An estate cleanout runs on the family's timetable, not the truck's
Clearing a parent's house is not a weekend job with a deadline. Things get sorted, kept, given away and second-guessed, and the bin needs to sit there through all of it rather than hurry anybody along.
So estate bookings are the ones we extend most often, and extending is a phone call at $25 a day on a 30 yard. If the house is being sold, the bin can also come back for a second visit rather than sitting on the drive for a month.
Where an executor is working to a closing date, the sequence matters more than the size. Book the bin for the last week rather than the first, and use junk removal for anything the family cannot lift. Rental periods and extensions explains how far it can stretch.
30 ydTypical bin
10 daysRental
$25Extra days
How It Runs
Four steps through an estate clearance bin
Walk the property
Rooms, garage, basement and shed. It sets the size and whether one bin is enough.
Bin placed to stay
Somewhere it can sit for a fortnight without blocking the house or the neighbours.
Sort at your pace
Extend by phone whenever you need to. Nobody chases the bin.
Collect when ready
Same day if you finish early, or a second bin if there is more than expected.
What Turns Up
The three things an estate bin cannot take
A house lived in for forty years holds things a newer one does not. The garage or the basement almost always has old paint and solvent, sometimes a set of tires, and occasionally a fuel can or an oil drum from a boat or a mower.
None of those go in the bin, and it is worth knowing before the family starts rather than after. Set them aside as you go and take them to a household hazardous waste depot at the end, which is one trip rather than a charge on the invoice.
The other one is the fridge or freezer. Both are fine once the refrigerant has been drained and tagged by someone certified, and not before. The full list is on prohibited items, and what we take covers everything else in the house.
Ten days are included on a 30 yard and extensions are $25 a day by phone. Estate clearances are the bookings we extend most often and it is never a problem.
A 30 yard for a typical house with furniture. If the garage and basement are both full, plan on either a 40 or a second bin.
Yes, and often that is cheaper than holding one bin for a month. We collect the first and bring another whenever the family is ready.
Then junk removal is the right service. A crew loads it and you are not handling anything heavy.
They can go in the bin, but for anything sensitive a shredding service is the safer route. A bin is not a secure disposal.
Customer reviews
What Windsor families say about an estate cleanout bin
