A property cleanout is one of those jobs that looks small until you start. A garage becomes a weekend. A parent’s house becomes a month. A rental left trashed becomes the thing standing between you and your next tenant. And the quotes that come back from full-service crews — often $400 to $2,500 or more for a single property — can feel like a second problem on top of the first.
Here is the part nobody tells you: a huge share of what makes a cleanout expensive is the heavy stuff. Appliances, water heaters, scrap metal, old furniture, mattresses, TVs. Full-service haulers price all of it by how much of their truck you fill, so the washer and dryer in the basement cost you the same per cubic foot as a bag of clothes. That is the inefficiency you can cut.
This guide walks through every type of property cleanout in Indianapolis, what each one really costs, and the approach that saves the most money: handle the appliances and metal yourself for $11 a stop with Indy Pickup 1111, and only pay full-service pricing for what is left. With 2,173 Google reviews at 4.9 stars, IPU is the cheapest reliable way to clear the heavy half of any cleanout.
Types of Property Cleanouts in Indianapolis
“Cleanout” covers a lot of different jobs, and each one has its own scope, timeline, and emotional weight. Knowing which one you are dealing with helps you plan — and price — it correctly.
| Cleanout type | Typical scope | Timeline | What drives the cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garage cleanout | Tools, bikes, lawn equipment, scrap metal, old appliances, shelving | A few hours to a day | Volume of metal and bulky items |
| Basement cleanout | Water heaters, furnaces, dehumidifiers, furniture, boxes, exercise equipment | 1-2 days | Stairs/inside removal, appliance count |
| Estate cleanout | Entire home contents after a death or move to assisted living | 3 days to 2 weeks | Whole-home volume, sorting, sentimental items |
| Foreclosure / bank cleanout | Abandoned belongings, trash, sometimes appliances left behind | 1-3 days | Mixed debris, unknown contents |
| Tenant turnover | Junk a tenant left behind in a rental | A day or two | Speed — every day vacant costs rent |
| Hoarder cleanout | Heavily packed home, mixed contents, possible biohazard | 1-2 weeks | Volume, sorting, specialized handling |
| Pre-sale / moving cleanout | Everything you are not taking to the new place | A weekend to a week | Volume + deadline pressure |
Two patterns hold across all of them. First, appliances and metal are almost always part of the job — the fridge nobody wanted, the basement water heater, the rusted patio set, the old window AC unit. Second, those items are the most expensive thing to pay a full-service crew to remove and the easiest thing to handle separately for $11.
How Much Do Property Cleanouts Cost in Indianapolis?
Full-service property cleanouts in Indianapolis are priced by volume — how much of the truck you fill — plus labor. Here is the realistic range for 2026:
| Cleanout size | What it looks like | Typical full-service cost |
|---|---|---|
| Single room / partial garage | A few items, one truck section | $150 - $400 |
| Full garage or basement | Half a truck to a full truck | $400 - $900 |
| Small home / apartment | One to two full truckloads | $800 - $1,800 |
| Full estate / large home | Multiple truckloads over days | $2,000 - $5,000+ |
For comparison, Fire Dawgs and the national chains (1-800-GOT-JUNK, Junk King, College Hunks) start their garage and basement cleanout pricing around $299 to $400+ and climb fast from there. Their minimum just to show up is usually $99 to $150.
Now the other side of the ledger. The appliances and metal inside that same property — the part that takes up the most room on a full-service truck — cost this much with Indy Pickup 1111:
- Washer, dryer, stove, water heater, lawn mower, or any scrap metal: $11 base fee per stop, no surcharge, working or broken
- Refrigerator or freezer: $11 + $25 (federally required freon recovery)
- Window or portable AC unit, dehumidifier, dishwasher, water softener: $11 + $15
- Furniture, mattresses, and TVs: $11 + a published per-item surcharge
The $11 base is a one-time charge per pickup, not per item. Clear a garage with a dead washer, a dryer, a lawn mower, and a pile of scrap on the same visit, and you pay $11 total for all of it. See the full breakdown on the pickup items list and surcharge page.
What Indy Pickup 1111 Handles in a Cleanout (and What It Doesn’t)
Being honest about this is the whole point. Indy Pickup 1111 is not a haul-everything, fill-the-whole-truck company, and pretending otherwise would just waste your time on the phone.
