Cleanout and Cleaning in Sacramento

All four use the same crew and the same prices. What changes is who books it and which clean comes after the haul-out:

Each package has its own page with the full checklist: tenant turnover, pre-listing cleanout, estate cleanout and move-out cleaning (links below).

These are worked examples from our published prices, so you can estimate before you call:

Extra bathrooms and add-ons like carpet or interior windows are added at the published rates. The haul-out price is confirmed on site before we load anything.

Small haul-outs and the clean happen on the same visit. When a home needs more than a truckload removed, we book the haul-out first and the clean right after it. Tell us your deadline (a closing date, the last day of a lease, a listing photo shoot) when you book, and we schedule backwards from it.

Book early for the last days of the month. That’s when most leases end, and move-out cleans fill up first.

We set aside furniture and household items that can be used again for donation, and separate metal, electronics and appliances for recycling. The rest goes to a licensed disposal site.

We don’t take paint, chemicals, fuel or batteries. Sacramento County runs free household hazardous waste drop-off for residents, and we can tell you where.

Sorting takes longer than hauling, so it’s the part to start first. A simple system keeps it moving:

Give yourself a deadline for the sell pile. The most common delay in a cleanout is a couch waiting for a buyer who never comes.

Clearing out a parent’s or relative’s home is a different job from clearing out a garage. It usually comes with decisions that can’t be rushed and family members in different places.

• Go room by room for the things that matter first: papers, photos, jewelry, anything named in a will. Do that before anyone books a truck.
• Look for documents in unexpected places: freezers, books, coat pockets, the backs of drawers.
• Decide who in the family approves what goes, so the crew has one person to check with.
• Book in stages if you need to: a first haul-out of what’s clearly unwanted, more once the family has chosen, and the clean at the end.

Before loading starts, walk the crew through anything personal that should stay. Usable items are set aside for donation where possible, and the home is cleaned once it’s empty so it’s ready to list or hand back.

If a tenant moved out and left belongings, California law sets out what the landlord has to do before disposing of them. The landlord sends a written notice describing the property and where it can be claimed, giving at least 15 days if the notice is handed over or 18 days if it’s mailed. If the former tenant doesn’t reclaim it, property worth less than $700 in total can be kept, sold or disposed of; more valuable property goes to public sale.

Source: California Civil Code § 1984 (notice of right to reclaim abandoned property)

General information, not legal advice. Check the current code or ask a landlord-tenant attorney for your situation.

Once the notice period has passed, a tenant turnover is one visit: we haul out what’s left, then do the move-out clean so the unit is ready for the next inspection and the next tenant.

Painting and repairs make dust, so the deep clean goes after them, not before. If the schedule is tight, tell us the photo date and we plan the haul-out and clean around it.

A cleanout can absolutely be done without us. Here’s what it takes, so you can compare honestly:

• A truck or trailer, and usually several trips, since a pickup holds far less than a junk removal truck.
• Disposal fees at the transfer station, plus separate trips for appliances, electronics, mattresses and hazardous waste.
• Two or three people for heavy furniture, and a day or two of lifting.
• Then the cleaning: inside the oven, fridge, cabinets and closets, bathrooms and floors, once everything is out.

If you have the time, the help and a truck, doing it yourself saves money on a small job. For a full home, or when there’s a lease end, a closing date or a listing date, one crew doing both is usually faster and often costs less than it looks once the trips and fees are added up.

1. 1The crew arrives and walks through with you (or with your agent or property manager by phone).
2. 2You point out what goes and what stays. The haul-out price is confirmed before anything is loaded.
3. 3The crew loads from wherever things are: upstairs, the garage, the backyard. Usable items are set aside for donation where possible.
4. 4Emptied rooms are swept, then cleaned to the checklist: the move-out clean for a rental or sale, the deep clean before listing photos.
5. 5A final walk-through. If something on the cleaning checklist was missed, we come back and re-clean it free.

If the haul-out is more than a truckload, the clean is booked right after the haul-out finishes instead of the same day.

Some cleanouts are about more than stuff. When a home has reached the point of hoarding, the person living there is often embarrassed, attached to things others see as junk, or not the one who asked for help.

• Go at the pace the person can manage. A home cleared in stages, with their agreement, stays clearer than one emptied in a day against their wishes.
• Agree on categories before the truck comes: what is always kept, what is checked first, what can go.
• Expect surprises: papers, money and keepsakes turn up in unlikely places, so check pockets, drawers and boxes before they go.
• Safety first: blocked exits, heavy piles and pests are common. Biohazards such as animal waste or needles need a licensed specialist.

We start with a free, confidential walkthrough and give a price before any work begins. See hoarder cleanout for more.

In almost every cleanout, the garage is the biggest single job, and the storage unit is the one people forget until the next rent bill.

• A one-car garage is usually about three-quarters of a truck ($350–$475); a packed two-car garage, a full truck.
• Pressure washing the garage floor and driveway after the clear-out makes it usable again: that’s the garage reset.
• A 5×10 storage unit is usually half a truck ($250–$375). Meet us at the facility or arrange access, and the unit is left broom-clean so you can end the rental.
• Sheds and playsets can be taken apart and hauled; see shed removal.

Cleanouts often involve someone who isn’t the owner: a listing agent, an executor, a property manager or a family member out of state. A few things keep it smooth:

• One decision-maker. The crew needs one person who can say “yes, that goes” on the day.
• Access arranged ahead: lockbox code, gate code, parking, and whether neighbors or an HOA need notice.
• Photos before the visit, so the haul-out range is known and approved.
• Who pays, and where the invoice goes, settled when you book.

Agents and managers who book repeat work can set this up once with us and reuse it for every property.

• Take photos of every empty, cleaned room for your records or the sale file.
• Arrange a final meter reading and stop or transfer utilities.
• Collect every key, garage remote and gate fob.
• Leave a note of anything the next occupant needs to know, like the water shut-off or the alarm code.
• Drop off the hazardous items set aside during sorting: paint at a PaintCare site, batteries and chemicals at a household hazardous waste facility.

When a parent moves to assisted living or a smaller place, the family home usually has to be cleared on a deadline. Working backwards from the move date helps:

Doing the haul-out after the move, not before, spares your parent watching their home emptied.