Garage & Attic Cleanout in Murfreesboro, TN

Garage and attic cleanout is the focused clearing of accumulated storage from a single room or zone of a home — the part of the house where boxes from past moves, dead exercise equipment, kid stuff that got outgrown, holiday decor, and “I’ll deal with that later” piles all end up. Murfreesboro Junk Hauling handles cleanouts of attached garages, detached garages, attic spaces (including pull-down attic ladder access), basements, sheds, and any combination of the above. Most jobs run a half-truck to a full truck and can be done in a single morning. We do the lifting, the sorting calls, and the hauling — you get a usable space back.

This page is about reclaiming storage space. For couches and bedroom furniture see furniture removal; for refrigerators, washers, and other appliances see appliance removal; for a whole-house clearing after a death or downsizing see estate cleanouts.

The garage and attic situations we see most

The classic call: a garage that hasn’t held a car in eight or ten years. Boxes stacked against the wall. A workbench buried under tools that haven’t been touched. Bikes from when the kids were little. Folding chairs from a yard sale. A treadmill that became a coat rack. Two old TVs. The homeowner finally decides this fall is the fall, and they want it cleared out before the cold sets in. We come in, walk it with them, and have a clear floor in three to five hours on a typical job.

Attics are similar but harder on the body. Pull-down ladder access, low ceilings, no flooring in the unfinished sections, fiberglass insulation that gets everywhere. Boxes from three moves ago, still taped. Christmas decorations from before the kids could read. Old computer monitors. Wedding gifts that never got unpacked. We bring our own ladder and headlamps, and we work the space methodically — pulling boxes down to a staging zone, sorting on the garage floor, then loading the truck.

Other variations: basements after a flood scare or a sump pump scare, where everything got moved to higher ground “temporarily” two years ago. Pre-renovation cleanouts where the garage is about to become a workshop or a home gym. Holiday-decor purges in January when last month’s enthusiasm wears off. Empty-nest cleanouts when the kids’ stored childhood stuff finally needs to leave. Pre-sale cleanouts when the realtor is staging the home and the garage is a deal-breaker.

Items we typically pull from garages and attics

Cardboard boxes from past moves (often water- or pest-damaged)
Old paint cans, varnish, and stains (separated for proper disposal)
Broken or rusted hand tools and power tools
Outdated electronics — VCRs, tube TVs, old desktop computers, monitors
Exercise equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, weight benches, stationary bikes)
Holiday decor — Christmas trees, lights, inflatables, fall decorations
Outgrown kids’ bikes, scooters, ride-on toys, and outdoor play equipment
Leftover construction materials from past projects (lumber, drywall scraps, tile)
Old propane tanks (small grill-size; we route to proper disposal)
Rotting yard tools, broken hoses, dried-out garden chemicals
Lawn mowers and yard equipment (gas drained or with us draining on-site)
Camping gear, sports equipment, and old hobby supplies
Stacks of magazines, books, and paperwork (where shredding isn’t needed)
Old luggage, garment bags, and storage containers
Furniture pieces stored “in case we need them” that nobody needs
Coolers, beach gear, pool toys, and seasonal items past their prime

How we handle a garage or attic cleanout

We start with a quick walkthrough. The homeowner points at anything that should NOT go — the toolbox they still use, the box of family photos in the corner, the bin of holiday decorations they want to keep. Everything else is fair game. For larger spaces or accumulated decades of storage, we’ll do the walkthrough room-by-room and zone-by-zone so nothing important gets caught in the sweep.

Hazardous-handling items get separated as we work. Old paint cans, leftover stains and varnishes, household pesticides, and broken fluorescent tubes don’t belong in a hauling truck — they’re handled through Rutherford County’s Household Hazardous Waste program at the Convenience Center. We set those aside, give the homeowner a labeled bin, and point them to the next HHW collection date. Same goes for unused gasoline, old motor oil, and small propane cylinders. We’d rather slow down by ten minutes than route hazardous material to the wrong destination.

