1. Are You Licensed and Insured?

Every business needs to have a business license. This is a simple bar to pass. If a junk removal company isn’t license than may advice is to stay away from that junk removal company. You also need to verify that your junk removal company is insured. Insurance protects you against legal actions in case a worker is harmed during a junk removal on your property. Insurance also protects your property from damage by the junk removal service.

2. Will You Haul Away All My Junk?

Many junk removal services have limits on what types of junk they will haul away. For instance paint and cleaners are almost always verboten. But many junk removal services also won’t haul away electronics like televisions and computer monitors. Some junk removal companies have even more esoteric limits on what they won’t haul away. One major junk removal company for instance won’t haul away pianos. 

So make sure the junk removal company you’ve chosen will haul way the junk you want hauled away.

3. How Much Do You Charge and Does that Price Cover the Cost of Labor?

As a general rule of thumb junk removal services price their services one of two ways: a flat rate per load, or by how full you fill the truck. Regardless of which pricing structure they use make sure the price you are quoted includes labor. Quite often junk removal companies will give you an estimate that does not include labor. If a junk removal company charges for labor ask them how much extra they charge.

If you ask these three questions you’ll be better informed and be able to make a smarter choice when it comes time to choose a junk removal company. 

1. Bring Everything Downstairs

A lot of junk removal services will charge extra if they have to go up and down stairs. A lot of junk removal companies simply don’t like cleaning out second floor or third floor rooms, so make it easy for them. The day before your junk removal company is scheduled to arrive bring all your junk down from the second and/or third floor and put them in a central location near an easily access door.

2. Label All Your Hazardous Materials and Bag Them Up

Some junk removal services take hazardous materials, some don’t, so check with your junk removal service first … but if they are expected to haul away your household hazardous materials make sure you wrap all your hazardous materials in plastic bags (for easy disposal) and label those bags clearly. Make sure you keep everything grouped together. Paints with paints, etc.

3. Sort Your Junk 

Try to pre-sort as much of your junk as possible. Make three piles, or find three plastic bins. One for items to keep, one for donation, one for for the junk removal company. Since the objective here is to declutter make sure your donate and throw away piles larger than your keep pile.

Doing some of the work of a junk removal service before them will make your junk removal run faster and smoother. 

Step 1. Make a Plan of Attack 

Figure out how much junk you have and how much stuff you need to get rid of … You can accomplish this by just doing a simple walkthrough of a house and assessing where you need to clean. Also plan how and where your going to get rid of your junk. A lot of landfills aren’t open to the public (you need to be a licensed waste management company to dump in a landfill) so you may need to dispose of some of your trash in the normal curbside trash pick up, rent a dumpster to dispose of the large trash, and donate the unwanted stuff that still works to a charity or thrift shop of your choice.

Step 2. Rent a Truck

If you need to get rid of an old appliance or piece of furniture you will want to rent a truck and a heavy dolly so you can haul away your bulky item. You can either find a charity that accepts appliances or furniture, or take them to a scrap recycler.

Step 3. Pick a Weekend and Take the Time to Do It Right

Pick a weekend to clean up and stick to it. Remember you may need the entire weekend to clean up. Junk wasn’t accumulated in a day and may not be cleaned up in a day. 

If you use these tips you’ll be hauling away junk like the pros. 

1. I made a plan and stuck to it

Eventually. Like everyone else I procrastinated cleaning out my garage for about six months. I didn’t want to think about it. I avoided doing anything about it. Until I needed to find my set of golf clubs for a business trip to Las Vegas. After four hours I found my golf clubs, lost my mind, and said I’ve got to clean out my garage. So a couple of weeks later I took my two week summer vacation and said, “On Saturday I am doing a garage clean out…” and did it.

2. I rented a dumpster

I knew I had a lot of trash — particular old, empty moving boxes — stacked up in the garage. Instead of hauling them to a landfill (which is problematic in Los Angeles because most landfills are in places like Calabasas) I rented a dumpster and had it dropped in my driveway. So when I started my garage clean out I could just toss trash straight into the dumpster. When I was finished I just called the dumpster company and had it hauled away.

3. I sorted my chemicals and took them to a disposal facility

I couldn’t put the paint I had stored in my garage in the dumpster or the regular trash. So I collected all my paint, boxed it up, and took it to a collection facility in the San Fernando Valley. The city of Los Angeles runs these collection centers and generally has them open every Saturday.

4. I donated a lot of stuff and did it immediately

As I got deeper into the garage clean out I started to really pile up a lot of stuff I wanted to donate to Goodwill. So instead of waiting I made periodic runs to the local Goodwill collection point in my neighborhood in Los Angeles. This minimized the risk of the stuff going back into the garage.

5. I bought shelves to organize my remaining stuff

I bought shelves and pegboards for my tools to organize my garage and keep boxes off the ground. 

Ultimately my garage clean took a weekend but it was totally worth it. Now I have more space and I can put my car in my garage. Yeehaw!

