If a loved one’s home in Madison or Dane County needs to be emptied, you don’t have to sort out every load and drop-off yourself. Call and we’ll connect you with an independent local cleanout company for a free quote.
An estate cleanout empties a home after someone has died or moved out for good, so the house can be sold, returned to a landlord or handed to heirs. Madison Cleanouts is a referral service, not a cleanout company. When you call, we connect you with an independent local cleanout company that gives you a quote and does the work.
This page walks through what a full cleanout usually involves, what you should pull out of the house before anyone arrives, and the questions worth asking any company before you sign anything.
What a full estate cleanout involves, step by step
Most full cleanouts follow the same order: look, protect what matters, sort, send things to the right places, then leave the house empty and swept. Here is how that usually goes in Dane County.
1. The walkthrough
The company walks every room, including the basement, garage, attic and any sheds, to see how much is there and how hard it is to carry out. Stairs, narrow halls and heavy pieces like a piano or chest freezer all affect the quote. This is also the time to point out anything that must stay in the house.
2. Keepsakes and papers set aside
Before anything is hauled, family keepsakes, photos and important papers get pulled into one clearly marked spot. A careful crew will set aside anything that looks like a document, a will, cash or jewelry if they find it while working, and hand it to you rather than tossing it.
3. Sorting into keep, sell, donate, recycle and dispose
Everything else is sorted into piles. Items the family keeps get boxed or left for pickup. Items worth selling may be held for an estate sale (see estate sale, buyout or cleanout). The rest goes to donation, recycling or disposal.
4. Donation runs
Usable goods can go to local charities that keep them in the area:
- St. Vincent de Paul (St. Vinny’s) offers free home pickup of furniture and household goods, and donations stay in Dane County. Stores include Williamson St, Odana Rd, Sun Prairie, Verona, Waunakee and Stoughton.
- Habitat ReStore Dane County (6201 Odana Rd and 4207 Monona Dr) takes furniture, appliances under 10 years old, cabinets, tools and building materials. It does not take paint, carpet, electronics, recliners or futons.
- Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin takes clothing, housewares, books and furniture, but not mattresses, pianos, hospital beds or large appliances.
5. Electronics and appliances handled under Wisconsin’s landfill bans
Wisconsin bans TVs, monitors, computers, printers and phones from landfills under E-Cycle Wisconsin, so they have to be recycled. Washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, stoves and water heaters are also banned from landfills under Wis. Stat. 287.07. Anything with refrigerant, like a fridge or dehumidifier, needs the refrigerant recovered by a DNR-registered technician.
6. Hazardous items to Clean Sweep
Garage and basement chemicals, liquid or oil-based paint and similar household hazardous waste go to Dane County Clean Sweep at 7020 Maahic Way. Households don’t need an appointment for normal loads, and it costs $15 per trip. Dried latex paint can go in the regular trash.
7. Medications to MedDrop
Clean Sweep does not take medications. Leftover prescriptions go to a free MedDrop box, such as Madison Police East (809 S. Thompson Dr) or Madison Police West (1710 McKenna Blvd). Needles and sharps are not accepted.
8. The broom-clean finish
The job usually ends with every room empty and swept, ready for a realtor, landlord or buyer’s walkthrough. If you need deeper cleaning or carpet removal, ask whether that’s included or quoted separately.
What to set aside before anyone arrives
Walk the house yourself, or have one trusted family member do it, and remove the things that can’t be replaced before any crew starts. Put them in a locked room, your car or another home.
- Documents: wills, deeds, titles, bank and brokerage statements, insurance policies, tax returns and anything from an attorney.
- Photos: albums, loose prints, slides, home movies and old phones or cameras.
- Jewelry and cash: check dresser drawers, coat pockets, freezer bags and books.
- Keys: house, car, safe deposit box, mailbox and storage units.
- Mail: recent bills and statements help you find accounts you didn’t know about.
If you’re the executor, hold off on discarding estate property until you have legal authority. Our probate and executor cleanout page covers the general Wisconsin rules, and the parent’s house checklist has a longer list of papers to look for.
How long an estate cleanout takes
A full cleanout often takes one to a few working days once it starts, but the calendar time around it is usually longer. A small apartment goes faster than a four-bedroom house with a full basement and garage.
What stretches the timeline is usually outside the crew’s control: family members deciding what to keep, waiting on an estate sale, or waiting for a charity pickup. Habitat ReStore’s free pickup, for example, can take anywhere from days to a few weeks to schedule. If you have a closing date, tell the company up front so they can plan backward from it.
Questions to ask any cleanout company before you hire
Ask these before you agree to a date, and get the answers in writing. A good company will answer them without fuss.
- Can you send a certificate of insurance? Ask for it directly, since crews will be carrying heavy items through the house.
- Is the quote written, and what does it include? Check whether disposal fees, appliance and electronics recycling, stairs and the final sweep are in the price.
- How do you handle donations and recycling? Ask where things go, and whether you’ll get donation receipts for the estate’s records.
- What won’t you take? Hazardous chemicals, medications and certain tanks often need separate handling.
- Who needs to be present? Find out whether someone must be at the house for the start, the whole job or just the final walkthrough.
- What are the payment terms? Ask about deposits, when the balance is due and how they handle it if the job turns out bigger or smaller than quoted.
For typical price ranges in the Madison area, see what an estate cleanout costs. Common questions are answered on our FAQ page.
Cleanouts around Dane County
The same steps apply outside the city, though drop-off options differ a little by town. See local notes for Sun Prairie, Fitchburg, Middleton and Monona. If the house is being sold, cleaning out a house before selling covers listing and closing timing.
Next step
Tell us where the house is and roughly what’s in it. We’ll connect you with an independent local cleanout company for a free quote.
