Ask anyone who does this job for a living and they will tell you the same thing: the house is the easy bit. The garage is where the money goes. A three bed house full of furniture can come out cheaper than one single garage holding forty years of odds and ends, and that surprises almost everybody who rings us. So here is what is actually going on behind that price, and what makes the difference between a fair figure and an expensive one.
Nearly everything in a garage is waste
In a house, a good share of what we carry out gets a second life. Furniture, china, jewellery and collectables go through our own auctions and resale channels. Clothes, kitchenware and books go to local charities. Whatever we can sell or pass on comes off what you pay.
Garages do not work like that. They fill up with the things nobody wanted indoors, and then they sit. Damp gets in through the roof sheets and under the door. Ten winters later you have soft cardboard, seized tools, a folding chair with mould through the fabric, and a chest freezer that has not run in over a decade. Charities cannot take any of that, and neither can the auction room.
So a garage is mostly waste, and waste is paid for by weight at the tip. That is the whole reason a small outbuilding can cost more than a whole floor of a house.
Mixed waste is the dearest rate
This is the part that decides your bill. Waste sites charge different rates depending on what you turn up with.
- Hardcore: rubble, cement, broken blocks and old paving. One of the cheaper rates.
- Wood: shelving, old doors, pallets, fence panels, log offcuts. Also cheap.
- Scrap metal: bike frames, hand tools, radiators, the old freezer. That goes to the scrap yard and pays in, rather than costing.
- Mixed general waste: everything tipped in together, unsorted. The dearest rate by a long way.
Mixed general waste is what you pay for when a team simply shovels the garage into a van and drives off. It is quicker for them and more expensive for you.
What sorting on the day actually saves
A typical garage of this size holds roughly a tonne of material. Cleared as one unsorted load, all of it goes at the top rate. Sorted as it comes out, hardcore in one pile, timber in another, metal in a third, the same garage costs noticeably less. Same van, same crew, same day. The only difference is a bit of care and an extra hour on site.
That is what we mean when we talk about the right team. Sorting as you go is more work than not sorting. On a wet Tuesday in February the temptation is to get it in the van and get gone. We do not work that way. Every item gets looked at as it leaves the building. Anything with value is set aside for our own auctions and resale channels, metal goes on the scrap pile, wood and rubble are kept apart, and only the genuine leftovers go as general waste. By that point there is usually a lot less than a tonne of it.
We also hold an Environment Agency waste carrier licence, so you have a clear record of where everything ended up. That matters more than people expect, particularly on a probate sale where a solicitor may ask.
Two things that help before we arrive
Honestly, you do not need to do anything. Sorting it is our job. But if you want to keep the figure as low as possible, two things make a real difference.
First, tell us what is in there when you ring, especially the heavy items: a chest freezer, engine parts, bags of set cement, paving slabs stacked behind the door. Weight is what drives the cost, so knowing about it up front means the quote is right rather than roughly right.
Second, if you think something might be worth money, leave it where it is instead of running it to the tip yourself. We have pulled old hand tools, brass, enamel signs and fishing gear out of Cornish garages that sold for more than the clearance came to. Once it is in a skip, that is gone.
Getting a straight price for your garage
Every garage is different, which is why we will not throw a number at you over the phone without knowing what is inside. Photos help, and a rough size helps more. A free visit is the only way to be genuinely accurate, and it costs you nothing but ten minutes of your time. We will also tell you honestly if part of it is worth keeping back for sale, or if the whole lot is best going as waste.
Lanora House is a family-run firm in Hayle, and we clear garages, sheds, outbuildings and full properties across Cornwall and into Devon. If you have a garage you have been putting off for years, give us a ring on 07843 930927 or email info@lanorahouse.com for a free, no-obligation quote. No pressure either way.