Sort and declutter

Hands-on garage sorting with you, item by item, into keep, donate, recycle and dispose, so nothing important goes by mistake. Typical UK costs.

In short: A sort and declutter service means working through a garage with you, box by box, deciding what to keep, donate, sell, recycle or dispose of, then taking away the unwanted items. It suits people who want to keep some things and need help making decisions and doing the heavy lifting. In the UK it is typically charged at £40 to £70 per hour for a two-person team plus disposal.

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Most garages are not full of rubbish. They are full of a mix of things: tools you still use, sentimental items, boxes nobody has opened since the last move, broken appliances and kit that might be worth selling. A straight clear-out does not suit that. A sort and declutter session works through the garage methodically with you making the decisions, while the team does the lifting, opening, grouping and carrying.

We usually empty one area at a time onto the drive or into a clear space, sort it into piles, put back what is staying and load the rest. That keeps the job under control and means the garage never ends up worse than when you started. Anything that looks personal or potentially valuable is set aside for you to look at properly.

What is included

Working through the garage zone by zone with you
Opening, checking and grouping boxes and loose items
Separating keep, donate, sell, recycle and dispose piles
Setting aside documents, photographs and possible valuables
Returning kept items neatly to the garage
Loading and removing unwanted items the same day
Separating reuse and recycling from general waste
Sweeping the cleared areas

Who it is for

Garages with a mix of things to keep and things to go
People who find it hard to decide what to let go of
Older homeowners who cannot do the lifting themselves
Families sorting a parent's garage together
Anyone wanting a usable garage rather than an empty one

How much does it cost?

As a guide, sorting time is usually charged at £40 to £70 per hour for a two-person team, with disposal priced on what is removed. A typical single garage sort takes three to six hours. See our full cost guide.

How it works

How sort and declutter works, step by step

Plan the session

We agree how long to allow, whether you want to be present throughout and any rules, such as nothing from the loft boxes goes without asking.

Zone by zone

One section of the garage is emptied at a time and sorted into clear piles with you deciding on anything uncertain.

Put back and load

Kept items go back in grouped and accessible, while everything else is loaded for reuse, recycling or disposal.

Review

We walk the garage with you at the end to check you are happy and nothing has been missed.

Sort and declutter: FAQs

How do I decide what to keep?

A useful rule is to keep things you have used in the last year, things you genuinely need for a known job, and a limited amount of sentimental items you want to look at again. Duplicates, broken items you will not repair and things kept just in case are usually the first to go. We will not pressure you, but we can offer a second opinion.

What if I cannot decide on the day?

Create a maybe pile. Put it in clearly labelled boxes and set them in one place in the garage with a date on them. If you have not opened them in six months, they can usually go. This keeps the session moving without forcing decisions you are not ready to make.

Can you help me sell things?

We can set aside items that look saleable, such as power tools, bikes, garden machinery and collectables, so you can sell them yourself online or locally. We do not buy or sell items ourselves. If something looks like it may be valuable, getting it checked by a specialist before it goes is usually worthwhile.

Is it cheaper to sort it myself first?

Yes, any sorting you do beforehand reduces the time we spend on site. Even setting aside the things you definitely want to keep, and labelling boxes that can go without checking, saves time. Many people do the easy decisions themselves and book help for the heavy lifting and the difficult areas.