the Price of Junk Removal

We contracted with a licensed and insured junk removal service to do the final clean out of our one car garage. This was strictly a pick-up junk removal as the garage had been cleaned out and the junk was sorted and piled in the front of our garage. The service charged by weight. volume, and access but we did not have to pay an access fee as the truck could drive right up to the garage door. The truck measured 10x8x5 and you could fill it in 1/8 increments but we ended up filling the entire truck which cost $389. The fee included dump fees for up to a ton and we were well under the limit. Most of our junk was left over pieces of wood and such from various home improvement and repair projects, old furniture and toys, etc. but we had to pay a surcharge of $10 for an old battery; $25 for an old computer monitor; $25 for propane gas tank from an old grill; and $10 each for two old cans of paint. There was also a fuel surcharge fee of $25. The service sent two men with a container truck and they spent a little less than an hour loading the junk into the truck. We didn't pay extra for the loading assistance and I got the idea they do the loading themselves so they can screen the junk for valuable or hazardous/surchargable materials.

We were able to schedule an appointment within two days of calling, they arrived within the agreed upon time frame and were gone within an hour. I'd been concerned where they charge by volume and insist on loading the truck that they would fluff up the volume but items were stacked as efficiently as possible. No complaints about the service itself except for the pricing. As nice as it is to be able to have the use of the garage back, having to pay $500 for it still hurt.

The base price of the junk removal service is expensive enough but those surcharge fees for things like tires, paint, monitors, batteries, etc. are killers. We had a short time frame to get the garage cleaned out but if you have more time I would definitely recommend taking advantage of any special hazardous waste days your town or regular trash service holds.