Bereavement clearance in Sandyford: clearing a parent's apartment

Why an apartment is a different kind of clearance

A house clearance mostly depends on the house. An apartment clearance depends on the building as well. Sandyford and the area around it have a lot of apartment blocks, from smaller developments to larger managed complexes, and each one has its own rules about who can move what, and when.

None of this is difficult, but it helps to find out early, before you have set a date. A call to the management company can save a delayed morning and an awkward conversation in a stairwell.

This guide is about that practical layer and about the first week of sorting. For the legal side of a death, see our general guide to clearing a house after someone dies. For how we work locally, see bereavement clearance in Sandyford.

First: who owns it, who rents it, who holds the keys

Before anything else, work out four things.

1. Did your parent own the apartment, or rent it? If it was rented, the landlord and the tenancy terms decide how quickly it must be emptied. If it was owned, the executor decides, with the solicitor's advice.
2. Where are the keys? There may be a key to the apartment, a fob for the main door and the car park, a bin-store key and a post-box key. Make a list.
3. Who is the managing agent? The service charge letter or the notice board in the lobby usually names them.
4. Is there any restriction on moving? Many buildings need a booking for the lift and a time window for deliveries and removals.

Write the answers on one page. It will be the most useful page in the folder.

Talking to the management company

When you ring the managing agent, you will usually want to ask:

• Is there a lift booking system, and are there times when removals are not allowed?
• Where is the loading bay, or where may a van stop for loading?
• Is there a height limit at the car park entrance, and is there visitor parking?
• Do they need proof of insurance from contractors? We can send ours.
• Is there a deposit or a charge for using the lift?
• Is a concierge or porter on duty, and do they need advance notice?
• Where should bulky waste be taken, so nothing is left in the bin store?

Management companies see this often. They tend to be helpful when they are told the situation and given a date.

The first sort: what to find before anything goes

Do this before booking, or at least before the clearance date.

• Papers. Gather bank and post office books, insurance, pension letters, the lease or deeds, the service charge statements and any will. Put them in one box. You do not need to read them yet.
• Valuables. Look in drawers, coat pockets, books, wardrobe shelves and kitchen tins for cash, jewellery and watches.
• Devices. Phones, tablets and laptops should be kept by the family.
• Keepsakes. Photographs, letters and anything with a story. Take a bag and fill it. You can think about it later.
• Medication. Take it to a pharmacy.

Apartments tend to be smaller than houses, so everything is closer to hand, and things hide in surprising places: under beds, in the back of wardrobes, in a storage cage or a store room on another floor. Check whether the apartment has a storage unit or parking space that also needs clearing.

Deciding what to keep

An apartment is often what someone downsized to, so it may already hold the best things from a larger home. That can make decisions harder, not easier. Try this:

• Walk through with family and put a sticky note on anything wanted.
• Photograph things nobody can keep.
• Agree who collects what and when, so the clearance does not turn into a deadline for the family.
• Tell us what is staying so it can be set aside.

Our guide to clearing an apartment covers lifts, parking and management companies in more detail.

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What the day looks like

Once the date is fixed and the managing agent knows, the day follows a simple pattern.

1. The crew arrives at the agreed time, checks in with the concierge if there is one, and protects the lift and common areas.
2. We walk the apartment with you or your nominee and confirm what stays.
3. Rooms are cleared in order. Drawers, pockets, boxes and books are checked before anything is carried out. Papers, photographs, cash and jewellery are kept to one side.
4. Items go down in the lift in manageable loads, and we keep the corridors and lobby clear.
5. Furniture worth reusing is set aside where possible, metals and electricals go for recycling, and the rest goes to licensed facilities. We are an authorised waste carrier, permit NWCPO-25-13287-01, and fully insured.
6. At the end the floors are swept or vacuumed where needed, and we send photos of the empty rooms.

A small apartment can be done in a few hours, a larger one in a day. We confirm the time when we send the price. What affects the price is the volume, the carry to the van, the lift or stairs, and items with their own disposal route, such as fridges, freezers and mattresses. The fixed price is agreed before booking.

After the clearance

Once the apartment is empty, there are a few small jobs for the weeks ahead.

• Return keys and fobs to whoever needs them, and cancel any parking permit.
• Tell the insurer the apartment is empty, since policies often have conditions.
• Keep paying service charges and utilities until the sale or surrender is complete, unless the solicitor advises otherwise.
• Carpets. If the apartment is being sold or let, cleaning the carpets in the empty rooms is easy and effective. We use hot-water extraction and can speed up drying. See carpet cleaning in Sandyford.

If the apartment is part of a bigger estate with a house to clear too, we can do both and price them together. See house clearance in Sandyford.

