Yes, we clear out the kitchen: old microwaves, toaster ovens, slow cookers, bread makers, blenders, coffee makers, pots and pans, dish sets, glassware, mini fridges, wine fridges, rolling carts and wire pantry shelving. You point at what goes, our crew boxes the loose pieces, carries everything out and sends the metal and appliances to recycling.
Kitchens collect the same way every house does. A wedding brings a set of dishes, a move brings a second set, and every holiday adds a gadget that gets used once. The old microwave goes into the garage when the new one goes over the range. A few years later the top cabinets are full of things nobody reaches for, the pantry floor is stacked with boxes, and there is no room for what you actually cook with.
What we take out of a kitchen
Everything that is not bolted to the wall or plumbed in. The things we carry out most often are:
- Small appliances: microwaves, toaster ovens, air fryers, slow cookers, rice cookers, bread makers, stand mixers, blenders, food processors, coffee makers and juicers
- Cookware: pots, pans, sheet pans, cast iron, roasting pans, lids that no longer match anything
- Dishes and glassware: full dish sets, mugs, serving platters, stemware and the box of plastic containers with no lids
- Mini fridges, wine fridges and beverage coolers from the kitchen, the bar or the garage
- Furniture and storage: kitchen tables and chairs, bar stools, rolling carts, baker's racks and wire pantry shelving
Full-size refrigerators, ranges and dishwashers come out the same way when they are part of the job. Our guide to old refrigerator and freezer removal covers the big units, and if the cabinets themselves are coming out for a remodel, our guide to old cabinets and appliances after a kitchen remodel explains what the contractor usually takes and what they leave.
You do not need to box it all first
Most people think they have to pack the kitchen before we arrive. You do not. Open the cabinets, tell the crew what is staying, and they do the rest. Loose dishes and glassware get boxed so nothing breaks on the way out, small appliances are carried out with their cords wrapped, and pantry shelving comes down where it unscrews from the wall.
If a cabinet is half keep and half go, set the keepers on the counter or put a piece of tape on them before the crew arrives. Hero's is owned by Nash, who works every job himself, and our own crew does the carrying, not gig labor hired off an app that morning. They will ask before they take anything that is not clearly marked.
Pull the chemicals before pickup day. The cabinet under the sink is usually full of oven cleaner, drain cleaner, bleach and half-empty sprays. We cannot load household chemicals. In Plano they go to the city's household chemical collection program, and most cities in the area run a similar one for residents. Set them aside and we will clear everything around them.
Mini fridges, wine fridges and anything with a cord and a battery
A mini fridge, a wine fridge or a beverage cooler holds refrigerant just like a full-size fridge. The EPA's page on safe disposal of refrigeration equipment explains that household refrigerators and freezers enter the waste stream with the refrigerant still inside, and that it must be recovered before the unit is scrapped. We take them to a certified recycler who recovers the refrigerant before the metal is reclaimed, so you do not have to find one.
Newer kitchen gadgets often have a battery inside: cordless hand mixers, stick blenders, rechargeable wine openers and handheld vacuums. The EPA says lithium-ion batteries are found in small and large appliances and should not go in household garbage or recycling bins. Pull removable batteries where you can and keep them separate. If a battery does not come out, tell the crew which items have one so they are kept apart from the rest of the load.
What can be donated
A working microwave, a stand mixer in good shape, a full dish set or a clean set of pots can go to local donation partners when they qualify. Habitat for Humanity's ReStore donation page says ReStores accept new and gently used appliances, furniture and household goods, though each store sets its own rules. Our guide to donating furniture around DFW covers how donation works when we are the ones carrying it.
Chipped plates, scratched nonstick pans, cracked glass and appliances that no longer turn on go to responsible disposal, with the metal pulled out for recycling. Our page on where junk goes after pickup walks through how we sort a load.
Where these jobs come from
In Plano, a lot of kitchen clear-outs happen in houses from the 1970s and 1980s east of Central and around Historic Downtown, where the original owners have collected a few decades of kitchen. The old fridge in the garage is often part of the same visit, and we can haul the old garage fridge out of a Plano house along with the rest. Out along the Legacy corridor the call is more often a remodel, with working small appliances and dishes coming out before the new kitchen goes in.
In McKinney, kitchen calls split between the older houses near the square, where the kitchens and utility spaces were built decades before modern appliance sizes, and newer houses in Stonebridge Ranch and Craig Ranch, where a remodel or a move is the reason. If a dated range or a second fridge is going too, we can take the swapped-out McKinney appliance away in the same trip, so nothing sits at the curb waiting on HOA timing.
In Carrollton, the kitchen is often one room of a long-owned house being cleared before it sells, and some neighborhoods there are set up for alley access, which can put the trailer right at the back gate by the kitchen door. Tell us which side of the house is easier to reach, and we can clear the kitchen and the rest of a Carrollton house in one visit.
A kitchen clear-out also shows up when two homes become one. Our guide to moving in together with two households of stuff covers the doubled-up dishes and duplicate appliances, and our guide to making room when a parent moves in covers what happens when a whole second kitchen has to fit into one. If you are clearing space before guests arrive, our guide to holiday decorations you are done storing covers the bins in the garage that tend to go in the same trip.
How the pickup runs
Send us a photo of the counter, the open cabinets and anything in the garage that is going. A crew looks at what you have and gives you a firm number before anything is loaded. The quote is the bill, and disposal is included. We are affordable and priced fair, based on how much there is to take.
The crew boxes the loose pieces, carries everything out, leaves the cabinets empty and sweeps the kitchen floor before they go. If the kitchen is one part of a bigger job, our page on appliance removal covers the larger units. Call before noon and same afternoon is typical across the northern suburbs. When you are ready, tell us what you have.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to pack the dishes before you come?
No. The crew boxes loose dishes and glassware on the spot so nothing breaks on the way out. Just tell them what is staying.
Will you take small appliances that still work?
Yes. Working appliances in good shape can go to local donation partners when they qualify. Broken ones go to recycling.
Do you take mini fridges and wine fridges?
Yes. They go to a certified recycler who recovers the refrigerant before the metal is reclaimed.
What about the cleaning products under the sink?
We cannot load household chemicals. Take them to your city's household chemical collection program, and we will clear everything around them.
Can you take the kitchen table and bar stools too?
Yes. Tables, chairs, bar stools, carts and pantry shelving go in the same visit as the rest of the kitchen.
Open the cabinets, tell us what stays, and the kitchen is usually cleared in one visit.
