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Having just spent the summer cleaning out the house my parents lived in for over 40 years, getting it ready to sell was something of a nightmare project. As time dragged on and the sales season waned, I found myself almost wanting to follow my dad's humorous advice, “Just put a torch to it!” What I needed was a good junk removal company!
My parents were clean and neat and took great care of the things they owned. Chalk that up to living through the depression. But 43 year is still a very long time to accumulate massive amounts of stuff…stuff that had to be deal with.
In the end, I ended up renting an enormous dumpster. Twice. In addition, I held two yard sales and took a half dozen trailer loads to the local second-hand charity. It was hours and hours and hours of back-breaking work. But it finally paid off and we sold the home in late September.
For my Canadian readers in the same situation, take a look at Junk Removal Canada. They have locations in eight different provinces and specialize in construction and estate cleanouts! They'll take the items that are too big for your garbage can: mattresses, appliances, couches, TVs, chairs, computers.
1-800-GOT-JUNK is the company you might have seen on the A&E show Hoarders. Those of us who are clean freaks have a hard time looking away from organizational train wrecks like that!
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
I have used 1-800-get-junk a few times in the last year to get rid of stuff left behind by renters. They are a really good and professional service especially if you are not able to get rid of the stuff yourself.
Thanks for the testimonial, Surfer Jerry! 🙂
In order not to have the same problem one day, I usually have such removal every year when I get rid of all unnecessary things and every year it takes me several days to do it. It is a terrible thing in fact.
Penn Waste is fully insured, licensed by the Department of Environmental Protection and by the Allegheny County Health Department. Offer fabulous communication, excellent customer service, and unbeatable prices.
It’s really hard and challenging to deal with junk and hiring a junk removal company is I think the best solution their is. Your headache becomes their headache and they deal with it nicely!
Sometimes I feel the same way about things accumulating in my house. Although I really cherish all of the possessions that I keep, I can see where 43 years of living in the same place could cause some issues. Thanks for sharing your story. Now I look to avoid accumulating to many items for future moves.