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Moving on from a family home
Most of Churchtown was built between the 1950s and the 1970s: semi-detached houses and bungalows on quiet roads between Rathfarnham and Dundrum, with front drives, good back gardens and, in a lot of cases, the people who bought them still living there.
So the calls we get from Churchtown are often about a change in later life. A parent is going into a nursing home. A couple is moving to an apartment, or closer to a son or daughter. Someone has died and the family has to decide what happens to the house. Each of those needs a slightly different clearance, and the first job is working out which one is yours.
Clearing after a move into a nursing home
A move into care usually happens faster than anyone would like, and the house is left just as it was. The order that tends to work best:
- Take what's going to the home first. Clothes, photographs, a favourite chair, the radio.
- Give the family time. Go through the house room by room, and put anything wanted in one place or label it.
- Then let us clear the rest. We check drawers, pockets and handbags as we go, and hand over anything that looks important.
If the house is going to be sold or let, the timing may depend on solicitors and paperwork. We can hold a date, move it, or clear in two stages. Our bereavement clearance page describes the gentler side of this work, and the same care applies when the person is still alive but can't go home.
Bungalows: one floor, plenty to clear
Churchtown has a good number of bungalows, and people sometimes expect them to be quick. Having everything on one level does help, since there are no stairs to carry wardrobes down. But bungalows hide their storage well:
- A large loft over the whole floor plan, reached by a pull-down ladder or a hatch in the hall
- Built-in presses and a hot press full of linen, towels and paperwork
- An attached garage, sometimes half-converted into a utility or a workshop
- Wide gardens with a shed, a greenhouse, or both
For lofts, see attic clearance. Garages and garden buildings are on our garage clear-out and shed clearance pages.
A Churchtown semi, room by room
| Room | What we usually find | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Front room | Good furniture, a display cabinet, ornaments | Solid pieces kept back for reuse where possible |
| Kitchen | Full presses, cooker, fridge freezer | Appliances go for recycling |
| Bedrooms | Wardrobes and chests still full of clothes | Pockets and drawers checked |
| Box room | Years of stored boxes and paperwork | Papers set aside for the family |
| Attic | Suitcases, decorations, old toys | We stay off the insulation |
| Garage and shed | Tools, paint, bikes, the lawnmower | A few paint tins are fine; a lot needs planning |
Clearing a parent's home in Churchtown? Send photos of every room, the attic and the garden on WhatsApp. We'll reply with a fixed price and work at whatever pace suits the family.
Getting in and out
Churchtown is one of the easier parts of Dublin 14 for a clearance. Most homes have a drive, the residential roads are quiet, and a Luton van can usually stop right outside. The exceptions are houses on the busier routes, such as Churchtown Road and Braemor Road, where we load from the drive or a side road. If you're coming from town to meet us, the Luas stops at Windy Arbour and Milltown are close by.
Where a house has a side passage, we bring garden and shed items out that way, so the hall and carpets stay clean. In a bungalow we lay floor covers along the main route from the bedrooms to the front door, because everything travels down the same hall.
If the house is being sold, it's worth knowing that many buyers here plan to extend or renovate. Old carpets, lino and worn furniture rarely add anything to a sale, so it usually makes sense to clear the lot and let the empty rooms speak for themselves.
Before you get in touch
Walk through the house with your phone and photograph each room, the attic hatch (and inside, if you can reach), the garage and the back garden. Tell us what's staying for a sale, whether anyone in the family wants to be there, and any date you're working to. You'll get one fixed price before booking, and on the day the rooms are left clear and swept.
Spotless is an authorised waste carrier, permit number NWCPO-25-13287-01, and every job we do is fully insured. What we take is sorted, with reusable pieces set aside, metals and appliances recycled and the remainder sent to licensed facilities.
If the home has become very full, we clear it quietly and without comment; see hoarder clearance. Apartments near the Luas are covered on our apartment clearance page. Close by, see Dundrum and Milltown, or read about house clearance across Dublin and our core house clearance service.
