Category Archives: Los Angeles Junk

Garage Clean Out

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It is another sunny, summer Saturday here in Los Angeles, California. I texted a friend to see if he wanted to watch the Kings game later. Much to my dismay I received back, “Can’t. Cleaning out the garage.” So sad.

And it is totally unnecessary. There is no need to spend a weekend cleaning out a garage, year after year. This dismal doom can be mostly avoided by taking control of your garage. Here are five ways to show your garage who is boss.

1. Keep Your Cars in Your Garage

This is a piece of advice that is so obvious it sounds counterintuitive. One of the best ways to keep your garage clean and organized is to use your garage for your cars. You can’t fill a garage with junk when your car is in the way. Right?

Right.

Not to mention storing your car in a garage spares your car’s paint job a pounding from the weather and will lower your car insurance premiums.

2. Hang Your Tools on a Peg Board

When of your dining room chairs has a loose screw that is threatening to collapse the entire chair. You say to yourself, Hey, I can fix that! I just need to grab a screwdriver from the garage! Two hours later you’ve located four stuffed animals, a pair of pliers, some loose bolts, and a hammer. But no screwdriver.

There is an easy and cool solution. Hang your tools on the wall. You can either arrange your tools on a peg board, a rack, or specialized hangers. This also gives you an excuse to bring that work bench you’ve always wanted. What else compliments a showroom of tools better than a work bench?

When you are finished organizing your tools grab a couple of empty coffee tins and start organizing your screws, nails, bolts, nuts, etc. One coffee tin for screws, one coffee tin for nails, and so on. Depending on the type of Do-It-Yourself jobs you do you may want to get even more granular — a coffee can for wood screws and another coffee can for machine screws.

You can also use store bought organizers to store fasteners and screws, but I tend to like coffee cans. There is something deeply nostalgic about fishing a screw out of an repurpose Folger’s tin.

3. Install Shelving

There are a ton of shelving solutions that are aimed squarely at getting your boxes off the floor. You can buy free standing shelving or shelves that screws (or bolts) directly to the wall. You can even find garage shelving that is designed to hang down from your garage’s rafters (this is an ideal way to store infrequently used stuff like ladders.

Another way you can get boxes off the floor is to install quarter inch plywood boards running across the rafters of your garage. This can serve as an “garage attic” where you can store seasonal items like Christmas decorations.

If you’ve made an effort to carefully install shelving do yourself another favor and buy some sealable plastic boxes. Plastic boxes will last a lot longer (possibly forever) than cardboard boxes and do a better job of protecting the stuff you are trying to store.

4. Label Everything

Either buy a label maker or a couple rolls of masking tape and a marker. Now label everything. Even if you know what is in a box today, label it. Why? This will prevent you from the, “Well I know the Christmas decorations are in THERE!” syndrome. Labeling keeps you from guessing and prevents you from making a mess when you guess wrong.

If you want to get really serious, after packing a box for storage, write out an inventory list of what’s in the box (1 Xmas wreaths, 4 boxes Christmas bulbs). This technique is particularly effective if you have multiple boxes filled with similar items (.i.e. Christmas decorations).

5. Don’t Store Used Chemicals

Paint, household cleaners, and automotive fluids are all considered household hazardous waste and you can’t put them in your normal curbside side trash. So many people store used chemicals in their garage. This is a bad idea on multiple levels of bad.

Firstly, an excess number of poorly store chemicals creates a fire hazard that can damage or destroy your home. Secondly, chemicals laying around your garage pose a hazard to small kids and pets. Instead of storing household hazardous chemicals drop them off at a city approved drop off center. Or call a hauling service like Green Clean Junk Removal Services to haul away old paints, cleaners, etc.

Getting control over your garage takes a little time, a little effort, and a lot of planning. But the results can be amazing. You not only reduce clutter but you turn your garage into another show piece inside your home.

Bulky Item Removal

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If you ever found yourself in a situation where you wake up one morning and you see a sofa or table on your driveway of front lawn that somebody just left there, then you’re pretty much screwed with it. Unfortunately, California law says that you are responsible for the junk and trash in your own property.

 

You could take the easy road and do the exact same thing to someone else and dump that thing in his or her property in the middle of the night. But if you’re someone with a conscience or someone with morals, then you wouldn’t. Like it or not, you have to get rid of the junk yourself.

 

One way to do it is to call the city and ask for a bulky item. This is probably the most affordable way to get rid of it. But there is a downside though; the city only picks up once a week. So if you missed your window then you will have to wait for a week.

