Junk Removal & Cleanouts for North NJ Homes and Businesses
Garages, basements and attics cleared, remodel and construction debris hauled away, and fall leaves cleaned up and taken off the property, for homes and businesses in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties.
We clear garages, basements and attics, haul away remodel and construction debris, and clean up fall leaves and take them off the property, for homes and businesses in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. You send photos or we come and look, and you get a written quote before anything is touched.
It is the same Garfield crew that does roofing, siding, windows and gutters, so a cleanout after one of our jobs, or before a sale or a renovation, is one call instead of two. Below: what we take and what we do not, what it costs as whole-job ranges, and the New Jersey rules on leaves and curbside pickup that decide whether you need a crew at all.
- Snow plowing & removal — Driveway plowing, walks, steps and salting for the same four counties once the leaves are down.
- Gutter cleaning — Only the gutters and downspouts need clearing? That is its own service.
- Water damage restoration — Water standing in the basement is extraction and drying, a different job from a cleanout.
What we clear
Household clutter and furniture out of garages, basements and attics; remodel and construction debris such as drywall, tile, flooring, a tub or a vanity, framing offcuts and old shingle or siding scrap; and fall leaves, cleaned up and hauled off the lot. Everything is cleared and hauled away as one job, so you are not renting a container and filling it yourself.
Gutter cleaning is its own service with its own page, and if the leaves are in the gutters as well as on the lawn it is usually worth doing the two together. After a storm we clear leaves, gutter debris and other non-woody material from yards, walkways, porches and decks.
For businesses it is the same work at storefront scale: a back room, a stockroom, a basement of old fixtures, or a unit that has to be emptied. Those are quoted after a walk-through, and we do not publish a figure for them because the volume and the access vary too much to give a range you could rely on.
What we do not take
Anything hazardous, anything chemical, and anything that is really tree work. Saying so before the quote saves you a second call. For household hazardous waste your county and your town run their own collection programs, so ask them what they accept before you load a car.
- Paint, solvents, fuel, propane and pesticides: household hazardous waste, handled through county and town collection programs.
- Tires, and anything medical, chemical or hazardous.
- Asbestos and lead paint: never part of a cleanout. If a ceiling or floor tile may contain asbestos, have it tested before it is torn out.
- Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners.
- TVs, computers, monitors, tablets and printers: New Jersey's Electronic Waste Management Act bans putting these in the trash, and NJDEP publishes a yearly list of drop-off sites for consumers, so these go to a collection site, not into a load.
- Trees, limbs, branches, brush and stumps. New Jersey treats tree care as its own licensed trade under the Tree Expert and Tree Care Operator Licensing Act, and its regulations list brush cutting, tree work and stump work inside it. We clear leaves and non-woody material, nothing woody.
Why a roofing and remodeling crew does cleanouts
Clearing our own debris is part of every roof, window and siding job we do: the old material goes on the truck. A cleanout is that same work with the same equipment and the same people, aimed at your garage or basement instead of at our own scrap.
It is also the honest limit of what we do. We are roofing, window, siding and gutter contractors who also clear. We do not do tree work, we do not take hazardous material, and we say so up front. If a cleanout is the first step before a window, siding or roofing job, it can be the same crew from the first load to the last.
What it costs
Every figure below is a planning range for the whole job and for the scenario beside it. The price is the written quote you get after we have seen the property, by photos or a visit, and the quote says what it covers before any work starts. The same approach runs across the site, and how we charge explains it in more detail.
Four things move a quote: access and stairs, weight, volume, and the distance from the door to the truck. Tile, plaster and a cast-iron tub weigh far more than their size suggests, and a basement reached by one flight of stairs is a different job from one reached by three. A larger house, a multi-car garage, a full or finished basement or an attic is bigger than the scenarios in the table, so it is quoted after a walk-through, in words, with no figure printed here.
| Job | What is included | Planning range |
|---|---|---|
| One-car garage, contents cleared; no stairs | Cleared and hauled away | $350 to $1,000 |
| Unfinished basement, contents cleared; one flight of stairs | Cleared and hauled away | $500 to $1,800 |
| Debris from a typical bathroom remodel: tub, vanity, toilet, tile and drywall | Hauled away | $350 to $1,000 |
| One fall leaf cleanup with haul-away, lot of about a quarter acre | Leaves cleaned up and taken off the property | $250 to $800 |
Planning ranges, not a quote. The written quote after a look at the property is the price. Asbestos and hazardous material are never part of these jobs.
