Garage cleanouts are our most common job, and the ones that go fastest follow the same pattern. You don't need a full weekend. You need a plan, a few decisions made ahead of time, and a way to get the junk out once it's sorted.
Step 1: Decide what stays before you start
Walk the garage with a roll of painter's tape and mark what's definitely staying: the car stuff, the good tools, the holiday bins you actually use. Everything without tape is up for discussion. This takes about fifteen minutes and saves hours of standing around holding things.
Step 2: Pull out the hazardous stuff
Paint, stains, fuel, pool chemicals, pesticides and old car batteries can't go out with regular junk, and most haulers (including us) can't take them. Set them aside in one spot. Where they go depends on your county:
- Hendricks County (Brownsburg, Avon, Plainfield, Danville): Tox-Away Days, five Saturdays a year at rotating locations.
- Boone County (Zionsville): Tox Drop collections, twice a year.
- Hamilton County (Carmel, Westfield): the permanent HHW drop-off center in Noblesville, open Tuesday through Saturday.
Latex paint is a special case. Hendricks and Boone both say to dry it out and throw it away rather than bring it in.
Step 3: Set aside electronics
Old TVs, monitors, computers and printers have been banned from Indiana landfills since 2011. They need to go to electronics recycling. Keep them in their own pile.
Step 4: Make a donate pile
Working furniture, tools, bikes, sports gear and household goods can have a second life. If you're using us, you don't need to sort donations yourself. We set aside what's usable as we load. If you're doing it yourself, keep a separate pile so it doesn't end up in the trash by accident.
Step 5: Get the rest out
This is where most garage projects stall. You've got a pile in the driveway and no way to move it. Your options:
- Town bulk pickup, if your town has one and it's just a few items. See our pricing post for what the local towns charge.
- Rent a trailer and load it at your pace.
- Have us do it. You point, we load, donate and haul. Most garages take us a few hours.
Step 6: Sweep and reset
Once the floor is clear, sweep it out and put the keep pile back with a plan: heavy stuff low, seasonal stuff high, car stuff near the car. That's it.
Common questions
Can junk removal take paint and chemicals?
Most can't, including us. Take them to your county's household hazardous waste collection. Hendricks and Boone run collection days; Hamilton County has a permanent center in Noblesville.
How long does a garage cleanout take?
With a crew doing the lifting, most garages take a few hours. One of our customers had his whole garage done in under two hours.