Attic work has its own rhythm. We bring an extension ladder if the pull-down doesn’t feel solid, headlamps so we don’t rely on a single bulb, and dust masks for the crew. We walk the joists carefully — many older Murfreesboro attics have no decking in the eaves, and a misstep means a foot through the bedroom ceiling below. We move boxes to the pull-down opening, hand them down to a second crew member, and stage in the garage. Sorting happens on the garage floor where there’s space and light, then the truck gets loaded once.

Donations route to Habitat ReStore, Goodwill of Middle Tennessee, and a couple of local charities depending on what’s usable. Books in good shape often go to Friends of the Linebaugh Library sales; usable kids’ bikes and toys can go to local family-services charities. The rest goes to the Middle Point Landfill or the Rutherford County Solid Waste transfer station depending on category, with metal and e-waste split off.

What a garage or attic cleanout costs in Murfreesboro

Most garage and attic cleanouts fall in the half-truck to full-truck range. A modest single-car garage cleanout often runs $200 to $350 (about a half-truck — 7 to 8 cubic yards). A two-car garage that’s been a storage room for a decade typically runs $400 to $625 (a full truck — about 15 cubic yards). Two-decade accumulations or combined garage-plus-attic-plus-basement jobs sometimes need a second truck and price accordingly. Attic-only jobs are usually half-truck volume but factor in the access difficulty and a longer load time. We quote on-site after the walkthrough.

For volume-tier reference and what factors push a job up or down, see our junk removal cost page.

Where we provide garage and attic cleanouts

Murfreesboro plus all of Rutherford County. Garage cleanouts are heaviest in the older established neighborhoods around East Main, Memorial Boulevard, and the historic district where homes have had multiple owners and accumulated decades of storage. Attic-heavy jobs come from the longer-tenured Lascassas, Walterhill, and Almaville properties. Newer Blackman and Smyrna builds tend to be lighter accumulations — but a 10-year-old subdivision home with kids who have aged through their bike phase, scooter phase, and outdoor-toy phase generates plenty of garage volume.

Common questions about garage and attic cleanouts

Do I need to sort everything before you arrive?

No. Most homeowners don’t, and we don’t expect them to. The walkthrough is the sort. You point at anything that should NOT go, and we treat the rest as removable. If you want a slower, more deliberate sort — opening boxes one at a time before they leave — we can do that, but the job will run longer and we factor that into the quote.

Will you take old paint, chemicals, or propane tanks?

We separate them and route them properly, but they don’t go in the disposal load. Rutherford County runs a Household Hazardous Waste program at the Convenience Center where residents can drop off paint, stains, pesticides, motor oil, and small propane cylinders. We’ll set those items aside in a labeled bin and direct you to the next HHW collection date. We do not load hazardous materials into our truck.

Can you get into my attic if the access is a pull-down ladder?

Yes, in most cases. We test the pull-down on arrival, and if it’s not safe to load (some older units have weak springs or compromised hardware), we bring an extension ladder as a backup. We work the joists carefully and stage everything down to the garage or basement before sorting. Attic-only access is normal for us.

What about old electronics — TVs, monitors, computers?

We take them and route them to e-waste channels rather than the landfill. Tube TVs, CRT monitors, old desktop towers, laptops, and stereo equipment all go to processors who handle the metals and the lead in the glass safely. There’s no extra charge — it’s part of the load.

How long does a typical garage cleanout take?

A single-car garage with moderate accumulation, two to three hours. A two-car garage with a decade of storage, three to five hours. A combined garage-attic-basement job with a heavier load, sometimes a full day or split across two days. We give you a time estimate after the walkthrough so you know what to expect.

Will you sweep up after?

Yes. We broom-sweep the floor at the end of the job. Garages and attics that haven’t been cleaned in years often have a layer of dust, leaf litter, and debris that doesn’t get pulled with the boxes — we knock it down so the space is actually usable when we leave, not just empty.

Schedule a garage or attic cleanout in Murfreesboro

Call (629) 280-2785 or use the contact form. Most cleanouts go on the schedule within 24 to 48 hours. For other services, see furniture removal, appliance removal, estate cleanouts, and lot clearing. The main junk removal hub covers the full slate; the FAQ covers logistics, payment, and what we will and won’t take.

Garage Attic Cleanout