Can you leave furniture on the curb in Virginia Beach?

The short answer

In Virginia Beach, furniture can go on the curb only after you've requested bulky-item pickup, at least three days before your trash day, and only between 5 p.m. the night before and 7 a.m. on collection day. It needs about three feet of clearance and can't sit under power lines or block the street or sidewalk. Other 757 cities run different windows, and Currituck County has no curbside bulk at all. If the curb isn't practical, a flat pickup is $126 for a sofa, carried out from inside.

Virginia Beach's curb rules, in detail

The city's bulky-item program is request-based. You ask online, by phone or by email, and you do it at least three days before your regular trash day. If you put a couch out without a request, there's no truck scheduled to collect it.

• Timing: out no earlier than 5 p.m. the night before, no later than 7 a.m.
• Placement: about three feet from cars, mailboxes and other obstructions, and not under power lines.
• Size limits: rugs up to 9 by 12 feet, rolled. Sheds up to 9 by 12 feet, taken apart. Fencing up to ten sections.
• Fridges and freezers: doors and shelves removed, with the refrigerant status noted.
• Beds: disassembled, and waterbeds drained.

Several things aren't eligible at all: cabinets, doors, sinks, toilets, glass, carpet, cardboard boxes, bagged items, building materials, tires, paint, propane and computer towers. Putting those out with your couch doesn't make them collectible.

Norfolk, Chesapeake and Newport News

Norfolk wants the request in by 3 p.m. the day before collection, through the MyNorfolk app or website, by phone or by email. Glass doors and windows must be taped. On narrow Ghent and Park Place streets, think about where the pile will go so it doesn't block parked cars or the sidewalk.

Chesapeake needs the request no later than the weekday before collection. You may put items out up to three work days early, three feet from obstructions. The limit is one pile of up to 4 by 4 by 10 feet per week, twelve times a year. Violations can bring the cost of removal plus an administrative fee of at least $100.

Newport News collects on your designated day, with items out after 3 p.m. the day before and by 7 a.m. The cap is six cubic yards per collection day. Appliances need a separate appointment.

For Portsmouth, Hampton and Poquoson, check your own city's page before you drag anything out.

Moyock and Knotts Island: no curb option

In Currituck County, North Carolina, there is no curbside trash or bulk pickup in the areas we serve. Leaving a couch at the end of a Moyock driveway does not get it collected. It just sits there.

Residents haul their own furniture to the county's staffed convenience centers, including the Moyock center on Panther Landing Road and the Knotts Island center on Knotts Island Road. You need a County Access Permit on the windshield. Contractor and commercial waste isn't allowed at those centers.

So in Moyock subdivisions, the realistic choices are your own truck or a pickup service. There is no county truck coming down US-168 for a sofa.

Apartments, condos and HOAs

Many people in the 757 don't control a curb at all. Downtown Norfolk is about 17.5 percent owner-occupied. Town Center, Military Circle and Greenbrier are full of apartments. At the Oceanfront, condo towers and rentals line the streets. In those places, a complex dumpster or a loading area is not the city's bulky program.

Leaving furniture by an apartment dumpster is the common mistake. Property managers usually post rules against it, pay to have it hauled, and pass the cost back. That bill often lands on a deposit just as you move out.

Homeowner associations in newer subdivisions, from Red Mill to north Suffolk, often have their own rules about what sits at the curb and for how long. Read yours before you set anything out. An HOA letter isn't a fine from the city, but it's still a hassle.

When the curb is a bad idea anyway

Storm season. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and nor'easters bring wind and tidal flooding outside it. A sofa left at the curb overnight with rain coming gets soaked and heavy. In flood-prone neighborhoods like Windsor Woods or Princess Anne Plaza, water can carry light items off.

It's upstairs. The city truck collects from the curb. It doesn't come in. If the dresser is on the third floor of an old Norfolk house, someone still has to carry it down.

It's on the excluded list. Cabinets from a kitchen redo, carpet from a flooded room, a stack of moving boxes, and bags of clutter won't be taken. Leaving them out just leaves them out.

You're on a deadline. A PCS report date or lease end doesn't wait for a three-day request window.

Skip the curb entirely

A sofa and a recliner from a Hilltop apartment: $126 + $98 = $224. A dresser and a queen set from an upstairs bedroom: $126 + $143 = $269.

Nothing touches the curb. The crew carries items out from any floor, with no stairs fee. Book by 4 p.m. for same-day pickup, any day, with a two-hour arrival window.

Frequently asked questions