The short answer
If you live in Virginia Beach, the free route is the city's bulky-item pickup, which you request at least three days before your trash day and set out between 5 p.m. the night before and 7 a.m. If you need it gone from a third-floor walk-up, a condo tower or a PCS rental this week, a flat-price pickup is a twin $82, full $94, queen $103, king $114, or $143 for a full set. The order minimum is $100, so a lone twin is billed at $100.
Route one: Virginia Beach bulky-item pickup
Virginia Beach runs bulky pickup by request rather than on a fixed monthly sweep. You ask for it online, by phone, or by email to the city's waste management office, and the request has to be in at least three days before your regular trash day. Miss that window and you wait another week. The city's bulky list covers beds, with the note that frames should be disassembled and waterbeds drained. The city's page doesn't list a fee for the service, but check it when you book, because programs change.
The set-out rules are where people slip up. The mattress goes out no earlier than 5 p.m. the night before and no later than 7 a.m. on collection day. It needs about three feet of clearance from cars, mailboxes and fences, and it can't sit under power lines. In Kempsville or Red Mill, with a driveway and a curb, that is easy. At an Oceanfront condo or a Town Center apartment, there is often no curb that belongs to you at all, and the building's dumpster is not the city's bulky program.
The city also refuses bagged items as a category, so don't try to send a pile of bagged bedding out with the mattress. Wrap the mattress itself in plastic if you like, but loose bags of pillows and linens stay behind.
Route two: if you're in Norfolk, Chesapeake or across the tunnel
The 757 is a set of independent cities, and each one runs its own trash program. A neighbor ten minutes away over the city line may be playing by different rules.
- Chesapeake accepts mattresses and box springs in its bulk trash. You request it no later than the weekday before your collection day, and you get one pile of up to 4 by 4 by 10 feet per week, twelve times a year. Put things out more than three work days early and the city can bill you the removal cost plus an administrative fee of at least $100.
- Norfolk takes bulk requests until 3 p.m. the day before, through the MyNorfolk app or website or by phone. That is the fastest municipal turnaround in the region.
- Newport News accepts mattresses curbside on your designated bulk day, up to six cubic yards per collection.
- Moyock and Knotts Island in Currituck County have no curbside bulk pickup at all. Residents haul mattresses to a staffed convenience center with a county access permit on the windshield.
For Portsmouth, Hampton and Poquoson, check the city's own trash page before you drag anything out. Don't assume Virginia Beach rules carry across the line.
Route three: haul it yourself
Virginia Beach residents know the Resource Recovery Center on Jake Sears Road, which takes e-waste, metal, appliances, tires, concrete and brush free with proof of residency. Mattresses are not on its accepted list, so don't make the drive expecting to drop one there. The regional option is the SPSA system, with the Regional Landfill in Suffolk and transfer stations including Landstown in Virginia Beach. Call or check the SPSA site for what they accept from residents and what it costs before you load the truck.
A queen mattress does not fit in a sedan, and a box spring does not bend. This is a pickup-truck or borrowed-trailer job. Strap it down flat with at least two straps. A loose mattress coming off a truck on I-264 at highway speed is a real hazard, and the wind off the water on the bridges makes it worse.
Count the real cost: the truck, the fuel, an hour or two, and whatever the gate charges. Then compare that against $103 for a queen carried out of the bedroom.
Route four: sell it or give it away
A clean, newer mattress with no stains can find a taker on local marketplace groups, especially in a Navy metro where families arrive on orders and need a bed fast. Be honest in the listing about age and condition. Photograph the label and both sides.
Most used mattresses are a harder sell than people expect. Hampton Roads summers are humid, and a mattress that has lived through a few of them in a beach cottage or a flood-prone ranch in Lynnhaven may carry smell, mildew or stains. Many buyers won't touch a used mattress at all because of bed bugs. Charities often decline used mattresses for the same reasons.
Give a listing a few days. If nobody bites by the weekend, move to a pickup before your lease end or move-out inspection makes the decision for you.
Route five: a flat-price pickup
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Mattress — Twin | $82 |
| Mattress — Full / Double | $94 |
| Mattress — Queen | $103 |
| Mattress — King / Cal King | $114 |
| Box Spring (any size) | $92 |
| Mattress + Box Spring Set | $143 |
| Bed Frame (standard / metal / platform) | $68 |
The set price is the one to notice. A queen and box spring priced separately would be $103 + $92 = $195; as a set it is $143. A whole bed with a metal frame is $143 + $68 = $211.
The crew carries it out from wherever it is: a Ghent third floor, a Downtown Norfolk high-rise, a Great Neck bedroom at the end of a long hallway. There is no stairs fee. You pick a two-hour arrival window, we're open seven days from 8 a.m. to midnight, and booking by 4 p.m. gets you same-day pickup. You see the price before you book, and it only changes if you approve it. Get it from a photo on the instant quote page.
Timing it around the 757 calendar
Three local calendars push mattress demand up. The first is PCS season, when military moves concentrate in late spring and summer and families near NAS Oceana, Little Creek and Naval Station Norfolk are trying to hit a move-out inspection. The second is the university move-out in May and mid-December around Old Dominion, Norfolk State and Hampton University, when Larchmont and Brambleton curbs fill up. The third is hurricane season, June 1 through November 30.
Storm season changes the math on curbside set-out. A mattress at the curb in Virginia Beach is only supposed to be there overnight, and that is for good reason. Rain soaks it, which makes it heavier and harder to collect, and high wind can move it. If a storm is in the forecast, wait or book a carry-out instead of leaving it outside.
If you have a set report date, book the pickup for the week your household goods ship. That way the old bed goes the same day the rest of the house empties out.
Frequently asked questions
Does Virginia Beach pick up mattresses for free?
Virginia Beach's bulky-item pickup covers beds, and the city's page does not list a fee. You must request it at least three days before your trash day. Set it out between 5 p.m. the night before and 7 a.m. on collection day.
Can I take a mattress to the Virginia Beach Resource Recovery Center?
Mattresses are not on the center's accepted list. It takes items such as e-waste, metals, appliances, tires, concrete and brush from residents with proof of residency. For a mattress, use bulky pickup, check SPSA's facilities, or book a pickup.
How much does mattress removal cost in Virginia Beach?
Twin $82, full $94, queen $103 and king $114. A box spring alone is $92 and a mattress and box spring set is $143. The order minimum is $100, so a single twin is billed at $100.
Is there a stairs fee for mattresses in Ghent or the Oceanfront?
No. The crew carries the mattress down from any floor, and the price is the same as a ground-floor bedroom. Walk-ups and condo elevators are part of the job, not an add-on.
Can you take a mattress the same day?
Yes, book by 4 p.m. for same-day pickup. You choose a two-hour arrival window and we work seven days a week, 8 a.m. to midnight. That helps when a PCS move-out inspection is the next morning.