When the house has outgrown the life in it
A lot of Templeogue's semis and bungalows were bought by young families and have stayed in the same hands ever since. Decades on, the children have homes of their own, the stairs are harder, the garden is more work than pleasure, and one parent may be living there alone. Sooner or later the conversation turns to moving.
This page is about that move: from the family home to an apartment, into a son's or daughter's house, or into a nursing home. Only a small share of the house goes with them, and the rest needs a careful clear-out. If you're clearing a Templeogue house for another reason, such as a sale or a rental, our main Templeogue page covers the house types and the practical side.
Start with where they're going
The new home decides what's worth keeping, so begin there rather than in the attic. Ask for a floor plan or measure the rooms, and find out what furniture is already provided.
| Moving to | What usually goes too | What we usually clear |
|---|---|---|
| A smaller house or apartment | Their bed, a favourite chair, a table, kitchenware and pieces that fit the floor plan | Spare beds, the dining suite, the garage, attic and shed |
| A son's or daughter's home | Bedroom furniture, clothes, photos and personal things | Almost all of the furniture and the storage spaces |
| A nursing home or care home | Clothes, photos, a few familiar things, a chair if the home allows it | Nearly everything else, once the family has chosen |
Most nursing homes furnish the room already, so ask what personal pieces they'll take before anyone carries a wardrobe across the city.
Let them lead, and keep it short
Deciding what to leave behind after decades in one house is tiring, and it can be upsetting. A few things make it easier on an older parent:
- Short sessions. An hour or two of choosing at a time, not a whole weekend.
- Their choices first. Pick out what matters to them before brothers and sisters start dividing the rest.
- Photographs of the big pieces. A photo of the dresser or the piano is easier to keep than the thing itself is to fit.
- Move first, clear after. Most people find it kinder not to watch the house being emptied. Once they're settled, we clear what's left.
Some parents want to see it done, and that's fine too. They're welcome to sit with a cup of tea in a room we've left alone while we work around them.
spotless.ieFurniture and keepsakes with years left in them
Furniture from a well-kept family home is often solid and in good condition, and it shouldn't be dumped. Family get first pick, then anything with life in it is set aside for reuse where possible. Crockery sets, linen, books and tools often find a second home the same way. Our guide to what happens to furniture after a clearance explains the routes.
We don't value or buy contents. If there's a painting, a clock or a piece of silver someone thinks is worth something, have it looked at before we arrive.
Planning a move out of a Templeogue home? Send photos of every room, the attic, the garage and the shed on WhatsApp, and tell us the moving date. We'll reply with a fixed price, usually the same day.
The spaces nobody has opened in years
Downsizing always reaches the storage spaces, and in a family home they hold the family's whole history. The attic has the school reports, the cot and the boxes from the last move. The garage has the tools, the bikes and the second freezer. At the end of the garden, the shed has the mower and forty years of flowerpots.
Before those go, offer the grown-up children their own things back. A box of school copies means a lot more to the person who wrote in them than to anyone else.
When the move comes suddenly
Not every move is planned. A fall or a hospital stay can mean a parent goes straight to a nursing home, and the family is left to sort the house between visits. In that situation we take as much off your plate as we can: photos on WhatsApp, keys arranged with whoever has them, and the job split over two or three visits if the family needs time.
If a parent dies before or soon after the move, the clear-out becomes a different job, and our bereavement house clearance page explains how we handle it. If the house became very full as they found it harder to cope, there's no judgement from us; see hoarder clearance. And if the parent is leaving an apartment rather than a house, apartment clearance covers lifts and management companies.
Price, timing and the empty house
The price is fixed from your photos before anything is booked. It depends on how much is going, how easy it is to carry out, and items such as fridges, freezers and mattresses that need their own disposal. Clearing a whole three-bed semi, outbuildings included, usually takes one to two days; a clear-out after the chosen furniture has gone to the new place is shorter.
We're fully insured and collect under waste permit NWCPO-25-13287-01, so everything that leaves is accounted for: reusable pieces kept back, metals and electricals recycled, the rest to licensed facilities. The house is left empty and swept, ready for whatever the family decides next. For clearances elsewhere in the county, see house clearance in Dublin.
