What an estate cleanout costs in Philadelphia

The short answer

Most Philadelphia estate cleanouts price by volume, because nobody wants to itemize a lifetime.

A two-bedroom row home in Girard Estate, Mayfair or Olney that has been lived in continuously since the seventies is commonly two to three full loads once the basement and the attic are counted — so $732 for one load, $732 + $732 = $1,464 for two, or $732 × 3 = $2,196 for three. Part loads price on the rungs above. A larger twin in Mount Airy, Overbrook or East Falls with a finished basement and a garage runs higher.

Every price is published before the work starts. There is no stair fee, no access fee and no charge for the fact that the house is on a one-way street with no driveway.

Why Philadelphia estate cleanouts are bigger than people expect

The city's housing stock is built to accumulate. A standard Philly row home is narrow but deep and tall, with a full basement under it and usually a finished or half-finished third floor or attic above. That is four levels of storage in a house that from the pavement looks small.

Then there is tenure. Philadelphia has one of the longest-held owner-occupied housing stocks of any large American city — houses passed down within families, bought once and kept. Forty years of Christmas decorations, a basement workshop, the good china that nobody uses, the sewing machine, the folding chairs for the block party.

The practical consequence: when you walk the first floor and think "this is a half truck," you have not yet opened the basement door or climbed to the third floor. Budget for both.

Where the volume hides in a Philly row home

• The basement. Stone or block walls, low headroom, often a workbench and shelving along a party wall. Frequently damp, so cardboard has gone soft. This is where the dehumidifier ($77), the chest freezer ($146) and thirty years of paint tins live.
• The third floor or attic. Reached by the narrowest staircase in the house. Suitcases, a crib ($67), an artificial Christmas tree ($37), boxes of books at $45 each.
• The back bedroom. The one that became a storage room after the last child moved out.
• The shed or yard. Even a small Philly back yard holds a lawn mower ($65), a charcoal grill ($59), patio chairs at $30 each and a patio table at $89.
• Heavy legacy items. Cast iron radiators from a heating replacement at $123 each. An upright piano at $290. A cast iron tub at $185 if a bathroom was ever redone and the old one went to the basement instead of the curb.

A realistic example

A three-bedroom row home in Port Richmond, sole owner, estate in probate. First floor and bedrooms come out as a full truck at $732. The basement, with the freezer, the workbench and the boxes, comes out as a three-quarter load at $587. The attic and the yard together make a half at $431.

$732 + $587 + $431 = $1,750, quoted in advance, in three priced stages you can approve one at a time.

If certain items matter to you separately — the upright piano at $290, the standard refrigerator at $164, the washer at $133 and dryer at $128 — they can be listed individually instead, and the sum is the sum.

Sequencing it sensibly

Estate cleanouts in Philadelphia almost always happen under a clock: a settlement date, an executor's deadline, a family that has come in from out of town for one weekend. A few things make it go smoothly.

• Do the sorting pass before the truck comes. Photographs, documents, jewellery, anything with a name on it. Once a load is on the truck it is gone.
• Clear a path first. In a row home there is one staircase and one front door. If the second floor is being cleared, the ground floor hallway has to be walkable.
• Decide about the basement early. If the house is being sold, buyers and inspectors will open it. Clearing it later costs another visit.
• Split it if the family needs time. Two visits two weeks apart is fine. Each is priced on its own.

Donations and the things worth keeping back

Philadelphia has an active secondhand market, and a certain amount of what is in an older row home has real value to someone. Solid wood furniture, mid-century pieces, tools, records. Thrift operations along Girard Avenue, in Germantown and out toward Roxborough take donations, and campus areas absorb serviceable furniture every August.

Be honest about what will move, though. Sagging upholstery, particleboard, anything that has sat against a damp basement wall — none of that is going to be taken by a charity, and waiting to find out costs you a week. Pull out the good things, then clear the rest in one go.

What is included in the price

The carry-out from every floor including the basement and attic, the loading, the disposal, and a broom-swept finish. Two or more people as the job requires. Legal parking arranged on whatever narrow street the house sits on.

What we ask from you is access and a clear instruction about what stays. In an estate job that instruction is the most valuable thing in the process — mark rooms, tape doors, tell the crew lead before they start. Mistakes are irreversible and no price list fixes them.

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