Step 1. Do a walk through and see how bad the damage is … 

Foreclosed homes come in all states of disrepair. You’ll find recently foreclosed homes in fairly good shape most of the time. Homes that have stood empty longer will be in a greater state of decrepitude. If you end up dealing with a foreclosure that has stood empty since the start of the housing crisis in 2007 you may have your work cut off out for you. Many banks foreclosed on homes and, as the housing crisis deepened in 2008, let those homes stand empty and un-maintainted. 

So your first step is to walk through the house, the entire house, and assess it for damage, and repairs and improvements needed.

Step 2. Hire a Junk Removal Company in Encino to Clean Out …

Unless you hit the real estate agent jack pot I can guarantee you that you’ll have a ton of junk to clean out of any foreclosure. I’ve sold three foreclosed homes in the Encino area and I’ve had to have all of them cleaned out. Typically you’ll find the backyard littered with downed yard debris and leftover construction material. Interior you will probably find junk leftover from the previous owner. If you are particularly unlucky you may also find junk and trash left behind by squatters. 

You are going to be faced with a clean up project, so hire a professional junk removal company to do it. You may wish to find a junk removal company with a history of cleaning up foreclosures or one that specializes in foreclosure trash outs.

Step 3. Hire a Contractor

Find a good contractor in the Encino area to make whatever repairs you need. Repairs could be as simple as minor hole patches to something as extensive as replacing all or most of the copper piping in a house. You may also want to have your home repainted. A fresh coat of interior paint can do wonders for a film.

Step 4. Hire a Maid Service

Once a contractor is done, send in a maid service to clean everything from stem to stern. Leave no room unscrubed.

Step 5. Rent Furniture

Furniture helps gives the house a lived in appearance and allows your prospective buyers to imagine themselves in the house. You don’t have to fill every room with furniture. But giving a living room, kitchen, and master bedroom a lived in look.

First forget about call a Pacific Palisades’ junk removal company. Junk removal companies make most of their money off of junk removal. So forget about calling a junk removal company. There are easier solutions.

Charitable organizations … If your junk is still useful and/or working you can donate it to one of many charitable organizations that take in used items. Goodwill is a popular destination. As is Salvation Army and Out of the Closet. You can also find other charitable organizations that cater more towards your interest, for instance second hand stores who’s proceeds go to a specific type of cancer treatment.

Craig’s List … Craig’s List has a “Free” section where people frequently list items they don’t want or need anymore. Most of the time you won’t even have to deliver your item. You can advertise an item for free, just needs to be hauled away.

Bulky Item Pick Up … the City of Los Angeles has its own bulky item pick up for large appliances and large items. This service can take a bit of time but its either free or low cost in most cases.

These are a few of the free junk removal alternatives available to the residents of Pacific Palisades. If you get creative there are numerous ways for you to reuse or recycle old junk without having to pay to have it hauled away.

Junk removal is a booming business in Los Angeles. Grab a pick up truck and some help down at the Home Depot, and BOOM! you’ve got yourself a junk removal company. But unfortunately not all junk removal companies are on the up and up. A popular tactic among some junk removal companies in Los Angeles is to bait and switch. You’ll be quoted one price and then they will find some reason to increase the price.

Junk removal companies do this with the full expectation that you will pay it and do nothing. Avoid the junk removal bait and switch with some of these helpful tips.

Tip #1: Avoid companies that do phone estimates.

A popular tactic among junk removal companies in Los Angeles is to offer a phone estimate. Of course, this estimate will be lower than the actual cost of the junk removal. Avoid phone estimates. If you need an estimate for a junk removal, get one in person.

Tip #2: Don’t Fall for High Pressure Threats

Another common tactic among junk removal companies in Los Angeles is the tired old threat of “Pay us … or ELSE!” This scam goes something like this… A junk removal company in Los Angeles will come, load up your junk, and then demand more money than the quoted price. And if you refuse to pay that price they will unload your junk and drive away. Amazingly enough people frequently cave when faced with this threat.

Don’t fall for it and don’t be flustered by their bluster. If a junk removal service threatens to unload your junk and leave empty handed, let them. That junk removal company is the one choosing to lose time and money by running a silly scam. So call their bluff and let them spend another unpaid hour unloading the truck. Most of the time they’ll back down and take away your junk for the price quoted.

Tip #3: Remember You Have a Voice

If you’ve fallen prey to a bait and switch don’t just shrug and move on. Speak out. The world has gotten much smaller thanks to the internet. We’re all connected. If you’ve been bait and switched by a junk removal company in Los Angeles use review sites like Yelp and Angie’s List to let everyone between Pasadena and Provence France know about it. Also call the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles to complain. BBB complaints are taken seriously by businesses and the court system. The worst thing you can do is to remain silent.

The key to not getting hustled by a junk removal company is to know your rights and stand firm. Remember the customer is mostly always right.

1. Separate your recyclables from your trash. Most apartment buildings and all homes in Los Angeles offer access to recycling. Mostly in the form of a blue bin. You don’t have to sort your recyclables. All you have to do is sort your recyclables from trash (like food waste). Put recyclables in the blue bin and trash in the black bin.

2. Put yard waste and debris in the green bins. Yard waste, like branches and dirt, should be kept out of the normal trash. In fact, normal trash pick up in Los Angeles won’t accept yard debris (like branches and yard clippings). So keep any yard debris in the green bin. if you don’t have a green bin, call your trash removal company and ask for one. 

