How to get rid of a bed frame in Atlanta

The short answer

The visit minimum is $75, so a single $68 metal frame on its own bills at $75. Most people are removing the mattress at the same time, which changes that.

All prices include the carry from the bedroom and disposal.

Which frame do you have?

The price split is about mass and material, not brand.

$68 — standard, metal or platform. A bolt-together metal rail frame, a simple wooden platform, a basic slatted frame. These come apart and they are light. Most rental-furnished and flat-pack beds are in this group.

$126 — solid, upholstered or storage. A real hardwood frame with a headboard and footboard, an upholstered frame with a padded headboard, or a storage bed with drawers in the base. Heavy, usually assembled in the room, and a genuine two-person carry.

$152 — the same, in king or Cal king. Bigger rails, wider headboard, and it does not turn on a landing.

$118 — motorized adjustable base. These are a category of their own: a steel frame with a motor, a transformer and often a battery pack. Heavier than any other frame in the house and not something that folds neatly.

If you are unsure, go by whether one person could carry it. If yes, it is the $68 line.

Why Atlanta bedrooms make this harder than it sounds

The frame is usually the part of the bed that was never carried in whole, and that is a problem when it has to go out.

1920s bungalow doorways. Grant Park, Kirkwood, Ormewood Park, Cabbagetown, West End. Door openings framed a century ago, narrow stair runs and a turn at the top. A king headboard did not come up those stairs assembled and it is not going down that way either.

Bonus rooms over the garage. In Alpharetta, Suwanee, Johns Creek, Woodstock and across the OTP subdivisions, the guest bed or teenager's bed went up a narrow secondary stair with a tight landing. Flat-pack frames get assembled up there and stay assembled until someone takes them apart again.

Split-levels and daylight basements. In Chamblee, Doraville, Brookhaven and Tucker, the spare bedroom is half a level down with a 180-degree turn at the base of the stair. Fine for a mattress that flexes. Not fine for a rigid hardwood rail.

Crews break frames down on site as a matter of routine. It does not change the price and it is usually the only way out.

The humidity problem with stored frames

Bed frames get stored, which in this climate is where they die.

An upholstered headboard that has spent two years in an unconditioned Atlanta garage, carport or basement has absorbed moisture, and it smells. Once it smells, no donation intake will take it and nobody will buy it. A particleboard platform or storage base in the same conditions swells at the joints, and when you lift it the screws pull straight out of the swollen board.

Solid hardwood frames survive better but the finish crazes and the joints loosen.

The practical consequence: if you were keeping a frame 'for the guest room one day', and it has been in the garage through a couple of Georgia summers, it is a disposal item now. Deciding that sooner saves you moving it twice.

The whole bed, priced

Almost nobody removes a frame alone. The arithmetic:

• Metal frame $68 + queen mattress $103 = $171
• Metal frame $68 + mattress and box spring set $143 = $211
• Upholstered king frame $152 + king mattress $114 = $266
• Adjustable base $118 + queen mattress $103 = $221
• Bunk bed $123 + twin mattress $82 + twin mattress $82 = $287
• The full guest room: set $143 + frame $68 + dresser $126 + nightstand $57 = $394

If the whole room is going and there is more than that in it, compare against a quarter truck at $241 or three-eighths at $338.

Can you sell or donate a frame instead?

More often than with a mattress, but with caveats specific to this market.

Solid hardwood frames do sell, particularly older pieces, and mid-century bedroom furniture out of the Brookhaven, Northcrest and Chamblee ranch stock moves reasonably well. Expect to wait, and expect buyers only from nearby neighborhoods — nobody is crossing the Perimeter for a bed frame.

Metal frames are worth almost nothing but are easy to donate if clean and complete. Bring all the hardware.

Flat-pack and upholstered frames rarely find a taker. Flat-pack does not survive disassembly twice, and used upholstery is the hardest category anywhere.

Cribs are a special case: safety standards have changed over the years and most charities will not accept a used one at all. Assume a crib at $67 is a disposal item.

Buildings and access

If you are in a Midtown or Buckhead high-rise, a king headboard is going down the freight elevator, which means a reserved window and a certificate of insurance filed with management. Sort that at booking.

In a BeltLine or Howell Mill five-over-one, it is the service elevator and a garage-level staging area, often with clearance too low for a box truck — longer carry, same price.

In a garden apartment off Buford Highway or Clairmont, it is an exterior stair and no elevator. Also same price. There is no stair charge anywhere on this list.

Booking it

Pick the frame type, add the mattress if the mattress is going, and you have the total before you book. Crews bring tools and break frames down on site, so nothing needs disassembling in advance.

Frequently asked questions