House Cleanouts in Winston-Salem, NC

This is the job where the house has to be empty by a date: a closing, a lease end, a listing photo shoot. The usual way to run it is to tag what stays (painter's tape works), walk the hauler through once, and let the crew take everything untagged, room by room, starting at the back of the house. When the house belonged to someone who has died, the estate cleanout page covers executors, estate sales and the timing that goes with them.

Closets hold more than people expect: clothes, shoes, linens, boxed papers, the treadmill nobody used. Clothing and shoes in decent shape are worth a separate bag, since Goodwill takes them; the local ReStores don't take sheets, drapes or comforters. The donation pickup page lists what each charity accepts. Mattresses are a separate line item covered under mattress disposal.

A kitchen is mostly small, heavy things: dishes, cast iron, canned goods, countertop appliances. Boxed dishes and housewares are another Goodwill category. Microwaves and toasters don't count as "white goods" under the City's rules, so they go with the general load, while the range, fridge and dishwasher follow the rules on the appliance removal page. Clear the cabinet under the sink last; that's where the drain cleaner and bug spray live.

In a house with a crawl space or an enclosed back porch, that's usually where the overflow went. Crawl space work is slow: everything comes out on hands and knees through a small access door. Old paint cans and kerosene jugs tend to collect down there, and those are on the county's household hazardous waste list, not the truck. The homepage lists where they go.