Garage cleanout in Golden Valley, AZ

Brandon Woodhouse handles garage cleanout in Golden Valley and across Mohave County, and he does the whole job himself. A garage cleanout means clearing out what piled up along the walls and over the rafters until the car stopped fitting: boxes nobody has opened in years, and the mower that quit, drained of gas and oil. Homeowners call when a kid moves out or a parent moves in, and property managers call between tenants. Text a photo to (559) 479-1199. A garage holds dozens of small things, which is what separates it from hauling one couch or one fridge.

A garage fills differently than a living room does. Furniture removal is one couch and a doorway. A garage is three feet of boxes and shelving along both walls, and some of it is dusty or rusted. Brandon pulls it apart by hand, and what still has life in it doesn't ride to the landfill. When the overflow spilled into a rented unit or the shed out back, he can handle clearing a shed or a storage unit on the same visit, so the whole problem leaves at once.

Nothing has to be at the curb first. Brandon carries it out from where it sits, off the high shelf and out of the rafters. One photo of the garage with the door up tells him most of what he needs to price it. He answers the phone himself, so the person who quotes the job is the person loading it. Garage cleanouts run long on sorting, since most of the pile is small items that each need a decision.

What goes on the truck

• Cracked plastic totes
• Metal shelving and pegboard
• Mower with gas and oil out
• Bike frames and flat tires
• Boxes of household goods
• Scrap wood and carpet rolls
• Old patio furniture
• Rusted hand tools

Text a photo of yours to (559) 479-1199.

From the full list of what goes on the truck: garages, sheds and storage units.

What's in a garage pile

Most garages hold the same things. Plastic totes that cracked in the heat. A bike with two flat tires. Pegboard and metal shelving, and a workbench with a split top. Boxes of books, old toys, garden pots, the carpet roll left over from the last flooring job. Scrap wood in the side bay. A water heater that got swapped out and never left. Brandon has hauled every one of those, and he can tell on sight which pieces a donation center will still take. The calls come from a few directions. Someone wants to park a car inside again, or a house is going on the market and the buyer's inspector needs a clear path to the panel. A manager has a unit turning over and the last tenant left the garage packed.

What stays behind in a garage cleanout

A garage is where the hazardous stuff hides, so here's the short list. Paint, solvents, thinners and household chemicals stay. So do propane tanks and any pressurized cylinder, including the camping bottles and the patio tank by the grill. Motor oil, antifreeze and fuel cans stay, and so does a car battery or anything still holding liquid. Pool and spa chemicals are household hazardous waste and stay too. If asbestos is a possibility, that is a licensed abatement contractor’s job before anything moves. If an appliance is still hooked to gas, water or power, it has to be disconnected first. Anything the transfer station won't take, Brandon can't take either, so ask him and he'll check. Everything else is fair game, and the rundown of what he hauls covers the rest.

How he gets a packed garage emptied

Brandon starts where the door is. Most garages open onto a driveway, so he brings the pickup truck with a trailer up close and works from the opening inward, pulling loose items first and breaking down the shelving last. A side door or the interior door into the house gives him a second path when the pile is jammed against the big door. Some garages sit under the house or behind a short flight of steps, and those loads come up by hand. A property manager deals with one person on this job. Brandon prices it and he does the lifting, so there's no crew to schedule around. He needs the garage open, or somebody there to open it.

Where a garage load goes

Not much of a garage is actually trash. The bikes, the tools, the camping gear and the boxes of household goods that still work go to a donation center first, because somebody can use a wheelbarrow that only needs a tire. Metal shelving, bike frames, scrap wood off the side wall and old wire get recycled where it can be. What's left, the cracked totes and the water damaged cardboard, rides to the landfill. Brandon makes those calls as he loads, which is why the sorting takes about as long as the lifting in a full garage.

What a garage cleanout costs

Pricing starts at a $250 minimum, and that's the only fixed number on this job. Brandon prices from a photo. Open the garage door, stand back far enough to get both walls in the frame, and send it. He comes back with one number for the whole garage. The guide to what junk removal runs around here walks through how the number comes together. Text a photo to (559) 479-1199.

Garage calls around Mohave County

Brandon is based in Golden Valley, so a garage here or in Kingman is a short run for him. Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, Mohave Valley, Lake Havasu City and Laughlin sit well down the road, and Dolan Springs, Chloride, Oatman, Yucca, White Hills and Valle Vista sit farther out still. A garage goes onto the pickup truck with a trailer one tote and one shelf at a time, so the farther out it sits the more the photo has to carry. He prices the whole garage off that picture before he makes the drive, which is why a wide shot with both walls showing matters most on the long runs. The towns he runs to, from Chloride out to Yucca, are all listed in one place. A packed two-bay garage wants a morning start inside his hours, Monday through Saturday, 7 to 5. Sunday he's closed, so a weekend garage decision is a Monday morning text.

How the price works

Text a photo of what needs to go to (559) 479-1199. Brandon texts back one number for the whole job. No hourly rate. Jobs start at $250. More on how pricing works.

Where Brandon does this

All of Mohave County. See every town Brandon covers for garage cleanout.