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What's in a Crumlin terrace
Crumlin was one of the biggest housing schemes Dublin Corporation ever built, laid out in the 1930s and 1940s as long rows of two-storey terraced houses with gardens front and back. Many were later bought by the families renting them, and a lot are still lived in by those families, or by the children who grew up there. Here's how a typical one breaks down for a clearance:
| Part of the house | What it usually holds |
|---|---|
| Front room | The good suite, a display cabinet, photographs, ornaments |
| Kitchen and back extension | Presses of delph and pots, a table, a freezer |
| Main bedroom | Wardrobes, a dressing table, bedding, handbags and coats |
| Second bedroom | A spare bed, more wardrobes, things left by children who moved out |
| Box room | Bags, boxes and suitcases stacked to the ceiling |
| Attic | Whatever fitted through the hatch |
| Back garden | A shed or coal shed, tools, bikes, flowerpots |
None of it is complicated. There's just a lot of it, gathered over a long time, and every bit of it needs looking through.
Plenty of these houses have been extended over the years: a kitchen pushed out into the garden, a downstairs bathroom, now and then an attic converted with a fixed stairs. Each one adds a room's worth of contents, so include them in your photos and the price will cover them.
No side passage? Everything comes through the hall
In the middle of a terrace there's no way round the side. Everything from the back garden and the shed has to come through the kitchen, along the hall and out the front door. That's normal in Crumlin, and we plan for it:
- floor covers down the hall and on the stairs before anything heavy moves
- the shed emptied last, so its contents never cross a room we've already cleared
- wardrobes and bed frames taken apart upstairs, rather than wrestled round the turn of the stairs
- the van at the kerb, with each load gathered in the front room or garden first
End-of-terrace houses usually have a side gate, which makes the garden much quicker. Tell us which you have when you send photos, and include one of the hall so we can see the width.
The box room and the attic
The box room over the stairs is the family store in most Crumlin houses, and often the fullest room of all. It's not unusual for that one room to take an hour or more on its own.
The attic is the other unknown. In many of these houses it was never floored, and the hatch on the landing is small. Tell us what you think is up there and whether there's a ladder; see our attic clearance page for what's involved. The coal shed or garden shed out the back usually holds tools, paint tins and bikes, and if the shed itself is past saving we can take it down; see shed clearance.
Clearing a family home in Dublin 12? Send photos of each room, the box room, the attic hatch and the back garden on WhatsApp. We'll come back with a fixed price, usually the same day.
When it's Nana's house
A lot of Crumlin clearances happen after a grandparent dies or moves into care, with the family spread across Dublin and further. Nothing is rushed. We can clear a room or two, leave the rest while the family sorts through things, and come back when you're ready.
Medals, mass cards, letters, photographs, rent books and anything with a family name on it are put aside for you. So are the things that matter only to the people who grew up in the house: a child's drawing in a drawer, a christening gown, a tin of buttons. We'd rather ask about something than throw it away. Our bereavement house clearance page explains how we work.
If the house had become very full in recent years, and it can happen to anyone living alone, we help discreetly and in stages; see hoarder clearance.
A fixed price, and a fully insured crew
We price from photos before anything is booked. The figure follows the volume, the carry (the stairs and the walk through the house) and anything needing separate disposal, such as fridges, freezers, mattresses and electricals. A Crumlin terrace is usually a day's work for two or three of us; a very full one can take a second morning.
Spotless is fully insured and an authorised waste carrier, permit NWCPO-25-13287-01. Reusable furniture is set aside, metals and appliances go for recycling, and the rest is taken to licensed facilities. When we leave, the rooms are empty and swept, ready for the family, the agent or the council.
If there's a garage, a lock-up or a relative's apartment to clear as well, put it on the same quote. Read more about house clearance in Dublin, or our main house clearance service.
