The pricing, plainly
| Volume | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Quarter truck (one dense room) | $241 |
| Half truck | $431 |
| Full truck — 16 cu yd | $732 |
| Each additional truck | Same flat rate — no escalation |
Loading from every floor — including the basement stairs and the attic ladder — donation sorting, and disposal included. Specialty heavyweights price flat alongside: upright piano $364, pool table $603. No hourly billing, ever: estates are exactly where hourly pricing punishes grief.
The bungalow-belt warning
The most common estate surprise in this city: the house is three houses deep. Main floor, full basement, walk-up attic — and an estate that occupied all three for decades. The family walks the main floor and guesses two truckloads; the basement (its own institution here) and attic double it. Assume both are full until photographed otherwise — it's why our quote asks for the basement and attic shots up front, and why the number doesn't move on clear day.
The sort-first sequence (before any crew)
- Pass 1 — documents & valuables. Deeds, bonds, jewelry, photographs. Chicago basements hide strongboxes and coffee cans; check everything that closes.
- Pass 2 — keepsakes, marked or moved to one room.
- Pass 3 — the estate sale, run while the house is still full (sale companies need inventory).
- Then the clear: everything that remains — hauled, donation-sorted with receipts, rooms photographed empty. We don't appraise and we don't decide; by clear day, the family already has.
The paper trail, built in
Estates run on documentation: itemized receipts per truck, donation receipts on request, per-room photos when it's done — the package an executor drops into the estate file from three states away. The holding-cost math is the quiet argument for speed: every month the house waits, taxes, insurance and utilities bill an empty building. A clear that finishes in days, not seasons, pays part of its own invoice.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an estate cleanout cost in Chicago?
Flat by volume, no hourly meter: quarter truck $241, half $431, full 16-cubic-yard truck $732, with every additional truck at the same flat rate. The Chicago-specific warning: a bungalow or two-flat estate runs deeper than its floor plan suggests, because the basement and attic are usually full — a '2-bedroom' estate is commonly three to four truckloads once both are opened. Photo-based quotes price the real volume before anyone commits.
Why do Chicago bungalow estates run bigger than expected?
The bungalow belt was built with two bonus floors — a full basement and a walk-up attic — and fifty years of continuous occupancy fills both. The main floor the family sees is often a third of the actual contents. Budget (and schedule) with the basement and attic assumed full until proven otherwise; it's the single most common estate-quote surprise we prevent with photos.
Can an out-of-state executor book a Chicago estate cleanout?
Yes — fully remote: photos from whoever has access (realtor, neighbor, family), flat per-truck quote back, booking and payment from anywhere, itemized receipt and per-room photos when the house is empty. Donation-grade items route to donation with receipts available for the estate's records.
Should the estate sale happen before the cleanout?
Yes — the sequence that protects value: documents and valuables first (check every drawer, book and coat pocket; basements hide strongboxes), keepsakes second, the estate sale third (sale companies want the house full), and the clear last. We take what remains after those passes; we don't appraise or make keep/sell calls — those decisions belong to the family and happen before we arrive.