When Does a Tucson Home Clean-Out Need Professional Help?

Home clean-out planning

For many homeowners, sorting out unwanted items in preparation for a move, downsizing or clearing a loved one’s home after a loss or other major life event can seem daunting, especially when family is spread out and coordinating can be challenging. Whether you’re preparing your Tucson home for sale or rental, renovating or simply need help getting a head start before moving day, our home clean-out services make the process easy.

Clean-Out Scope

More than just removing unwanted furniture and other large items, a comprehensive home clean-out may include:

• Sorting personal effects, photos, mementos and other keepsakes
• Identifying items for donation
• Hauling away trash and other unwanted items
• Properly disposing of hazardous materials (i.e. paint, chemicals, medication, electronics, etc.)
• Removing large furniture or other heavy items

Our team will work with you to empty rooms, closets, sheds, garages, cabinets and other storage areas to leave your home in move-in ready condition; the practical side of Tucson Caring Transitions home clean out service starts there.

Planning and Sorting

Attempting to tackle a home clean-out project on your own can quickly become overwhelming once you start emptying cabinets, closets and other storage areas and begin to realize just how much stuff you have accumulated over the years. Not only is there a lot of decision making involved to determine what you want to keep versus items that can be donated or thrown away, but there’s also the time consuming and often heavy physical labor of moving furniture and other large items (I bookmarked https://cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-131/default.html for this), breaking down projects into manageable chunks can help make the entire process easier.

Depending on your circumstances, working with a professional clean-out service may also help to avoid family squabbles over personal belongings, as well as unwanted items ending up in the trash (valuables) or donated (important documents, etc.) by mistake.

Before beginning the clean-out process, it’s a good idea to set items aside that you know you want to keep or need more time to go through, such as:

• Jewelry, cash & other valuables
• Collectibles
• Family photos & heirlooms
• Important papers (i.e. ID, property, financial, insurance, tax, legal & military documents, etc.)
• Keys

Setting these items aside, either in a room of their own, on a table or in clearly labeled boxes/bins, will also help avoid accidentally tossing or donating them.

If you’re unsure about what to do with certain items, consider developing a sorting system with categories such as:

1. Keep (for family/home)
2. Need more time to sort through/review
3. Donate/sell
4. Recycle/trash

Property Logistics

Household clean-out items

Depending on what’s stored in your garage and other areas of your home, there may be certain items our team won’t be able to haul away or recycle, such as certain household chemicals (paint, solvents, etc.), batteries, appliances in certain conditions and some electronics. We will let you know ahead of time what items we can and can’t take and can provide guidance on where and how to properly dispose of items that require special handling.

Other items that we commonly remove as part of our comprehensive clean-out services include:

• Furniture (sofas, beds, etc.)
• Boxes
• Grills
• Planters
• Patio furniture
• Lumber/building materials
• Storage sheds/shacks
• Tools & automotive supplies (oil, etc.)

It’s also a good idea to make sure hallways, stairs and other passageways in and around your home are clear so our crew has easy access to move larger items out of your home. Keep in mind, some bulky items may not be able to make it through a 32-inch doorway unless taken apart, which can add additional time/labor to your project. Finally, don’t forget to think about where our truck can park to easily load and unload items.

• You’re trying to turn your home over by a specific date to a buyer or renter
• Your home/apartment is particularly large and/or filled with lots of items
• Family members aren’t available to participate the entire time
• There are lots of heavy items
• There are lots of items that need to be trashed, hauled away, recycled, donated, etc.
• There have been years’ worth of accumulated belongings

Final Decisions

From stuffed animals to inherited knick knacks to shoe boxes filled with old letters and photos, it’s not unusual to come across items during a clean-out that hold special meaning. And when multiple family members are involved, decisions about certain items can bring up even more complications.

When in doubt, set these items aside in boxes/bins for further review. This way, you can continue working instead of getting bogged down by tough decisions. Just be sure to revisit those boxes/bins by a certain date so they don’t simply become a new clutter problem! And if family members are deadlocked, make sure you know going in who’s the final say when it comes to keeping vs. getting rid of items.

Once most of the clutter has been cleared away, it’s a good idea to do a final walk-through of closets, cabinets, the garage, attic, storage sheds/shacks and any other spots where things can easily be overlooked (keys, electronics/remote controls, important documents, etc.). Take note of any items you’d like left behind (for the next tenant/owner, for cleaning, hazardous materials, etc.), and make a list of anything that still needs to be picked up, donated, recycled, trashed, etc.