Larger houses, multi-car garages and storefronts
A bigger property is a bigger job, not a different one, and it is quoted from a walk-through, not from a table. What changes the work is rarely the number of boxes. It is a finished basement with built-ins, an attic reached by pull-down stairs, a three-car garage plus a detached one, a driveway the truck has to reach through a gate or along a long private drive, and a lot with enough mature trees that the leaves are a project of their own. Tell us about the gate, the stairs and where the truck can stand, and the quote reflects it.
Condominium and HOA properties usually set their own rules for moving and haul-away: reserved elevator times, loading hours, where a truck may stand. Ask your board or management office first and tell us what they require, and we plan the day around it. In a townhouse or brownstone, such as the walk-ups in Hoboken, there is often no driveway at all, so the carry from the door to the truck is what drives the price.
Storefronts and offices in downtown blocks, in Ridgewood, Montclair and Hoboken for example, are cleared around opening hours and around where a truck can legally stand. Say when the space is empty and how the stock or fixtures get out, and we agree the day with you.
Where we work
Homes and businesses in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties, from the Garfield shop. The list below leads with the towns where larger houses, multi-car garages, finished basements and attics, long driveways and many mature trees are common, because that is where a cleanout is usually the biggest job and a leaf cleanup the heaviest. It is a list of where we work, not a set of town pages: the way we quote is the same everywhere, and the full list of towns we serve is on our service areas page.
Leaf rules are the clearest example of how much towns differ, and they shape how a leaf cleanup is done on your lot. Ridgewood's Village page says leaves go directly into the street or into leaf bags on the curb, on your area's schedule, and that branches and brush are not collected curbside during leaf season. Montclair takes leaves in biodegradable paper bags only, bags of 50 pounds or less, during leaf collection season, April 1 to 30 and October 15 to December 1. Millburn asks owners not to place any leaves within 10 feet of a storm inlet, excludes brush, branches, twigs and grass clippings from leaf pickup, and collects each zone three times from October through December.
Montclair also bars gas-powered leaf blowers. Its Code Enforcement office lists them as not permitted since October 15, 2023, with electric blowers allowed year-round except on the state's air quality action days, and never powered by a gas or diesel generator. A leaf job in Montclair is therefore done with rakes and electric equipment. If you are comparing quotes there, ask what the crew will run.
Town rules change, and these were read on the towns' own pages on October 13, 2026. Check your town's page before you set anything out, and tell us which town you are in so the quote reflects its rules.
Bergen County
- Saddle River
- Upper Saddle River
- Alpine
- Ho-Ho-Kus
- Franklin Lakes
- Ridgewood
- Wyckoff
- Tenafly
- Cresskill
- Demarest
- Englewood Cliffs
- Closter
- Old Tappan
- Allendale
- Glen Rock
- Mahwah
- Ramsey
- River Vale
Passaic County
- Wayne
- North Haledon
Essex County
- Montclair
- Glen Ridge
- Millburn (Short Hills)
- Livingston
- Essex Fells
- North Caldwell
- Verona
Hudson County
- Hoboken
Fall leaves in New Jersey
Leaves are not regular garbage in New Jersey. The State's Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act (P.L. 1987, c. 102) requires leaves to be source separated and recycled, and NJDEP's composting manual adds that landfilling is no longer an alternative for managing leaves and that leaves are banned from incinerators within the state.
That is why a leaf cleanup is its own line in the table and its own quote, not an add-on to a junk load, and why your town runs a leaf program of its own with its own curb rules. A crew's job is the part the town program does not do: getting a heavy canopy's worth of leaves off the lawn, beds and gutters, and off the property.
Leaves and non-woody yard debris only. Anything woody is tree work and is not ours.
What your town's bulk pickup will and will not take
Towns differ, and the only way to know is to call your public works department. One example read from a town's own page shows why a remodel or a gutted room usually needs a crew. Garfield's Department of Public Works says its garbage collector will not pick up construction materials including concrete, asphalt and dirt, or lumber, sheet rock, bricks and rocks. White goods and metals are collected by appointment on Thursdays, and electronics are dropped off at the DPW on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
That is the pattern a remodel runs into: a town will take a couch, but not the lumber, tile and drywall that come out of a renovation, and that is the load a cleanout crew exists for. Other towns write their own lists, so call your public works department before you set anything out.