Room by room in a typical apartment

Apartments are laid out more tightly than houses, so it helps to know where things tend to collect. This is a general guide, not a description of any particular building.

The hallway and the press

The hall is usually where the coats, shoes, umbrellas and the electricity meter cupboard are. Check coat pockets for keys, cash, receipts and tickets. The hot press or utility cupboard often holds bedding, towels and, sometimes, a stash of things the person did not know where else to put. Bedding and towels in good condition can go to charity if you phone first, since not every charity takes them.

The living room

Sofas, an armchair, a television unit and a coffee table are the main pieces. Behind the television unit there is usually a tangle of cables and a router. Take a photograph of the router lights and the label before it goes, since the broadband provider will need the account details to close the account. Drawers in the unit often hold remote controls, batteries and, surprisingly often, paperwork. Check the bookshelves for letters and photographs between the pages.

The kitchen

Most of what is in an apartment kitchen is small: crockery, pots, a kettle, a toaster, a microwave. The bigger items, a fridge freezer, a washing machine and a dishwasher, may be built in and belong to the apartment rather than to the person. If you are selling, ask the agent and solicitor which appliances are included, and tell us so they are left in place. Empty the fridge and freezer a few days beforehand, leave the doors slightly open once defrosted, and bin anything perishable. Look in the cupboard above the fridge, in the drawer under the oven and in tins on the top shelf. Cash and small valuables turn up in kitchens more often than anyone expects.

The bedroom

Wardrobes in apartments are often fitted. Fitted wardrobes stay with the apartment, but their contents do not. Clothes can go to charity if they are clean, and many people keep one or two items. Check pockets, shoeboxes on the top shelf and the space under the bed. The bedside table is often the most personal place in the home: glasses, medication, a diary, a rosary. Take your time there.

The bathroom

Medication should be taken to a pharmacy and not thrown away. Toiletries and cleaning products can usually go in the household waste, but we can't take aerosols, paint, solvents, oils or chemicals, so take those to a civic amenity site or hazardous waste collection. We do not take full or empty gas cylinders.

The balcony or terrace

Balcony furniture, plant pots and sometimes a bicycle or a clothes airer. Many management companies have rules about what may be stored on balconies, so check before you leave anything out.

Storage cages, boxes rooms and parking

Some apartments come with a storage cage or a store room in the basement or on another floor, and a numbered parking space. Check the lease or ask the management company, since people often forget what they have stored there. A storage room can hold more than the apartment itself. Photograph it and include it in your quote request. If your parent had a car, the vehicle is a separate matter for the family and the solicitor, and not part of our work.

Keys, fobs and access, in more detail

Access is the part of an apartment clearance that most often delays the day. Before the booking is confirmed, make a short list of every way in.

• The apartment door key. Who has the copies? A neighbour, a carer, a relative, the agent?
• The main door fob or key. Without it, the crew cannot get into the building. Some fobs are programmed to a person, so ask the managing agent how to get one reactivated or replaced.
• The car park fob or remote. If the van will use an underground car park, find out whether it can fit, and whether someone needs to let it in.
• The lift key or booking. A lift may be set to a service mode with a key held by the concierge.
• The post box key. Redirect the post early. An Post offers a redirection service that your family can ask about at the post office.
• The alarm code. If the apartment has an alarm, someone must know the code and who monitors it.

If you cannot be there on the day, tell us who will let us in. We can collect keys from a neighbour, solicitor, relative or agent and return them at the end, or you can leave them with the concierge. We will confirm the arrangement by message before the day, and we send photos when the job is done.

Paperwork specific to an apartment

Apartments come with their own paper trail. As you gather documents, look for these.

1. The lease or title documents. Your solicitor needs these for the sale or surrender.
2. Service charge statements. These show what is owed to the management company and how often it is billed. An outstanding balance may have to be settled before a sale can close, and your solicitor will tell you what is needed.
3. Sinking fund or major repairs fund statements. Some developments keep a fund for large repairs.
4. Home insurance. Many apartment owners have contents insurance, and the building may have its own buildings policy through the management company. Tell the insurer about the death and ask what is needed while the apartment is empty.
5. Utility accounts. Electricity, gas, broadband, television and phone. Closing accounts early stops standing charges, but keep the electricity on until you are finished with the property, since you may need light and power for cleaning, viewings or power washing.
6. Parking and storage agreements. These may be separate documents.

Do not worry about understanding everything in the folder on the first day. Gathering it in one place is enough, and your solicitor will tell you what matters.

Planning the move out of the building

Moving a lot of furniture out of an apartment is easiest when the building knows what to expect. A short plan helps.

Choose the day with the building in mind. Many managing agents prefer weekdays for removals and may limit bookings on Saturdays. We work Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm, and we will fit around the window you are given.

