House clear-out in Dundrum

Dundrum and Churchtown homes

Dundrum village grew up around Main Street long before the shopping centre arrived, and there are still older cottages and terraces there. Churchtown is mostly semi-detached houses from the middle of the last century, on quiet roads with front gardens and drives. Ballinteer and the roads towards the M50 are later estates. And around the Town Centre and the Luas stops at Dundrum, Balally and Windy Arbour, apartments have been going up since the early 2000s.

With that mix, it's possible to downsize without leaving the area: from a Churchtown semi to an apartment near the Luas, say. A house clear-out is often part of exactly that kind of move, so that's where we'll start.

Moving somewhere smaller: a clear-out in two halves

If you're moving, the clear-out works best planned around the removal van rather than squeezed into one rushed day. Here's how we'd usually split it:

Both visits are priced together, up front, from your photos. What estate agents like to see is covered in preparing a property for sale.

Churchtown semis: where the volume is

A mid-century semi doesn't look big from the road, but after a long family life it holds a lot:

• The attic, usually reached by a pull-down ladder and stacked with boxes. See attic clearance.
• The garage, if it hasn't been converted, full of tools, bikes and spare furniture. See garage clear-out.
• The back bedroom that quietly became the store room.
• The shed at the end of the garden, and sometimes the shed itself. See shed clearance.

We check drawers, boxes and pockets as we go, and hand you anything personal or important. Old fridges, freezers and washing machines go for appliance recycling.

House after clearance: kitchen and living areas

Apartments near the Town Centre and the Luas

An apartment clear-out in Dundrum depends on the building more than the flat:

• Lifts. Book the lift, and check whether it needs protective covers.
• Loading. Find out where contractors can stop; most basement car parks are too low for a Luton van.
• Times. Some management companies only allow furniture to move at set hours.
• Traffic. Near the Town Centre, weekday mornings are usually easier than Saturdays.

Landlords between tenants can use our rental property checklist, and our apartment clearance guide covers the rest.

Getting ready for the day

You don't need to pack or empty anything for us. A few things do help:

• put what's moving with you in one room, or label it clearly
• empty the fridge and freezer, and switch them off the day before
• gather any papers you've already found, such as deeds, wills and bank statements
• tell us who has the keys and the alarm code if you won't be there

On the day, we put covers on the stairs and floors, check every drawer and box, and leave the rooms empty and swept. We don't take asbestos, gas cylinders, paint, solvents, oils or chemicals, so take any of those in the garage or shed to a civic amenity site beforehand. For a fuller checklist, read how to prepare a property for clearance.

If someone has died

Clearing the home of a parent or relative is hard enough without having to manage every detail. We go at your pace, hold back papers, photos and anything personal, and can clear in stages if the family needs time. Relatives are welcome to take things before we start or during the day. More on that on our bereavement house clearance page.

A house that became very cluttered in someone's later years is treated with exactly the same respect; see hoarder clearance.

Nothing is simply dumped. Furniture fit for another home is set aside where we can, fridges, cookers and scrap metal are recycled, and the rest ends up at licensed facilities, collected under permit NWCPO-25-13287-01. If you're keeping the carpets for the sale, we can clean them once the rooms are empty. For more, see house clearance in Dublin.