What we take, at $11 base plus any item surcharge:
- Appliances of every kind — washers, dryers, stoves, ovens, dishwashers, microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, water heaters, furnaces, AC units, water softeners
- Scrap metal — shelving, railings, pipe, fencing, grills, patio furniture, exercise equipment, anything with significant metal content
- Furniture — couches, sectionals, recliners, loveseats, futons, and other bulky pieces (per-piece surcharge)
- Mattresses and box springs (per-piece surcharge)
- TVs and most electronics (priced by size)
What we do not take: general household trash, bagged garbage, cardboard, food waste, construction and renovation debris (drywall, lumber, concrete), hazardous materials (paint, chemicals, oil), and yard waste. For those, you want city heavy trash or a full-service hauler. We will tell you that straight up when you call — no bait and switch.
If items are inside the home rather than at the curb or in an open garage, that is fine — inside removal carries a small surcharge so the crew can come get them: +$20 for a standard appliance on the main floor (+$65 for a refrigerator), or +$40 from a basement or second story (+$95 for a refrigerator). Everything we haul goes to our recycling facility at 3004 Stanley Avenue, where metals are recovered and refrigerants are handled per EPA rules. Nothing goes to a landfill.
The Hybrid Approach: $11 for the Big Stuff, a Hauler for the Rest
This is how to do a cleanout in Indianapolis for the least money. Split the job in two.
- First pass — the heavy, recyclable half. Book an $11 pickup for every appliance and all the metal. This is usually the bulkiest, heaviest, most expensive-to-haul part of the whole property, and it leaves with you paying a flat $11 plus a few small surcharges.
- Second pass — everything else. Whatever is left is general trash, debris, or donations. Donate what works (Habitat ReStore, Goodwill, and Salvation Army pick up working furniture and appliances for free), set out two heavy items a month with the city’s heavy trash service, or call a full-service hauler for the genuine junk.
The savings are real. A full-service crew might quote $700 to clear a basement packed with a water heater, a dehumidifier, an old couch, a dead treadmill, and twenty boxes of mixed junk. Pull the metal and appliances out as an $11 stop first — water heater ($11 base, no surcharge), dehumidifier (+$15), treadmill (mostly metal, no surcharge), couch (+$75) — and you have cleared the heavy half for about $101. Now the hauler is only quoting the twenty boxes, and that number drops by hundreds.
If you only remember one thing from this guide: never pay full-service junk pricing to remove an appliance or scrap metal. That is the most overpriced line item in any cleanout.
DIY vs. Professional Cleanout
Whether to do it yourself comes down to three things: how much there is, how heavy it is, and how fast it has to happen.
Do it yourself when: the property is mostly boxes, clothes, and light household goods; you have a vehicle and a free weekend; and there is no hard deadline. Rent a trailer or make dump runs for the trash, donate the good stuff, and book an $11 pickup for the appliances and metal. This is the cheapest route by far.
Hire it out when: the home is full and you are out of state or out of time (common with estate and tenant-turnover jobs); there is mixed debris, biohazard, or hoarding-level volume; or the property has to be empty by a specific date for a closing or a new tenant. The labor and speed are worth paying for.
The middle path most people land on: do the sorting and donating yourself, use IPU’s $11 service for all the appliances and metal, and hire a hauler only for the leftover trash. You control the expensive parts and pay professionals only for the part you genuinely cannot do alone.
When a Cleanout Has a Deadline (Foreclosures, Closings & Turnovers)
Some cleanouts are not optional and not flexible. A rental has to be empty before the next tenant moves in. A house has to be clear for a closing date. A foreclosure or estate has a court or bank timeline. When the calendar is the boss, the strategy shifts from “cheapest” to “fastest without overpaying.”
For landlords and property managers, the math is simple: every day a unit sits full is a day of lost rent, so the appliances and metal — the slowest, heaviest part to move — should leave first. A same-day or next-day $11 pickup clears the left-behind fridge, stove, washer, and dryer immediately, so your turnover crew or hauler walks into a unit that is already half done. For realtors and executors prepping a home for sale, the same logic applies: get the bulky appliances and scrap out of the way early so stagers and cleaners have room to work.
The mistake to avoid under deadline pressure is handing the entire job to the first full-service crew that can come tomorrow and paying premium volume pricing on items you could have cleared for $11. Even on a tight timeline, splitting the job — IPU for the metal and appliances, a hauler for the rest — usually costs less and moves just as fast, because two services working the same property clear it quicker than one.
