Organising a house clearance can be very stressful. Often, they’re needed because you’re moving away or are emptying the home of a loved one you recently lost. Trusting a company to clear out your home, even one with a sparkling reputation like ours, isn’t easy when you’re under a lot of pressure.
That’s why we aim to be as transparent as possible with our clients, guiding them through the process from start to finish. We understand that, thanks to our environmentally friendly focus, the way we do things is different to our rivals and can cause some initial confusion with clients until we’ve explained the process.
So today we’ve decided to share that process with you, so that if you need an eco-friendly house clearance in the future, you’ll know exactly what to expect.
Understanding our Clients’ Needs during House Clearance
Before a single item is moved, we take the time to speak with the client, so we understand their exact needs and preferences. This is especially important if they’re dealing with bereavement, as everyone handles loss differently and we need to understand that if we want to treat them and their possessions with the proper respect.
Sometimes just having a quick chat goes a long way, and it’s always time well spent. If you choose us, we know that you care about the possessions being cleared and where they’ll end up. By giving you the reassurance that many will go to a good home, and that the rest will be recycled, you’ll have peace of mind.
Some clients like to be more involved than others. In many cases they want to be as detached from the process as possible, some want to be more hands-on. So that everything runs smoothly, we ask that the client take everything they’d like to keep out of the house and leave us to it.
Not only is this important for safety, it gives us more time and space to sort items and work through every room without worrying about how it will be affecting you. We’ll give you as much time as you need to find what you want to keep and will never rush you to leave sooner than you’re ready. Seeing your own (or a family member’s) possessions being unboxed, examined, and carried outside can be tough, no matter what your reason is for a house clearance. Distancing yourself while the work is being done works out better for everyone.
In many cases we’ll be the last people in the house for a while. Every item, including furniture, will be removed efficiently, and we’ll sweep and hoover every inch so that it’s left spotless. Some companies would consider this going the extra mile, for us it’s the least we can do.
The House Clearance Process
Once we’ve been given the all-clear to clear, we get straight to work. Because our goal is to rehome or recycle everything we remove, the clearance process we use is slightly different.
If we’re clearing a large property with a lot of floor space, we can do the sorting there and then, one pile of donations and another that’s destined for the recycling centre. One way we minimize our carbon footprint is by doing as few trips as possible in our vans. So we load carefully, using every available millimetre of room so that we aren’t using a second vehicle unnecessarily.
We go room by room, methodically moving everything without scratching walls or damaging any items. Doing things properly makes us slightly slower than our rivals, but taking extra care is worth an extra hour on the job.
In some cases there isn’t room to sort on location. When this is the case, we pack everything into our vans but then take it back to base so we can sort through it. This is one of the reasons we try to work as locally as possible, so that the journeys are nice and short. Being close to home also means we’ve built a great reputation with our local charity shops. Speaking of which…
Recycling and Rehoming Unwanted Items
Just because you no longer need your items, doesn’t mean they should be thrown away. Many things can be given a new home, and they’ll be loved by a new person or family.
With years of experience under our belts, we can tell at a glance what would be a welcome donation, and which items should only be recycled. Once they’re sorted, and the house is cleared, we hit the road to find new homes for items or head to our local recycling centre using the shortest route we can find to burn as little fuel as possible.
Some items are easier to recycle than others. Basics like cardboard, wood, and paper can be dropped into the relevant areas of the centre. But sometimes electronics and other more sensitive items need to be recycled more carefully. Thanks to our experience and familiarity with every item under the sun, this is rarely a problem.
One challenge that experience can’t solve is if the charity shops we choose don’t have room for your items. We notice this especially with clothes and books, which are some of the most commonly donated items, so a vanful might have to be turned away for the time being. Bigger items like furniture also take up a lot of space, so charity shops have to be picky about what they accept.
If this is the case, we don’t give up. The unwanted items come with us to our site, and we put them in storage for a while. We’ll check in with the charity shops every so often, so we know when there’s room. In the rare case that our storage is full, and we haven’t been able to move some items for a while, we’ll consider recycling them. It’s a shame to see good items be recycled, but at least it’s still better for the environment, and they’ll always be turned into something useful.
Full Transparency for Eco-Friendly House Clearances
When you know what to expect from your professional house clearance team, the entire job becomes much smoother. Transparency is a big part of our company policy; we want you to understand every step of the process as well as we do, so that you have 100% confidence in us from the word go.
And if you have any questions about house clearances or any of our other services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you!
