April in Chicago is an audit: the melt uncovers the balcony graveyard, the salt-wrecked rugs, the snowblower that died in February and got a state funeral in the garage. Ward spring cleanups help — when your ward runs one, on its date, for its list. The rest prices flat: piles from $82, ten bags $178, room-scale purges $241–$732.
One photo of winter's wreckage — flat quote in seconds
Upload a Photo & Get Quote →Spring is when aldermanic offices shine — many wards run cleanup days, dumpster events and special collections in April and May. Check your ward's newsletter and 311; when the event matches your pile and your weekend, it's free and neighborly. The limits are structural: the event's date isn't your date, the accepted list excludes electronics and the odd stuff, and building-scale purges outgrow a community dumpster fast. Everything past those limits is what the flat pickup is for.
| The purge | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Mixed pile — small / medium / large | $82 / $129 / $208 |
| Bagged purge — 10 / 20 bags | $178 / $259 |
| Rolled rug / dead snowblower | $92 / $88 |
| Balcony set — table / chairs / grill | $120 / $40 each / $79–$95 |
| Room-scale — quarter / half / full truck | $241 / $431 / $732 |
$75 minimum. Carried from the unit, balcony or basement — the contested spring alley never enters the plan. Donation-grade items routed to donation.
Many wards run spring cleanup initiatives — dumpster days, neighborhood cleanups, special collections — but they're ward-by-ward, announced through aldermanic offices, and vary year to year in what they accept. Worth checking your ward's newsletter and 311 in March and April. What they consistently don't solve: electronics (Illinois landfill ban), building-scale purges, and anything on your schedule rather than the event's.
Flat by volume: mixed piles $82 (small), $129 (medium), $208 (large); bagged purges $178 for ten bags, $348 for twenty; and when the purge fills rooms, truck rates take over — $241 quarter, $431 half, $732 full 16-cubic-yard truck. Winter's specific casualties price flat too: salt-ruined rolled rug $92, dead snowblower $88, the broken shovel-and-mat pile as loose volume.
Every April the same inventory surfaces: the balcony graveyard (frozen planters, cracked furniture), the salt-wrecked entry rugs, the snowblower that died in February, the basement dampness casualties, and the closet of coats nobody wore. Winter hides accumulation; spring invoices it.
Only within the rules — black-cart buildings, beside the cart, on collection timing, with a 311 request for real quantities. Spring is also when everyone ELSE purges, so legitimate set-out space is contested and lingering piles draw complaints fast. The flat pickup skips the whole competition — from your unit, on your date.