Big Red Moving Company — Hingham, MA
Call or Text 320-321-JUNK

Estate Cleanouts

Estate Cleanouts on the South Shore

Clearing a parent's home is not a normal junk job, and we don't treat it like one. Flat-rate pricing, an owner on site, and a crew that will slow down when you need it to.

We Work at Your Pace, Not the Truck's

Most estate cleanouts happen at a hard moment — a death in the family, a move to assisted living, a house that has to be emptied before it can be listed. The job is rarely just about volume. There are things that need to be found before anything leaves, things that go to one sibling and not another, and things nobody has decided about yet. We plan around that. You can walk the house with us first and mark what stays, we can work room by room while you sort ahead of us, and we can stage the work across several visits rather than forcing everything into one day. Nothing goes on the truck that you haven't cleared.

What a Full Cleanout Covers

We empty the entire property: furniture, mattresses and box springs, appliances, electronics, rugs and window treatments, clothing and linens, kitchenware, books and paper, tools, garden equipment, and the accumulated contents of attics, basements, garages, sheds and outbuildings. Attics and basements in older South Shore homes are usually the bulk of the work — decades of boxes, furniture that went up a staircase and never came back down, and storage that predates the current owner. We bring the crew and equipment to get it out without damaging staircases, banisters or floors on the way.

Donation and Recycling First

A large share of what comes out of an estate is still perfectly usable, and families almost always want it to go somewhere rather than to a landfill. We sort as we load and route usable furniture and household goods to local donation, and metals, appliances and electronics to recycling. Several categories aren't a choice at all: Massachusetts bans mattresses, box springs, textiles, large appliances and CRT televisions and monitors from disposal, so those have to be diverted regardless. If a specific piece matters to you, tell us and we'll tell you honestly whether it's likely to be accepted anywhere.

Pricing and Timing for Estates

Estate cleanouts are quoted flat-rate like everything else we do, based on the volume and what's involved in getting it out. We'd rather walk the property than guess — a full-house quote given sight unseen is how people end up with a very different number on the day. For homes going on the market, we can usually work to a listing date, and we sweep out at the end so the house is ready for photos or a broker walkthrough. Larger properties with outbuildings may run across more than one visit, which we'll tell you up front rather than discovering at 4pm.

Questions

Can you work around items we haven't decided about yet?
Yes, and this is the most common request we get on estates. You can mark rooms or individual pieces to leave untouched, and we'll work around them. Plenty of families have us clear the obvious volume first — the basement, the garage, the furniture nobody wants — and bring us back for the rest once they've had time to go through what's left.
What happens if you find something valuable?
We stop and give it to you. Cash, jewelry, documents, photographs and paperwork turn up in estate cleanouts more often than people expect, usually in furniture and boxes nobody has opened in years. Anything that looks personal or valuable comes to you rather than onto the truck.
Do you handle the donation drop-offs, or do we?
We do. Usable furniture and household goods get routed to local donation as part of the job — you don't need to arrange anything or be there for it. If you want a specific charity used, tell us and we'll try, though we can't always promise a particular organization will accept a particular item.
How long does a full house take?
Most single-family homes are one to two days depending on volume, staircases and how much is in the attic and basement. Properties with detached garages, sheds or outbuildings can run longer. We'll give you a realistic timeline when we walk the property rather than an optimistic one.
Can you work with an executor or realtor instead of the family?
Yes. We regularly coordinate directly with executors, attorneys and listing agents, including when the family lives out of state. We can meet someone at the property for access, work to a listing deadline, and send photos when the job is done.

Get an Estate Cleanout Quote

Tell us about the property and we'll come walk it with you. Flat-rate quote before anything moves.