Storage Unit Sizes and What a Cleanout Involves

Small storage unit with its roll-up door open, showing stacked moving boxes, a folded lawn chair and a lamp on the concrete floor

Small units (5x5 to 5x10)

A 5x5 is 25 square feet and a 5x10 is 50, about the size of a closet or a walk-in closet. They usually hold boxes, a few chairs, seasonal decorations and maybe a mattress. National cost write-ups list $150 to $250 for a 5x5 and $200 to $350 for a 5x10. These units are small enough that the price often comes down to the hauler's minimum load, so ask whether a single trip covers it and whether anything else nearby (a garage corner, a curbside couch) can ride along on the same visit.

Large storage unit packed with a sofa, mattresses, a dining table on end, dressers and stacked boxes reaching toward the ceiling

Full-size units (10x15 to 10x30)

A 10x15 holds 150 square feet of floor and a 10x30 holds 300, often stacked close to the ceiling with a household's furniture. The same cost write-up gives $400 to $600 for a 10x15, $500 to $800 or more for a 10x20 and $700 to $1,200 or more for a 10x30. Units this size often need more than one truck. Find out whether your facility lets a truck pull up to the door or whether the crew must carry everything down a long interior hall or ride a freight elevator; both add time.

Storage unit with a cut padlock on the floor, a torn mattress, black trash bags and broken furniture left inside

Units after a lien sale or abandonment

When rent stops, North Carolina's self-storage lien law (G.S. 44A-43) sets the order of events. After 15 days unpaid, the facility can begin enforcement by mailing a notice. The occupant then has 10 days to ask for a hearing, after which the tenancy ends and the facility can move the contents to other safekeeping. Notice of a public sale goes out by certified mail at least 20 days ahead, with a published notice at least 5 days before it. Live auctions can't be held on a Sunday and must run between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Whatever the winning bidder or the facility doesn't keep becomes a cleanout, booked by whichever of them is left holding the unit. Describe what's inside honestly, since abandoned units can hold broken furniture, bagged trash and spoiled food. (This is a plain summary of the statute, not legal advice.)

Gloved worker carrying an old wooden kitchen chair down brick porch steps toward a white pickup with another chair in the bed

Why Winston-Salem homeowners call Winston-Salem Junk Co.

Your request goes to a single independent hauler
Hear the all-in figure before anything is carried out
Calling is free; the hauler bills only the job you OK
Mention stairs, a gate code or a hot tub when you call

Storage Facility Logistics That Change the Quote

Gate code and hours
Each facility sets its own access hours. Give the hauler the code and confirm the crew can arrive and leave inside that window.
Office notice
Tell the office the date of the cleanout and ask about any rules on haulers or trucks in the drive aisles.
Keep pile
If you are keeping anything, take it out first or stack it at the front of the unit and tape a sign on it.
Photos
Shoot the unit from the door, plus one photo from each side if you can get in. That lets the hauler judge how many loads to plan for.
Move-out paperwork
After the sweep, take a photo of the empty unit and give the office written notice that you're vacating, so the billing stops.

See estate cleanouts when the unit belonged to a relative who has died.

Storage Unit Cleanouts in Winston-Salem, NC

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