Garage clear-out checklist
The mistake is starting by tidying. Start by emptying, sort into four piles on the drive, and only then decide where anything goes back.
31 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Before you start
- Pick a dry dayEverything comes out onto the drive. Rain ends the job at eleven.
- Check the tip's opening hours and what it takes
- Book a collection if anything is too big for the car
- Gloves, dust mask, and a broom
- Empty it
- Everything out onto the drive
- Sweep the floor and the corners
- Check for damp, and for anything that has been chewed
- Four piles
- Keep, and it has a home
- Sell or give away
- Recycle
- TipIf you have not used it in two years and it is not sentimental, it is this pile.
- Hazardous — not the household bin
- Old paint and solvents
- Engine oil and antifreeze
- Gas canisters
- Batteries, car and household
- Fluorescent tubes and old bulbs
- Electricals and cables
- Put it back with a system
- Heavy things low, light things high
- Anything used monthly within arm's reach of the door
- Everything in a labelled box or on a hook
- Nothing on the floorThe floor is how a cleared garage refills.
- Chemicals locked or high up if there are children
- Finish it
- Sell pile listed the same evening
- Donation pile in the car, not the hall
- Tip run done before the pile becomes furniture
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- Why empty it completely first?
- Because tidying inside a full garage just moves things. Everything out on the drive forces a decision on each item, which is the actual job.
- What cannot go in the bin?
- Paint, oil, batteries, gas canisters, fluorescent tubes and electricals. Most need the household waste centre, and some need booking in advance.