
One more honest check: if a price for a whole load is lower than what the gate would charge for it, ask where the load is going. A straight answer names a transfer station or a landfill. If you want the full list of things to check about a hauler, our guide to choosing a junk removal company in Denver has it.
How Truck-Fraction Pricing Works, and How to Check It.
Many haulers price by the fraction of a truck: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 or a full truck. It is a real system and it is not dishonest. The catch is that a fraction only means something if you know the size of the whole. "1/8 of a truck" is a different amount of junk depending on how big the truck is, so the first question is simple: how many cubic yards does a full truck hold?
| Fraction | If a full truck is 12 yd | If a full truck is 16 yd |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 truck | 1.5 cubic yards | 2 cubic yards |
| 1/4 truck | 3 cubic yards | 4 cubic yards |
| 1/2 truck | 6 cubic yards | 8 cubic yards |
| Full truck | 12 cubic yards | 16 cubic yards |
The two truck sizes are examples to show the math, not any company's truck.
The second question is who decides the fraction, and when. If it is judged after everything is already loaded, you are agreeing to a price you haven't seen. Ask for the fraction, and the price, before anything moves.
A per-yard price is easier to check because you can measure it yourself. A cubic yard is 3 x 3 x 3 ft, about a washer and dryer side by side. For a pile, multiply length x width x height in feet and divide by 27. That is the same formula the Foothills and Tower landfills print on their own gate sheet. A pile 6 ft long, 3 ft deep and 3 ft high is 54 cubic feet, or 2 yards. Once you know the yards, any per-yard price becomes a number you can check with a phone calculator.
Refrigerant and Electronics: The Two Items That Cost Extra Everywhere.
These two costs come from federal and state rules, not from any hauler's price list. A quote that ignores them is either leaving them out or not following them.
Fridges, Freezers and AC Units
Under the EPA's Section 608 rules, nobody disposing of an appliance may knowingly vent its refrigerant (40 CFR 82.154). The last stop in the disposal chain, a scrap recycler or a landfill, has to either recover the remaining refrigerant itself or get a signed statement saying who recovered it and when, and keep it for three years (40 CFR 82.155).
That handling is why the Foothills and Tower landfills charge $77 for an appliance with Freon against $55 without. We don't recover refrigerant ourselves and we never vent it. We take refrigerant units to a disposal site where it is handled, and that is what our +$50 covers. More on our appliance removal page.
TVs, Computers and Monitors
Colorado's Electronic Recycling Jobs Act (Senate Bill 12-133, CRS 25-17-303) has kept electronic devices out of the state's landfills since July 1, 2013. It covers computers, printers, fax machines, DVD players and VCRs, plus TVs, monitors, laptops, tablets and e-readers with a screen over 4 inches. The state requires landfills, transfer stations and waste haulers to post signs saying so.
STS and the Foothills and Tower landfills all list electronics as not accepted, so a TV goes to a recycler, and recyclers charge. The state's own advice is to "expect to pay a recycling fee." Rooney Road Recycling Center in Golden lists e-waste at $1.91 a pound, capped at $203.35 for a TV, by appointment.
Mattresses are the third item that moves a price. The Foothills and Tower landfills charge $55 per mattress or box spring on top of the load, while the STS stations list mattresses as accepted material. Ours go to an STS transfer station with no extra charge. The free and cheap mattress routes around Denver are in our mattress disposal cost guide.
Five Things to Ask Any Hauler Before You Book.
1. "What is the total for everything in this photo?"
Not a starting price. The whole load, in writing. A text counts. The FTC's home improvement advice makes the same point: a written estimate should include the work to be done and the price.
2. "What isn't included?"
Stairs, long carries, heavy material, mattresses, fridges, tires and TVs are where add-ons live. Get every one named before the truck comes, not at the truck.
3. "Are dump fees included, and where does it go?"
Some quotes add disposal per load or per item. The answer to "where" should name a real facility.
4. "Can you send proof of insurance?"
The FTC tells homeowners to ask any contractor for proof of insurance. For a hauler that means a certificate of insurance (COI) you get before the appointment, not a promise at the door.
5. "What is your registered business name?"
Then look it up on the Colorado Secretary of State business search. A registered LLC or corporation shows its status. You want to see "Good Standing".
