Narrow stairs and old houses: junk removal in Brookside and Waldo

The short answer

The houses along Wornall, through Brookside, Waldo, Hyde Park, Volker, Rockhill and the Historic Northeast were built in the 1910s through the 1940s, and they were not designed around modern furniture. Boxed stairwells with walls on both sides, a 90-degree turn at a small landing, door openings narrower than today's standard, and a basement stair that is steeper than anything built since.

None of that changes the price. A sofa is $126. A sleeper sofa is $149. An upright piano is $290. A queen mattress and box spring set is $143. Carry-out from any floor is included, there is no stair charge, no difficulty surcharge and no long-carry fee. The minimum visit is $75.

What makes these houses hard

• Boxed stairs. A stairwell with drywall or plaster on both sides gives you no room to tip a piece sideways, which is the standard trick for getting a sofa around a corner.
• The landing turn. Most of these stairs turn once, and the turn is the pinch point, not the run.
• Narrow door openings, particularly to bedrooms and to the basement.
• Steep basement stairs, often with low headroom at the top and a door at the bottom that swings the wrong way.
• Plaster walls. They do not forgive a knock the way drywall does, and an original plaster corner is worth protecting.
• Original hardwood, which is exactly why nobody wants a refrigerator dragged across it.
• Exterior cellar entrances with a bulkhead door and a tight turn at the bottom — sometimes the better route, often worse.

How the piece got in there in the first place

Homeowners ask this constantly, and there are usually four answers.

• It came in before a later remodel closed off an opening or added a wall.
• It went in through a window, which was a normal thing to do and occasionally still is.
• It was assembled in the room, particularly flat-pack, sleeper sofas and some sectionals.
• It came up the outside cellar stairs when they were still open and unobstructed.

None of that helps you today. What helps is that the crew can take a frame apart on site: cut the frame, pull the back off, remove the legs, unbolt a sectional. It is a normal part of the job in these neighborhoods, not an exception, and it does not add to the price.

The pieces that fight hardest

Two of those are specific to this housing stock. Cast iron radiators come out during boiler conversions all over Brookside and Hyde Park, and they are dense and awkward on a stair. Cast iron tubs come out during bathroom remodels, and they generally leave in pieces.

Worked example, a Waldo bathroom remodel: cast iron bathtub + bathroom vanity + detached toilet = $185 + $69 + $64 = $318.

Alleys, parking and street width

The other half of the problem is outside the house.

• Alley-loaded garages. Common in Brookside, Waldo and the Northeast. If the route out is the back, say so — the truck can work the alley instead of blocking a narrow street.
• Street width. Cars parked both sides on a residential block leaves one lane. Moving your own car off the street for an hour makes the whole job faster.
• Parkways and street trees. Mature canopy over the older streets means a box truck cannot always tuck in exactly where you would like. Not a charge, just worth mentioning at booking.
• Winter. An untreated exterior stair or an icy alley slows everything down. Salt it the night before.

Protecting the house

Old plaster, original trim and unrefinished hardwood are the reason people in these neighborhoods hesitate to call anyone. Reasonable precautions before the crew arrives:

• Take pictures of the stairwell and the trim beforehand. Everyone is happier with a baseline.
• Remove the stair runner if it is loose, and clear anything stored on the treads.
• Take the door off its hinges rather than fighting it — it buys two inches, which is often the whole problem.
• Point out anything fragile: a plaster medallion, an original newel post, leaded glass in a stairwell window.

The basement, which is where the volume is

In these houses the basement is rarely a family room. It is a stone or block-walled utility space with a workbench, shelving, canning jars, paint from three owners ago, and forty years of storage.

That makes most Brookside and Waldo jobs volume jobs rather than item jobs: quarter truck $241, three-eighths $338, half $431, three-quarters $587, full $732. The crew carries it up the stairs you have been avoiding for a decade, and the stairs are not a line item.

Leave out the paint, solvents and old fuel — those go to the household hazardous waste program for your side of the metro.

Booking it

When you book, say three things: which floor it is on, whether the stairs turn, and whether there is alley access. That is all the crew needs to bring the right straps and plan the route. The price you see is the price you pay, in a 1926 bungalow exactly as in a new build in Olathe.

Frequently asked questions