 

Another way to do it is if you have a pick up and the muscles to do some heavy lifting, then load up the junk and take it to the dump and pay for the disposal. I’m sure this sucks but at least you got rid of it.

 

Now if you can lift the trash or don’t even want to touch it, there are companies out there that specialize in these bulky item pick-ups. They have guys that can do the lifting for you then they load it up in their truck and dispose of it. It not free of course, but then again so is most of everything else.

Junk Removal Trash Out

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If you are buying or just bought a foreclosed home in Calabasas, congratulations! Foreclosed homes provide a great value. You can often get three times the home for about half the price. But foreclosed homes come with a few immediate disadvantages. The main disadvantage is that foreclosed homes often need to be completely cleaned out before you can move in. But cleaning out a foreclosure doesn’t have to be a nightmare. There are many junk removal services in the Calabasas area that specialize in foreclosure clean outs.

When foreclosed homes became an issue for neighbors, realtors, and banks in 2008 there were an array of junk removal companies that rose up to solve the problem of junk collecting in and around foreclosed homes. Even today in 2013 those same junk removal companies do a brisk business in foreclosure clean outs.

Demolition Services in Los Angeles

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Demolition Services in Los Angeles are very varied and complicated to follow through on. there are many companies out there in the landscape that can get your job done. Choosing a great one is what seems to be the problem. There are many things you can do to shield yourself from finding an incorrect company that will not help you all the way through.

When finding a local demolition company for your job make sure they have a reputable service level history. You can obtain this by reading reviews either online or getting referrals from friends and customers that have used them before.  A good place to start when looking for a company is by word of mouth. Real reviews travel fast through inner circles and you would usually hear about either the best or the worst company. Nobody gives reviews to mediocre companies. 
These are somethings you should keep in mind when looking for a demolition company to service you.

Protect Our Planet

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Protect Our Planet

We have all been left with the task of having to care about our planet to help and make it greener and safer for our future generations. That is why we need to make sure that we recycle whatever objects we can and keep them out of our ecosystem. With so much junk that gets disposed of everyday it might be a little daunting to try and recycle as many objects as possible. With a knowledgable and great staff at a local junk removal company getting your carbon footprint to be smaller than what it is now can be a huge and vastly improvement. Plastics, glass and many other objects are but a few that can be taken into account and should be separated for recycling purposes at all times. Not only will it help out our environment but make planet earth a very enjoyable and pleasant place to be living on for all of us. So help us protect our planet and get rid of that trash, clean out, garage clean out etc and many other tasks.

Los Angeles Junk Removal

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Junk removal in Los Angeles is a growth business. Since 2008 and the implosion of the housing market in Los Angeles junk removal has experienced a growth spurt. More and more real estate agents are turning to junk removal companies to help them clean up properties, more contractors are relying on junk removal to clean up their job sites, and individual homeowners are turning to junk removal services to help them de-clutter.

But junk removal in Los Angeles also comes with its dark side and with its bad apples. Luckily, you can avoid these bad apples (mostly) and we’ll show you how.

The most common way junk removal companies in Los Angeles scam customers is the tried and true bait and switch. You call up a junk removal company and say, I have This, That, and This Other thing. And they say, Great! That will be $170. Then a couple hours or a day later that junk removal company arrives at your door, they look around at your stuff, and then say, “Oh that will now be $500.” Because of stairs, because they had to park the truck on the street, because one of the workers stubbed their toes…

So how do you avoid this tactic?

First and foremost know who your junk removal company is before you hire them. How? There are dozens of internet review sites online like Yelp and Angie’s List. Chances are your junk removal company has been review by other customers. You can also check with the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau to see if your junk removal company has had any recent complaints.

When you book your appointment ask the junk removal company you called if their price quote includes labor. Junk removal companies frequently provide low junk removal quotes, but conveniently leave off the labor charges. If you plan on having your junk removal service dispose of hazardous materials, ask how much extra they’ll charge for disposal of toxic materials.

If your junk removal company in Los Angeles does try the bait and switch, send them packing. Bait-and-switch companies rely on psychology to bully you into paying extra. Don’t give in. Hold firm to a quoted price and if they don’t want to do a job for that price, send them packing and find a new junk removal company that honors their original price.

Lastly, if a quoted price seems too good to be believed, it probably is too good to be true.

