How to Prepare for Junk Removal Day: What to Do Before the Crew Arrives

You don't need to do much to prepare for a junk removal appointment, that's the whole point of hiring a crew. But a few simple steps will make the job faster, protect items you want to keep, and save you money.

Clearly separate what goes and what stays

The most important thing you can do before the crew arrives is make it clear what you want hauled and what you're keeping. If items are mixed together, the crew has to stop and ask about each piece. That slows everything down.

Options: tape a "HAUL" sign on items going out, put items staying in a separate room or area, or walk the crew through it at the start of the job. For simple jobs, a quick walkthrough takes three minutes and eliminates any confusion.

Remove personal items and documents first

Before the crew starts, do a final sweep for anything with personal or financial value: documents, jewelry, medications, cash, electronics you want to keep, and anything sentimental that shouldn't be mixed in with the haul. This is especially important for full estate cleanouts and hoarding situations where items may be mixed throughout the space.

Clear a path to the items

A crew can only work as fast as they can move. If the hallway to the item is blocked, the loading path to the door is obstructed, or the driveway has a car in the way, the job takes longer. Before the crew arrives: move any vehicles out of the driveway, clear the walking path from the item to the door, and if loading through a gate, make sure it's unlocked and accessible.

Know where your utilities are

If the job involves appliances, especially washers, dryers, or refrigerators, know where the water shutoff is and confirm the appliance has been disconnected from the water supply before the crew starts. For gas appliances, the shutoff should be closed before we disconnect anything. For electrical, know where your breaker is. You don't need to do the disconnection yourself, but knowing where these are speeds things up if they're needed.

For hoarding or estate cleanouts

If you want to keep anything from a hoarding or estate cleanout, pull those items and stage them clearly in a separate area before the crew arrives. Once the crew starts loading, the pace is fast and it's easy for wanted items to get caught in the haul. Flag anything important before we start.

What you don't need to do

You don't need to move anything to the curb. You don't need to break items down or disassemble them. You don't need to rent a truck or find anyone to help. That's all on us. The less you do, the more we earn our cost.

What to expect on the day

We'll call when we're about 30 minutes out. The crew arrives, does a quick walkthrough with you to confirm what's going, then starts loading. You don't need to supervise, we work while you do other things. When we're done we'll do a final walkthrough with you, sweep the area, and you confirm everything looks right before we leave. That's it.