Your Indianapolis Cleanout Planning Checklist
Work the property in this order and a cleanout that felt impossible becomes a series of small, finished steps:
- Walk the whole property first. Make a quick list of the big items — every appliance, every piece of furniture, every pile of metal. This is what drives your cost.
- Separate into four piles: keep, donate, recycle (metal + appliances), and trash.
- Book the donations. ReStore, Goodwill, and Salvation Army pick up working furniture and appliances free — usually with a 1-2 week wait, so schedule early.
- Book your $11 pickup for the recycle pile. One stop clears all the appliances and metal. Add any inside-removal note when you book so the crew is ready.
- Handle the trash last. City heavy trash (two items a month, no freon, find your day here) for small jobs, or a full-service hauler for the rest.
- Confirm your service area. IPU covers the entire metro from Greenwood to Carmel, Plainfield to New Palestine; outlying towns carry a small fuel surcharge. Check yours on the service areas page.
Real Pricing Examples
| Scenario | The heavy items (IPU) | IPU cost |
|---|---|---|
| Garage cleanout | Dead washer, dryer, lawn mower, scrap shelving — one stop | $11 |
| Basement cleanout | Water heater, dehumidifier (+$15), old couch (+$75), treadmill | $101 |
| Estate kitchen + laundry | Fridge (+$25), stove, dishwasher (+$15), washer, dryer — one stop | $51 |
| Tenant turnover | Left-behind fridge (+$25), mattress (+$30), TV (+$25) | $91 |
Every one of those would be a meaningful chunk of a full-service cleanout quote. Handled separately, they are pocket change — and that is before the hauler’s bill for the rest comes down because the truck-filling items are already gone.
How to Book Your $11 Pickup
Start with the easy part. Get the appliances and metal out of the way for $11, then deal with whatever is left.
- Text a photo to (317) 350-1111 or book online with a quick list of your appliances and metal items.
- We confirm your price up front — $11 base plus any surcharges, no surprises. See exactly how it works.
- We come get it, same-day or next-day in the core metro. Hours are Monday-Friday 8am-5pm and Saturday 9am-2pm (closed Sunday).
For the full picture on pricing, see our guide to how the $11 pickup works, and for the leftover trash, our breakdown of junk removal costs in Indianapolis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a property cleanout cost in Indianapolis?
Full-service property cleanouts in Indianapolis typically run $400 to $2,500+ depending on volume, with estate and large-home cleanouts reaching $5,000 or more. You can cut that substantially by handling the appliances and metal yourself: Indy Pickup 1111 clears those for a flat $11 base fee per stop plus small published surcharges, instead of paying full-service volume pricing for the heaviest items.
What is included in a property cleanout service?
A full-service cleanout includes labor, hauling, and disposal of nearly everything in a property — furniture, trash, debris, and appliances — priced by how much of the truck you fill. Indy Pickup 1111 is not a haul-everything service; it focuses on the appliances, metal, furniture, mattresses, and electronics for $11 a stop plus surcharges, which is the most expensive part to remove any other way.
How long does a property cleanout take?
A garage or single room is usually a few hours. A full basement runs one to two days. A whole estate or large home can take three days to two weeks depending on volume and sorting. Pulling the appliances and metal early with an $11 pickup speeds the whole job up, since those are the items that clog the process.
Does Indy Pickup 1111 do full house cleanouts?
Not the trash-and-debris kind. IPU handles the appliances, scrap metal, furniture, mattresses, and electronics in a cleanout — not general household trash, cardboard, food waste, construction debris, or hazardous materials. The best approach on a mixed cleanout is to split it: IPU for the metal and appliances at $11 a stop, and a full-service hauler for the rest.
What is the cheapest way to clear out a basement or garage in Indianapolis?
Sort and donate what you can, set out the trash through city heavy trash or a hauler, and book an $11 Indy Pickup 1111 stop for all the appliances and metal. Because the $11 base covers an unlimited number of standard metal items in one visit, a basement or garage full of scrap and appliances often clears for $11 plus a few small surcharges — a fraction of the $299+ that full-service crews charge.
Can you remove items from inside the home or basement?
Yes. Standard pickups are curbside, in the driveway, or in an open garage, but the crew can come inside for a small surcharge: +$20 for a standard appliance on the main floor (+$65 for a refrigerator), or +$40 from a basement or second story (+$95 for a refrigerator). Just mention inside removal when you book so we quote it up front.