Cleaning Out Your Garage This Summer? Recycle, Don’t Throw Out

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Summer is here and its time to clean out your garage. If your garage is anything like mine you’ve probably got boxes piled to the ceiling and you just want to get rid of that stuff. And if you don’t want to do it there is an entire mini-industry based around garage clean outs (click here to find out more about junk removal and professional garage clean outs).  

But before you start hauling all your garage junk to the garbage STOP. Okay, now that we’ve got your attention, before you throw out the stuff in your garage consider donating to local thrift shops and charities instead. Why?

Donating Unwanted Items Keeps Them Out the Landfill

Donating items can keeps them out of the landfill and gives those items a second (and sometimes third and fourth) life. Less trash in the landfill means a better environment and less trash left behind for our kids and grandkids.

Donating Unwanted Items Helps Charities and Local Stores

Many charities depend on income brought in by associated thrift shops to fund their charitable efforts. Also charity thrift shops often provide dignity and employment to disabled individuals and provide valuable services to your community. 

Donating Unwanted Items Helps You

Donations to charity can provide you with a valuable tax write-off. Make sure you ask for a receipt from your charity.

Be sure you check with your charity of choice or thrift shop of choice before donating. Many charities have rules about what they will and will not except (some don’t take appliances older than a certain date for instance). Also be aware that thrift shops don’t accept paints and other household hazardous materials. You may also want to ask your thrift shop or charity of choice if they have an “Items Wanted List” and no doubt some of the things you’ve cleaned out of your garage are on them.

Disaster Clean Up…

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Natural disasters can strike at any time, during any part of the year. In some cases you may have some warning, in other cases you may have no warning and no time to prepare. Once the immediate danger has passed you are often faced with a daunting task: disaster clean up. 

The most important thing to remember when you are faced with a disaster clean up — whether flood, fire or tornados — is that you are not along. The American Red Cross can provide you help and support during a natural disaster. During major natural disaster you can find aid from FEMA and state governments. 

Your insurance company should be able to refer to a disaster clean up service that can help you clean up and rebuild. Depending on your insurance your insurance company should pay for most of the cost of a disaster clean up.

Be Careful with Your Chemicals

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When you buy paint, or car wax, or a computer you don’t really think of those things as toxic or hazardous. Hazardous materials aren’t sold in stores right? I mean, as long as I don’t go around swallowing paint this stuff can’t hurt me right? 

Items like used paints and cleaners do represent s potential source of harm to our environment. Think of a common scenario. Someone (we won’t say you because you wouldn’t do this) dumps a half gallon of paint down the drain after they’ve finished repainting t a room. That paint will go on to contaminate pipes, sewers, and possibly even drinking water for days or weeks. Motor oil that is just dumped out into the ground goes on to contaminate ground water, harming wildlife and plants. Even a computer that has been improperly disposed of can cause great harm by exposing both animals and people to lead and other contaminates.

So when you are dealing with household hazardous waste be careful. Make sure that you cap and store paints and cleaners properly. Keep them out of the reach of pets and children and away from heat sources that can spark a fire. When it comes time to dispose of these chemicals dispose of them properly.

There are many ways to dispose of household hazardous and e-waste. You can often trade-in small electronics for cash. You can take your household chemicals like cleaners, solvents, and paints to city drop off center or a hazardous waste disposal event. If you have a lot of hazardous materials to dispose of try calling a hauling service that specializes in disposal of household hazardous waste and chemicals.

 

 

How to Recycle Without a Recycling Center

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When people here the term recycling they think of recycling centers where people haul bags of cans or bottles to be recycled. But you don’t need to always use a recycling center to recycle. There are a lot of other methods beyond just hauling something to a recycling center. I used to work for a junk removal service and we found a million ways to recycle unwanted, unloved, or even broken items. 

1. Donation

Donation to local charities and thrift shops was one of the main avenues we used to get rid of other people’s “junk”. Many charities and thrift shops have items they are actively seeking. So I kept in touch with a network of local thrift shops and when an item they needed sprang up in your junk truck off it went. You can do the same thing, and even get a nice tax write off for it.

2. Yard Sales

This is a time honored classic, but a time honored classic that works. When I worked at a junk removal service he used to have biannual yard sales where we sold items we had collected over the previous six months and sold them. In turn our company donated the profits to charity.

3. Creative Re-Use

My then girlfriend (now wife) was an Art Major with a quirky side. She showed me that many conventional household items we’d normal throw away could be reused for fun, funky house decorations when she took a blender and repurposed it as a vase. 

Recycling is more about what you put in the blue bin. It’s a way of thinking about how you interface with the products you buy, the products you throw away, and the world around you.