Getting the garage back
Most garages stop being garages slowly. A sofa goes out "for now", the boxes from the last move never get unpacked, the old fridge becomes the spare fridge, and one day the car hasn't been inside for years. A garage clearance gets the space back in one go. People usually book one for a handful of reasons: a sale, a conversion, a move somewhere smaller, or simply wanting the car back inside before the winter.
We clear integral and detached garages across Dublin and all of Leinster. We carry everything out, sort it as we load, and leave the floor swept so you can start again with a clean slate.
- A fixed price from photos. One from the door and a couple from inside are usually enough.
- Sorted as we go. Tools and bikes in good condition are set aside for reuse where possible, metal is recycled, and appliances go for proper recycling.
- Shelving and workbenches taken down if you want them gone.
- Anything you're keeping left where you want it.
- The floor swept once it's empty.
If you were searching for a garage cleaning service, this is usually what people mean: getting the clutter out and the floor swept. A clearance doesn't include scrubbing or degreasing the floor, but an empty, swept garage is a very different place.
What we clear from garages
Garages collect a particular mix, and we take nearly all of it:
- Furniture stored "for later": sofas, beds, wardrobes, dining tables and chairs that seemed too good to throw out at the time
- Tools and workbenches: old hand tools, broken power tools, ladders, workbenches and vices
- Bikes and sports gear: children's bikes, scooters, golf bags, rackets and camping gear
- Fridges and freezers: the spare fridge, the chest freezer, old washing machines and dryers
- Car bits: tyres, roof boxes, old child seats, exhausts and spare parts
- Shelving and storage: metal racking, wooden shelves, plastic crates and old kitchen units
- Garden gear: lawnmowers, hoses, garden furniture, cushions and parasols
- Boxes: from moves, from Christmas, from a relative's house, often never opened
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If only a few big pieces need to go, furniture removal may be all you need. If you've already done the sorting and just want a pile of rubbish taken, see junk removal. If it's a garden shed rather than a garage, our shed clearance page covers emptying sheds and taking them down. And when the whole property needs doing, house clearance covers every room.
What we can't take from a garage
Garages are where half-used tins of paint, weedkiller, white spirit and engine oil end up. We can't take paint, solvents, oils or chemicals, so take them to a civic amenity site or a hazardous waste collection, and we'll clear the rest.
- Paint, solvents, oils and chemicals: not something we do. Local authority recycling centres take household quantities from residents.
- Gas cylinders: the supplier is normally the place to return these, not a waste facility.
- Car batteries: heavy, hazardous and recyclable, but only through the right route, such as a recycling centre or a retailer.
- Asbestos: older garages sometimes have corrugated cement roof sheets or wall panels that could contain asbestos. We leave those exactly as they are, because breaking up or removing them is work for a specialist contractor.
Everything else on the shelves, in the corners and on the floor is part of the clear-out, and the price covers it.
Fridges, freezers and appliances
Old chest freezers and spare fridges turn up in a lot of garages. Because of the refrigerant gases inside them, fridges and freezers must go for specialist appliance recycling, and they never go in with general waste.
To make it easy:
- empty the freezer and turn it off at the wall a couple of days ahead, so it can defrost
- leave the door slightly open so it doesn't smell
- unplug the washing machine or dryer, and close the water valve behind anything that's plumbed in
Washing machines, dryers, microwaves and televisions are recycled through the electrical route as well.
Integral, detached or at the end of the garden
Where the garage sits changes how long the job takes and how we plan it.
| Garage type | What it means for the clearance |
|---|---|
| Integral garage | Reached through the up-and-over door and often through the house too. Easy loading from the driveway, with covers on the hall floor if anything comes through the house. |
| Detached garage beside the house | Usually the most straightforward: the van on the driveway and a short carry. |
| Garage at the end of the garden | A longer carry through a side passage or a back lane, which takes more time and is reflected in the price. |
| Lock-up or apartment garage | Shared access and sometimes set hours. Tell us about keys and any rules. |
| Part-converted garage | Half utility room, half storage. We clear the storage side and leave the washing machine where it is, unless you want it gone. |
Want a price for your garage? Take a photo from the door and a couple from inside, add your area, and send them on WhatsApp. We'll reply with a fixed price, usually the same day.
Workshops, outbuildings and the rest of the yard
Some garages are really workshops: a long bench, a pegboard of tools, crates of fixings and a few machines that haven't been switched on in years. Others sit beside a second outbuilding, a coal shed or an old store that's just as full. We clear all of it on the same visit, and you'll get one price that covers every building.
Workshops take a little more planning. Heavy machinery may need two of us, and anything bolted to the bench or the floor has to be unfixed first. If there are tools worth passing on to family or selling, take them out before the day or point them out to us, and we'll leave them where you can find them.
Clearing the garage for a conversion
A lot of garage clear-outs happen because the space is about to become something else: a home office, a gym, a utility room or an extra bedroom. The builder will want a completely empty shell, with the shelving, the old kitchen units and the workbench gone as well as the contents.
Give us the start date and we'll clear the garage a few days before, leaving the floor swept so the builder can begin straight away. Our page on garage clearance before a conversion goes into the timing and what "everything out" means in more detail.
How long it takes and what it costs
A typical single garage is cleared well within a day, and often in a few hours when the van can park on the driveway. Time goes up with a double garage packed to the ceiling, a workshop full of heavy tools, a garage at the far end of a long back garden, or a lot of sorting with you as we go. The quote will tell you how long to expect, so you can plan the rest of your day around it.
Garage clearances are priced like all our clearances, on what's actually there:
- Volume: how much of the van the contents will fill.
- Access: parking right outside, or a long carry through the garden.
- Special items: freezers, tyres, very heavy pieces, or anything needing specialist disposal.
- Dismantling: shelving, racking or a workbench fixed to the wall.
You'll get a fixed price before we book, with no surprise extras on the day. If the attic needs doing too, we can do the attic clearance on the same visit.
Our garage clearance guide has more on clearing a garage, if you'd like to make a start yourself.
Where it all goes
Garage contents sort well. Tools, bikes, garden furniture and sports gear that still work are kept apart for reuse where possible. Bikes are a good example: a child's bike that's been outgrown rather than broken can go on to another family, while a frame that has rusted solid goes for metal recycling. Metal, of which garages hold a lot, goes for recycling along with appliances, electricals and cardboard. What's left goes to licensed waste facilities.
We're an authorised waste carrier with permit NWCPO-25-13287-01, and every garage job is fully insured, whether it's a single garage in Dublin or a yard full of outbuildings in the country.
Garage clear-outs across Dublin and all of Leinster
Garages vary a lot from one area to another, and we have pages for places where we clear them often:
- Glasnevin. Side garages on semi-detached houses, often cleared when someone is moving somewhere smaller.
- Drumcondra. Garages at the end of the garden, loaded from the back lane or carried through the house.
- Ranelagh. Mews garages behind the terraces, on lanes too narrow for much else.
- Sandyford. Integral garages that became the storeroom, cleared for a sale or a conversion.
- Carrickmines. Double garages and workshops on bigger plots.
- Athy. Rural garages, yards and the outbuildings around them in south Kildare.
Before we arrive
- move the car out, if it's in there
- empty and defrost any freezer
- set aside anything that's staying, or point it out to us on the day
- take paint, chemicals, gas cylinders and anything with a hazard label to a civic amenity site first
- let us know if the garage door sticks or the key is with someone else
- clear the bins or the second car out of the way between the garage door and where the van will park
Once the garage is empty, the driveway in front of it can look tired by comparison. If yours needs it, we also do driveway cleaning.
