Home › Areas › Catalina Foothills
Junk removal in the Catalina Foothills
The Foothills have Tucson addresses and no Tucson services. Property owners here buy a trash contract from a private hauler, and the free city pickup stops at the city line.
Junk removal in the Catalina Foothills: no city, no Brush and Bulky
The Catalina Foothills are unincorporated Pima County, which means the county’s rule applies: hire a permitted hauler or self-haul. Households here hold private contracts — the Arizona Daily Star was describing the Foothills arrangement, with property owners buying contracts from private haulers, as far back as 2006 — and bulk pickup is whatever that contract says. The City of Tucson’s Brush and Bulky, which collects up to 10 cubic yards per household twice a year inside the limits, does not come up the hill.
So the jobs here are the same as anywhere — a house cleared for a sale, a garage, a patio set nobody wants — but the free alternative that a midtown homeowner has is missing, and the pricing reflects the access more than the volume. Published ranges run $150 to $350 for a few items and $600 to $900 for a full truck; the Foothills tend toward the top of each band for the reason below.
Hillside lots change the quote before anything is lifted
Much of the Foothills is built on slope: long driveways, switchbacks, gates, carports below the house, and patios reached by stairs from the street. For a hauler that means the distance from the pile to the truck is the job. A sofa that would be a ten-minute carry in a Rita Ranch driveway can be a forty-minute carry up a Foothills path, and a truck that cannot turn around at the top of the drive has to be loaded from the road. Say all of it when you get in touch — the grade, the gate width, the number of steps, whether the truck can reach the garage — and ask for the quote in writing with that access described. A hauler who arrives expecting a curb pile will re-quote, and he will be right to.
The other Foothills variable is the second refrigerator in the garage and the pool equipment shed. Each refrigerant appliance adds about $20 because Los Reales charges it, and pool chemicals cannot go on the truck at all.
Talk to an insured junk removal company who covers Catalina Foothills — findings and price in writing.
Request a callbackGreen waste and remodel debris have nearer drop-offs than the landfill
Los Reales is at Craycroft and I-10, on the far side of the city from the Foothills, and that drive is inside every hauler’s price. For a homeowner with a truck, two closer gates take the two most common Foothills loads. The Catalina Transfer Station at 14425 N. Oracle Road, run by WM for Pima County, Monday to Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., takes green waste, household waste, construction debris and appliances as scrap. Tank’s Speedway Recycling and Landfill Facility at 7301 E. Speedway is built around landscape waste and inert material — palo verde and mesquite cuttings, broken block, old pavers — and not household garbage. Call either for the current rate. Brush after a monsoon microburst is the classic Foothills load, and it is light, so it is priced by the truck, not the ton.
Paint, chemicals and the $15 drop-off
A Foothills address pays $15 a visit at the city’s Household Hazardous Waste drop-off at Los Reales — Thursday to Saturday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed the second Saturday of most months — because the free rate is for City of Tucson residents only, and the county’s own page still shows an older $10 figure, so bring $15 and a utility bill. Pool acid and chlorine, paint up to 25 gallons, automotive fluids up to 10 gallons, propane cylinders, batteries and electronics all go there. A hauler clearing a Foothills garage should set those aside; if he offers to run them, it will be for a fee and inside those hours.
Questions people ask
Does the City of Tucson pick up bulky items in the Catalina Foothills?
No. The Foothills are unincorporated Pima County, outside the city limits, and Brush and Bulky does not run there. Bulky pickup comes only through the private trash contract you hold, on its terms.
Why is a Foothills quote higher than a midtown quote for the same furniture?
Access. Long driveways, stairs, gates and trucks that cannot reach the house turn a short carry into a long one, and haulers price the labor. The landfill fee is the same $18 to $38 a ton for everyone; the difference is time on the hill and the drive to the south side.
Where do Foothills residents take paint and pool chemicals?
To the Household Hazardous Waste drop-off at Los Reales, Thursday to Saturday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., for $15 with a driver’s license or utility bill. Pima County’s page shows $10, but the City of Tucson runs the program and its page says $15.
Is there somewhere closer than Los Reales for brush?
Yes — the Catalina Transfer Station on N. Oracle Road, Monday to Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., takes green waste, and Tank’s Speedway facility on E. Speedway takes landscape waste and inert material. Neither takes hazardous waste; call for rates.
Will the hauler drive up a steep driveway?
Most will try, and some trucks cannot make the turn at the top. Describe the drive and the gate when you get in touch, send a photo of the approach, and agree in writing whether the load is carried to the road or the truck comes to the house. That sentence is where Foothills quotes go wrong.
Services in Catalina Foothills
Junk Removal & Hauling — Catalina FoothillsFurniture & Appliance Removalestate & house cleanout in Catalina Foothillsconstruction & remodel debris removalYard Waste & Storm Cleanup — Catalina Foothillshot tub, shed & playset removalGarage & Storage Unit CleanoutTrash RemovalSame-Day Junk Removalwhat it costsLos Reales landfill fees: what a self-haul.Brush and Bulky vs hiring a hauler in Tucson