3. Don’t litter. Littering drives down the quality of life in Los Angeles and ruins the natural beauty we all love. So don’t litter. Throw away any trash you have in the appropriate trash bin.

4. Don’t throw electronics in the trash. Electronics are actually hazardous to workers at landfills and to the environment. Many electronics contain heavy metals and flame retardants that are poisonous when ingested by wildlife.

5. Never pour paint or household cleaners down the drain. Hazardous materials like paints can contaminate ground water. They can also corrode your own pipes. Take your hazardous materials to an appropriate drop off and collection center in L.A. County.

10. Junk removal is too expensive … Junk removal is more costly than dumpster rental, but not by much. If you have a small amount of junk to remove, the price difference between dumpster rental and junk removal is somewhere between $10 to $30. If you have a lot of junk, the price of  junk removal is almost on par with the price of a large roll-off dumpster. Plus, you do not need a permit for junk removal, like you would for a roll off dumpster. 

9. Junk removal is a rip-off … Admittedly there are a lot of bad apples in the junk removal basket. Junk removal is a “young business” and therefore under regulated. It is pretty easy for anyone with a truck to hang out a magnetic sign and call themselves a junk removal company. But on the other hand there are plenty of reputable junk removal companies in the junk removal business. If you use a junk removal company with a good reputation you won’t get ripped off.

8. Only hoarders need junk removal … Junk removal companies came to prominence with the rise of “Hoarders” the reality show.  But not everyone who uses a junk removal company is a hoarder. A lot of every day people who need to get rid of clutter use junk removal services to help them cleaner. Businesses and contractors also use junk removal companies to help maintain their businesses and get rid of stuff they can’t store on site.

7. I don’t need a junk removal company … Maybe you don’t, but look around your house. Look down in the basement or up in the attic. Then peak in your garage. The chances are you have a lot of built up junk and clutter. You may not need a junk removal service to get rid of that stuff, but a junk removal company can certainly help.

6. Junk removal services don’t charge … Junk removal is a business, and to make money junk removal services charge fees. If you have items that you need to get rid but can’t afford a junk removal service, you may want to find a charitable organization that collects items for donation. 

5. I can just go to the landfill myself … More and more landfills are closed to the public. And even charities like Goodwill and Salvation Army have become choosier about what items they’ll take. 

4. I can just fit all my junk and trash in my curbside garbage … Curbside garbage collection won’t take certain items and has strict weight limits on curbside trash bins.

3. Junk removal services don’t recycle … Most junk removal services recycle. In fact, typically, a junk removal service will recycle 90% of the junk they intake. 

2. Junk removal companies don’t handle construction debris. Most junk removal companies can help you get rid of construction debris as well as household junk.

1. Junk removal services are a waste of money — Living a simpler, cleaner life with less clutter is never a waste of money.

10. Pick a day and stick to it. Too often people say, Oh, I’ll clean out my X (garage, basement, etc) Saturday. And Saturday comes and you realize that the Lakers game is on, and the kids want to go see that new movie, and and and … When it comes to junk removal and decluttering doing it is half the battle. So pick a date and stick to it.

9. Approach junk removal with the cold eyes and cold heart of a killer… We get really attached to stuff we buy. In the age of consumerism the products we buy, for better or worse, define us. Even if its stuff we don’t use anymore. So when you begin a junk removal process take your emotions off the table. Like at your stuff like well just stuff.

8. Always question yourself. As you start going through years of old junk and clutter, constantly ask yourself, Do I need this? Do I use this? Will I use this in the next couple of days? Have I used this in the last two weeks? If I throw this away will it cost me a lot of money to replace? If the answer is mostly No throw it away.

7. Use trash bags and boxes. Organize your junk, clutter, and items you are going to save into trash bags or boxes. This will make it easy to haul away.

6. Make three piles. When you are doing your own junk removal make three piles: one pile labeled Keep, one pile labeled: Donate, one pile labeled: Garbage Recycle. Make sure the garbage and donation piles are larger than the keep pile.

5. Be aware of toxic materials. You cannot put paint, household cleaners, and automatic fluids in the normal trash. Some junk removal companies may take away hazardous materials, a lot of junk removal companies will not dispose of hazardous materials. 

4. Start small. If you have a lot of junk to remove and clutter to dispose of start small. Either in one particular area, the smallest room, or maybe even a closet. 

3. Start slow. People often jump right into the middle of a mess and become instantly discouraged, then give up. Clutter doesn’t accumulate overnight and junk will probably not be removed in a day. So start slow. Give yourself time and maybe a couple of days.

2. If you are donating, do it same day. A lot of people pull down clothes out of the closet, bag them up, and then never make it to the charity of their choice. The stuff goes back into the garage or into the basement. So if you have a lot to donate to charity do it on the day of your junk removal. If you have friends help you, give one the task of making periodic runs to your charity’s drop off center.

1. Recruit your friends and make it a party. Friends make everything better, including cleaning up so recruit some friends and turn your junk removal into a party!