Our answers: priced by the yard and confirmed on site before we start; stairs, long carries, heavy material, Freon appliances and tires are the only extras, and each is said out loud first; dump fees are always included and most loads go to an STS transfer station; a COI goes out the same day during business hours; and we are Denver Junk Solutions LLC, Colorado entity ID 20261570765, listed in Good Standing when we checked on September 26, 2026. The record is linked from our about page.
What We Charge, and Why Our Minimum Is $149.
$149 for the first 2 cubic yards, then $75 a yard. The first 2 yards is one couch, a mattress and box spring, or a few small items. A full 1-car garage is usually 6 to 8 yards, $449 to $599. No travel fee, no fuel fee, no dump fee. You approve the price on site before we start.
We don't advertise $99 because we couldn't do it honestly. Our minimum includes carrying the item out from wherever it sits, the drive, the gate fee and the sweep-up, and we don't build our price around stacking ten small stops into one dump run. If all you have is one chair you can carry to the curb, a city pickup or a curbside service may honestly beat us, and we would rather you knew that than find out later.
- Heavy material (concrete, tile, brick, roofing shingles): +$25 a yard
- Stairs: +$25 a flight
- Carry of more than 100 ft from where the truck can park: +$40
- Freon appliances (fridge, freezer, AC unit): +$50 each
- Tires: +$15 each
Never charged: travel, a mountain or foothills surcharge, fuel, dump fees as a line item, sweep-up, extra trips, or the quote itself. Mattresses are part of the per-yard price.
The full yard table is on our pricing page, and why the minimum sits at $149 is spelled out in our junk removal cost guide.
Low Quote Questions.
What's included in a $99 junk removal service?
What is the minimum charge for junk removal?
What is the cheapest way to get rid of junk?
Why is junk removal so expensive?
How do junk removal companies price a job?
Are dump fees included in a junk removal quote?
Can I dump a TV in a dumpster?
Are junk removal services worth it?
Where Every Number Comes From.
All checked September 26, 2026. Posted rates change, so check the facility's own page before you haul anything yourself.
- STS North Denver Transfer Station: posted rates by the ton and by pickup level, accepted and prohibited materials, and the double charge for uncovered loads.
- STS South Denver Transfer Station: posted rates by the ton and by pickup level, including heavy material, and the materials it does not accept.
- Tower and Foothills Landfills, Gate Pricing 2026 (PDF): pickup, trailer, mattress and appliance rates, the fuel, environmental and solid waste user fees, the cubic-yard formula, the prohibited items list and the uncovered-load rule.
- 40 CFR 82.154, Prohibitions: the ban on knowingly venting refrigerant when disposing of an appliance.
- 40 CFR 82.155, Safe disposal of appliances: what the final processor must do with refrigerant, the signed statement, and the three-year record rule.
- EPA Section 608, Stationary Refrigeration Safe Disposal Requirements: the plain-English summary of who is responsible in the disposal chain.
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, electronics and computer waste and its page for landfill operators and waste haulers: the landfill ban (Title 25, Article 17, Part 3), the July 1, 2013 date and the signage rule. The covered devices are defined in Senate Bill 12-133, CRS 25-17-302.
- Rooney Road Recycling Center pricing: the e-waste rate per pound and the per-TV cap.
- City and County of Denver, Large Item Pickup: the nine-week schedule, the 5-item and 10-bag limit, the 6am set-out, what is not accepted, and the illegal-dumping rule.
- Federal Trade Commission, How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam: ask for proof of insurance and get a written estimate with the price.
- Colorado Secretary of State business database search: how to check a company's registration and standing.
Where To Go From Here.
The full yard table, every add-on, and why there is a minimum charge.
The full checklist for comparing junk removal companies in Denver.
$149 for the first 2 cubic yards, then $75 a yard, and every extra.
One couch or a whole house of furniture, carried out and priced by the yard.
Fridges, washers and AC units, with the refrigerant handled properly.
A mattress set is about 2 yards, with no extra dump charge.
Get the Total for the Whole Load.
Text a photo of everything you want gone. You get a price back by text, usually within 10 minutes during business hours, with every extra named, and the final number is confirmed on site before anything moves.
Snap a Photo of the Items, Get a Price
Drop your number below. Darius texts your price back, usually within 10 minutes during business hours.
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Darius will text you a price shortly. Keep your phone handy. The reply comes from (720) 689-3713.
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