Philadelphia
Trinity House Junk Removal
Philadelphia
A trinity's winder staircase is so tight a sofa can't make the turn in one piece — which is exactly why most haulers dread them and we don't. We've done a hundred trinities across Center City, Old City, Fishtown and South Philly: we disassemble what won't fit, hoist what won't come down, and carry it all out at a flat $126 for a sofa, photo-quoted, with no stairs surcharge for the winder. No PA sales tax on the service.
First — what's a trinity?
If you're new to Philly, the term throws people. A trinity is a tiny colonial rowhouse with three floors and exactly one room on each — the name nods to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — stacked around a single, brutally steep winder (spiral) staircase with pie-shaped treads and a corkscrew turn. They're among the oldest homes in the country, built for 18th-century workers, and today they're some of the most sought-after little houses in Center City, Old City, Fishtown and South Philly, often tucked down a shared courtyard or an alley with no street frontage of their own. Wonderful to live in; a genuine engineering problem the day you need to get a couch, a mattress or a whole floor's worth of stuff out. That day is what this page is about.
How we clear a trinity
1 · Photograph the piece & the stairs
Send a shot of what's leaving and a shot down the winder stairwell. That's enough for us to tell you up front whether it's a carry-down, a disassembly, or a window hoist — and the flat price.
2 · Get a flat price
One flat number comes back, with the winder work already inside it. No in-home estimate, no "we'll see when we get there," no stairs surcharge for the corkscrew.
3 · We get it out
The crew disassembles what won't fit, hoists what won't come down, walks it out through the courtyard or alley, and donates or recycles it. The staircase — and the plaster — stay intact.
How much does trinity house junk removal cost?
Flat and photo-quoted, with the disassembly, the hoist and the winder-stair carry all inside the price — the hard part is exactly what the flat quote covers. For a benchmark, Homeyou pegs the average Philadelphia junk-removal job around $231–$242. Single pieces have set prices; a whole trinity cleared floor to floor is a truck-fill job.
| Item / Job | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Sofa / couch | $126 |
| Loveseat | $119 |
| Sleeper sofa | $149 |
| Sectional (2 / 3 / 4-piece) | $141 / $185 / $228 |
| Queen mattress | $103 |
| Dresser | $126 |
| One floor cleared (quarter truck) | $241 |
| Whole trinity (full truck) | $732 |
$75 minimum. The winder-stair work — disassembly and window hoists included — carries no surcharge, and no driveway or curb frontage is needed. Clearing the whole house? Send a photo of each floor and we price the lot as one load. No PA sales tax on the service.
Three ways a piece leaves a trinity
- Carry-down — smaller items, mattresses turned on edge, and anything narrow enough for the turn go straight down the winder in hand. Most of a clear-out moves this way.
- On-site disassembly — sofas, sectionals, bed frames, dressers and tables that won't clear the corkscrew get taken apart on the floor they're on and walked down in pieces. Because it's being hauled, nothing has to survive intact — which makes a trinity easier to clear than to move into.
- Window hoist — when even a disassembled frame can't make the winder, we rig it out an upper window and lower it to the street or courtyard. It never touches the staircase. Normal trinity work, same flat price.
What we clear out of a trinity
- Couches, sectionals & sleepers — the classic "how did this even get up here" sofa, disassembled and out.
- Mattresses & bed frames — third-floor bedrooms cleared, mattresses bagged for recycling.
- Dressers, tables & shelving — the bulky wood pieces that don't take the winder whole.
- Appliances — a stubborn fridge or washer wedged into a first-floor kitchen, freon recovered.
- Whole-house clear-outs — a full trinity, floor by floor, for a move-out, a sale or an estate.
Where it goes after it's out
Getting it down the winder is only half the job — the rest is keeping it out of the landfill. Furniture and household goods still in good shape are routed to Philadelphia donation partners like Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Goodwill, the Salvation Army and Vietnam Veterans of America, so a good sofa or dresser furnishes another home and you can get a donation receipt. Mattresses are recycled, TVs and electronics are diverted to e-waste recycling as Pennsylvania's Covered Device Recycling Act requires, and metal is recycled. Disposal is already inside your flat price, with no separate dump fee and no PA sales tax on top.
Why "just put it at the curb" doesn't work here
The city's two-item curbside bulk limit lets you set two large items out on your trash day — but every bit of it assumes you've already carried the item out to the sidewalk yourself. In a trinity, that assumption is the entire problem: the sofa can't make the winder without disassembly or a hoist, and the house may not even have its own curb frontage down a shared courtyard. The city program never comes inside, never touches the stairs, and never takes a piece apart. So the free option quietly depends on the one thing you can't do. That carry-out — down the winder, out the window, through the alley — is the exact service we exist to provide, at a flat price you approve from a photo.
When trinity owners call us
- Replacing a big piece — the new sofa's coming and the old one has to leave the way it never should have arrived.
- Move-out or a sale — a Fishtown or Old City trinity cleared floor to floor before the next tenant or the settlement.
- Downsizing an estate — a longtime owner's trinity emptied with care, the good pieces donated.
- A renovation — the house has to be clear before the contractor can work in a space this tight.
- The stuck piece — the mattress or sectional a previous owner or a mover simply gave up on.
Why Philly trusts JunkRabbit with a trinity
- We've done a hundred trinities — the winder, the hoist and the alley are routine, not a surprise on the day.
- Flat price from a photo — the number's set before we arrive, disassembly and hoist included; no PA sales tax.
- No stairs surcharge — the corkscrew staircase is the job, not an add-on.
- Full-service & careful — plaster and stairwell protected, good pieces donated, everything else recycled.
What trinity owners say
"Our couch had been on the top floor of our Old City trinity since before we moved in — no idea how. They took it apart on the landing, walked it down that spiral, and hauled it. Flat $126, no stairs fee, not a mark on the plaster."
"A movers' crew gave up on our sectional and left it wedged on the second floor of our Fishtown trinity. These guys hoisted it out the front window like it was nothing. One flat price from a photo, no sales tax. Wizards."
"Cleared out my aunt's trinity off the Italian Market, all three floors, down a little courtyard with no curb. They handled the winder, donated the good furniture, and were gentle about the whole thing. Couldn't have done it myself."
Trinity house questions, answered
What is a trinity house?
A tiny colonial rowhouse with three floors, one room each, connected by a single steep winder (spiral) staircase. Common in Center City, Old City, Fishtown and South Philly, often down a courtyard or alley.
Can you get a couch out of one?
Yes — we've done a hundred. We disassemble the sofa on the upper floor and walk it down, or hoist it out a window if the winder's too tight. A sofa is a flat $126 with no stairs surcharge.
How much does it cost?
Flat and photo-quoted: sofa $126, mattress from $111, dresser $126; a whole trinity by the truck (quarter $241, full $732). $75 minimum, disposal included, no PA sales tax.
What if it won't fit the stairs at all?
It goes out a window. Hoists are normal trinity work and carry no extra charge — send a photo and we'll tell you up front whether it's a carry-down or a hoist.
Does the city help with a trinity?
No — curbside pickup assumes you already carried it to the sidewalk, which is the whole problem. The carry-out down the winder is exactly what we do.
Trinity neighborhoods we serve
Ready to Get It Gone?
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