The short answer
Garage cleanouts price by volume. Quarter truck $241, three-eighths $338, half $431, five-eighths $513, three-quarters $587, seven-eighths $661, full $732. Minimum $75 per visit.
One bay of a two-car garage, cleared of boxes and yard equipment: usually the three-eighths or half tier. Both bays, floor to rafters, with nothing having left since the family moved in: three-quarters to a full truck, and occasionally two loads.
No basements — the garage takes the hit
Houston builds on slab or on pier and beam. Almost nothing here has a basement, which means every box of Christmas decorations, every old mattress, every dead treadmill and every bin of school paperwork that would live under a house in Chicago or Minneapolis lives in the garage instead.
That is why the two-car-garage-with-zero-cars-in-it is such a Houston fixture. It is not disorganization. It is the only storage the house has, and it fills to capacity the way water finds a level.
The other half of the problem is what the garage does to the things in it. An uninsulated, unconditioned Houston garage sits well above ambient all summer at high humidity. Cardboard softens and collapses. Upholstery mildews. Metal on tool chests and shelving pits. Whatever you were saving for later is frequently not savable by the time later arrives.
The flood line
If your garage has ever taken water — and in this city a great many have, whether from a named storm or a bad afternoon on a bayou — there is a horizontal line on the wall and a rule of thumb underneath it. Anything porous that sat below that line does not get saved. Cardboard, particleboard, upholstered furniture, mattresses, carpet, insulation on a water heater blanket.
Households along Brays and White Oak, through Meyerland and the streets off the bayou parks, know this better than anyone. The mistake is not throwing things away. The mistake is stacking the wet boxes at the back of the garage to deal with later and then living with them for four years.
Hurricane season is the forcing function
The garage clear-out happens on a schedule here, and the schedule is set by the Gulf. Ahead of a storm you want the patio furniture, the grill, the fire pit and the planters indoors, and you cannot bring them indoors if the garage is full. Every year, households discover that in the same forty-eight hours everyone else does.
Doing it in May or early June rather than in the queue behind a forecast cone is the whole trick. It is the same job, the same price, and none of the panic.
What usually comes out
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Lawn Mower | $65 |
| Riding Mower / Lawn Tractor | $152 |
| Treadmill | $115 |
| Weight Set / Free Weights | $93 |
| Metal Shelving | $71 |
| Rolling Tool Chest / Workbench | $100 |
| Mini Fridge | $115 |
| Freezer (Chest) | $146 |
| Bicycle | $37 |
| Tire (single) | $22 |
| Tires (set of 4) | $87 |
| Paint (1-Gallon Can) | $30 |
| Propane Tank (20 lb) | $33 |
| 10 Bags of Debris | $132 |
Item pricing works for a short list. A garage fridge, a dead treadmill and a set of four tires: $115 + $115 + $87 = $317. Once a chest freezer and metal shelving go on the same list, the item total runs past the half-truck tier — so we would quote you the half truck at $431 instead and you would take that.
Subdivision garages versus inner-loop garages
Out on the Grand Parkway — Katy, Cypress, Fulshear, the Sugar Land and Pearland edges — garages are big, attached, and open onto a wide driveway. A truck backs right up. Those jobs are fast and they are usually large, because a three-car garage holds a great deal.
Inner-loop garages are the opposite. A Heights or Montrose bungalow often has a detached single-bay garage at the back of a deep lot, reached down a narrow drive with a fence on one side. Rice Military and Washington-corridor townhomes have a tandem garage under the house with a low ceiling and a single door onto an alley-width street. The carry is longer and the truck parks further away. The price is still by volume; it is the timing we plan differently.
Getting it done in one visit
Pull everything you are definitely keeping to one side before the crew arrives — a taped line on the floor works better than a list. Anything still sealed and still dry is worth a second look; anything with a water line on it is not.
Tell us at booking if there is a chest freezer, a riding mower or anything with fuel in it, because those change how the truck gets packed. And if it turns out to be more than one load, you will hear that before the first one leaves, not after.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a garage cleanout cost in Houston?
Most two-car garages land between $431 for a half truck and $732 for a full one. One bay is often $338 to $431, and a small clear-out can be handled on item pricing above the $75 minimum.
Do you take paint, propane tanks and old tires?
Yes. Paint is $30 a one-gallon can or $52 for a five-gallon bucket, a 20 lb propane tank is $33, a single tire is $22 and a set of four is $87.
Can you take the garage fridge or chest freezer?
Yes. A mini fridge is $115, a chest freezer $146 and an upright freezer $149. Empty and defrost it beforehand if you can — a freezer full of standing water is heavier and messier than it needs to be.
When is the best time to do this?
May or early June, before hurricane season gets serious. You want the space free so patio furniture and the grill can come inside on short notice, and you do not want to be competing for a slot behind a forecast.
Is it cheaper to price by item or by truck volume?
Whichever is lower — we show you both. Short lists usually price better by item; a genuinely full garage almost always prices better by volume.