Estate & Cleanouts

A whole house, a packed garage, an attic nobody has opened in years. Cleanouts are a different kind of job than picking up a couch — slower, more decisions, sometimes harder ones. Here's how we handle them.

Not sure how big the job is? Start with a walkthrough. Request a walkthrough

Two kinds of calls we get

Families

A parent moving into assisted living. A house that has to be emptied before it can be listed. Siblings living in three different states, and one of them has a weekend to get it done.

You don't have to have everything sorted before we come. Mark what the family is keeping and we'll work around it. If something turns up mid-job — a box of photos, an envelope of papers — it gets set aside for you, not tossed.

Landlords & property managers

A tenant moves out and leaves half of it behind. The unit can't be cleaned, painted or shown until the furniture, trash bags and garage junk are gone.

We can work from a lockbox or a door code if you can't be there, and David can photograph the unit before and after so you have a record for the deposit file. One invoice per job, paid by card or Zelle.

From the first walkthrough to an empty room

Walkthrough & estimate

We look at every room, closet and outbuilding that's part of the job and estimate how many trailer loads it will take.

You mark what stays

Tape, sticky notes, or one room that's off-limits — whatever is easiest for you. Anything marked stays put.

Sort as we load

Usable furniture and household goods are kept separate for donation where possible; metal goes to scrap; the rest goes to disposal.

Load by load

With one 14-foot trailer, a large house is several trips. Bigger cleanouts may run across more than one day and we will have a set schedule — you'll know the plan before we start.

Swept and ready

Rooms are left empty and ready for the cleaners, painters or the realtor's photographer.

Pull these first

Before cleanout day, walk through and set aside anything that shouldn't leave the house by accident:

Wills, deeds, titles, tax records and bank statements
Photo albums, letters and keepsakes
Jewelry, cash and keys — check coat pockets and drawers
Prescription medications (most pharmacies run take-back programs)
Anything promised to a family member

Firearms, ammunition, chemicals and paint need separate handling. [FILL: what David will and won't take from this group.]

How cleanouts are priced

By volume — how much trailer space the job takes — plus a disposal fee for certain items like tires or mattresses where the dump charges extra. There's no fee just for showing up.

Because a cleanout can be several loads, the walkthrough estimate is your best number. If the attic turns out to hold twice what anyone thought, you'll hear about it before the extra load, not on the invoice.

Smaller than a whole house

Cleanouts don't have to be estates. Single rooms count too:

Garages you haven't parked in since you moved in
Attics and crawlspace storage
Basements, sheds and barns
Storage units you're done paying for