How a cleanout goes
Three steps, and the written quote states what it covers before any work starts. The crew is insured for the cleanout and haul-away work.
The more specific the photos, the tighter the quote. Shoot the whole space from the door, the stairs, and the path to wherever a truck can stand, and mention anything heavy, such as tile, a workbench or a cast-iron tub. Set aside what you are keeping, papers and valuables included, before the crew arrives: a short list of things to keep is easier to hand over than a stop in the middle of the job.
- You send photos, or we visit. Tell us the town, where the truck can stand, and whether there are stairs, a gate or building rules.
- You get a written quote before any work starts, stating what it covers.
- We agree the day with you, then load and clear.
Common questions
How much does it cost to clean out a garage in North Jersey?
A one-car garage with the contents cleared and hauled away, and no stairs involved, plans out between $350 and $1,000 for the whole job. What moves the price is access, stairs, weight and volume, so a garage packed to the ceiling with a long carry sits near the top. The price is a written quote after we have seen the property by photos or a visit, and a multi-car or detached garage is quoted after a walk-through.
How much does a basement cleanout cost?
An unfinished basement with the contents cleared and hauled away, reached by one flight of stairs, plans out between $500 and $1,800 for the whole job. A finished basement, more flights of stairs or a larger house is quoted after a walk-through. The written quote states what it covers before any work starts.
Can I put construction debris out with my town's bulk pickup?
Usually not. Garfield's garbage collector will not take concrete, asphalt, dirt, lumber, sheet rock, bricks or rocks. Call your public works department before you set anything out, because the rules differ town to town.
What can't go in a junk load?
Paint, solvents, fuel, propane, pesticides, tires and anything hazardous, chemical or medical stay out, and asbestos and lead paint are never part of a cleanout. TVs, computers and monitors are also out, because New Jersey's e-waste law bans putting them in the trash and NJDEP publishes drop-off sites. Your county and town run household hazardous waste collections, so ask them what they accept.
What happens to my leaves?
New Jersey requires leaves to be source separated and recycled, so they cannot go out with regular garbage, and NJDEP says landfilling and incineration are not options for them. Your town's leaf program sets the curb rules: Montclair takes paper bags only, for example, while Ridgewood takes leaves in the street or in bags on its area schedule. A leaf cleanup with haul-away takes the leaves off your property, and a lot of about a quarter acre plans out between $250 and $800 for the whole job.
Do you take tree limbs or brush?
No. We clear leaves and non-woody material only. New Jersey regulates tree care as a separately licensed trade, and its regulations list brush cutting, tree work and stump work inside it, so limbs, branches and stumps need a tree company or your town's branch program.
Do you do storm cleanups?
We clear leaves, gutter debris and other non-woody material from yards, walkways, porches and decks after a storm. Moving a fallen tree or limbs is tree work and is not ours. If a tree has damaged the roof, the roof repair is a separate call to us.
Do you clean gutters too?
Yes. Gutter cleaning is its own service with its own page, and it can be done alongside a leaf cleanup. Ask for both when you request the quote.
Do you do cleanouts for businesses?
Yes, for stockrooms, back rooms, basements and units that need emptying, in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. Business cleanouts are quoted in writing after a walk-through, with no figure published, because volume and access vary too much. Tell us when the space is free and how things get out.
Sources
- NJDEP, Compost Manual introduction: leaves must be source separated and recycled (P.L. 1987, c. 102) — retrieved
- NJDEP, E-Waste Frequently Asked Questions (January 18, 2024): covered devices and the disposal ban — retrieved
- N.J.A.C. 7:3A-1.3, definition of tree care operator services (Tree Expert and Tree Care Operator Licensing Act), as published by Cornell LII — retrieved
- Borough of Garfield Department of Public Works: construction materials, white goods, electronics — retrieved
- Village of Ridgewood, Yard Waste & Leaf Collection (2026 page) — retrieved
- Township of Montclair, Leaves and Vegetative Yard Waste Guidelines — retrieved
- Township of Montclair Code Enforcement, Frequently Cited Ordinances: Chapter 219, Leaf Blowers — retrieved
- Township of Millburn, 2026 Leaf Collection Schedule & Information — retrieved
Need something cleared?
Tell us what needs to go, where it is and whether there are stairs. Photos help. We will come back to you with a written quote.