Think about the lift. A single lift can be a bottleneck. If the apartment is on a high floor and the lift is small, the job takes longer than the same job at ground level. Tell us the floor number and the lift size if you know it. Large items such as a three-seater sofa, a wardrobe or a mattress do not always fit in a lift, so we take them apart or use the stairs.

Protect the common areas. Walls, lift interiors and lobby floors are the building's property. We cover and protect them as we go, and we keep the corridors clear. If the managing agent asks for protection to be put up, we can do that.

Tell the neighbours. A short note on the door the day before, or a word with the neighbour next door, avoids complaints about noise or blocked corridors. A neighbour who knows your parent may also want to say hello or pick up something that was promised.

Plan for the van. If there is no loading bay, the van may need to stop briefly on the road or in visitor parking. We stage everything on the apartment floor and load in short, quick runs, so the van does not stay long.

Items that need extra thought

Some things need a decision before the clearance.

Furniture the family might want. Apartments are small, so every piece was chosen. A chair or a table that looks plain may have been in the family for years. Offer it around before the day.

Large appliances. If they belong to the apartment, they stay. If they belong to your parent, we remove them. Fridges, freezers and washing machines go for recycling and have their own disposal route, which is part of how the price is set.

Mattresses. They are bulky and go for disposal. If it is a good mattress and a relative wants it, they should collect it before the day.

Medical equipment. Beds, hoists, commodes, walking frames and oxygen equipment may belong to the HSE or a supplier. Contact the provider before the clearance, since they may want to collect it. Medical oxygen cylinders are gas cylinders, and we cannot take them.

Electronics. Televisions, computers and phones should be checked for personal data. We do not offer data destruction, so remove or secure anything personal before the day. Old electrical items are recycled.

Pictures, mirrors and glass. We wrap and carry them carefully. If any are important, tell us so they are moved first.

Plants. Take them with you, give them to a neighbour or leave them. They are easy to forget.

If the apartment is rented

If your parent rented, the landlord and the tenancy terms set the timetable. There may be a notice period to hand back the keys, and the landlord may expect the apartment to be empty and returned in good condition. Talk to the landlord early, explain the situation and ask what they need. The Residential Tenancies Board has information on tenancies, and your solicitor or a housing advice service can help if there is any dispute. We can clear the apartment to the landlord's date, leave anything that belongs to the landlord, and send photos of the empty rooms for your records.

If the apartment is going on the market

If the apartment will be sold, order matters. After the clearance, the sequence is usually:

1. repairs and painting;
2. a clean of the kitchen and bathroom, which is a job for a cleaning company;
3. carpet cleaning, if there is carpet, once the painters have gone;
4. the agent's photographs.

For an apartment there is usually no outside space to wash, apart from a balcony or terrace. The management company looks after the common areas, so the building's entrance and the corridors are not your responsibility. Our guide to preparing a property for sale sets out the general order.

Common questions from families

How long does an apartment take? It depends on size and access. A one-bedroom apartment is often a few hours, a larger two- or three-bedroom apartment can take a day. We give an estimate with the price.

Do we need to be there? No. Many families prefer to attend only the walk-through, or to leave everything to us and receive photos. Others stay all day. Either is fine.

What if we change our mind about something? Tell us before it is loaded. Once it has gone to a licensed facility, it cannot be retrieved.

What if we find something valuable? Tell us, and we will set it aside. If you think an item may be worth more than expected, ask a valuer before the clearance.

What if there is damp or damage? If we notice a leak, mould, a broken window or an electrical problem while we work, we will tell you straight away so it can be reported to the management company or the landlord.

A short checklist to print

• Find out who owns or rents the apartment and who holds each key.
• Phone the managing agent: lift, loading, insurance, timing.
• Collect papers into one box.
• Check storage cages and parking spaces.
• Agree what stays with the apartment.
• Offer furniture and keepsakes to the family, with a deadline.
• Return medical equipment to the provider.
• Redirect the post, and arrange for utilities.
• Send photos to us with the floor and lift details.
• Confirm the date with the managing agent and with us.
• Keep one person as the point of contact.

A review from a family we helped

"Ciprian and his team were so sympathetic and efficient when I contacted them to help clear out the apartment after a bereavement. The came and were very respectful in clearing completely everything, rubbish, books, clothes, kitchen, living room, bedroom in the apartment and left it spotless. The clearence took a lot of stress off me. I highly recommend them."

Lucinda Gallwey, Google review

Getting a price

Send a few photos of each room, the hallway, any storage unit, and the entrance or corridor outside. Tell us the floor number and whether there is a lift. We will reply with a fixed price, usually the same day, and we are happy to work at the family's pace.