Three-car garage cleanouts in Daybreak, Lehi and the south valley

The short answer

A three-car garage in the south valley that has been filling for five or ten years is usually $587 for a three-quarter truck or $732 for a full one. Lighter jobs come in at a half truck, $431. If the list is short and it is mostly large single items, price it per item instead — a multi-station home gym is $241, a treadmill is $115, a portable basketball hoop is $115.

Minimum visit is $75, and the price is identical to what it is in the Avenues. Newer, easier access does not get a discount and it does not get a surcharge.

Why the third bay never holds a car

The growth belt running from South Jordan and Daybreak through Herriman, Riverton, Bluffdale, Lehi, American Fork and Saratoga Springs has been building three-car garages as standard for years, and the third bay almost never holds a vehicle. It becomes the overflow room the house was designed not to need — because these houses are large, but the lots are narrow and the storage is all vertical.

So the third bay collects, in roughly this order: the moving boxes from the last house, a deep freezer, wire shelving down both walls, kids' bikes in three sizes, a home gym bought in a burst of enthusiasm, camping and ski gear, a basketball hoop that was moved off the driveway, and eventually the furniture from the old place that nobody could bring themselves to sell.

The moving-up cycle

What makes this market different is how fast households move within it. The Silicon Slopes corridor through Lehi and Draper has pulled a lot of people into the south valley, and a lot of them upgrade within the same few towns after a few years. Each move brings the previous house's furniture into the new garage rather than disposing of it, on the theory that the basement will eventually be finished.

By the second move that is two households of surplus furniture in one garage. This is the point at which most people call, usually in the same week a third car or a new gym arrives and the space is finally needed for something.

What comes out, priced

A very common Daybreak clearance: home gym $241 + treadmill $115 + basketball hoop $115 + large junk pile $208. $241 + $115 = $356. $356 + $115 = $471. $471 + $208 = $679. Against the ladder, three-quarters is $587 and a full truck is $732 — so if it fits in three-quarters, book the $587 and save $92.

A lighter one in Lehi: upright freezer $149 + two storage cabinets at $74 each ($74 + $74 = $148) + medium junk pile $129 = $149 + $148 + $129 = $426, just under the half truck at $431.

Alley-loaded garages and HOA rules

Daybreak in particular was laid out with a lot of rear alley-loaded garages: the house fronts a street or a green, and the garage opens onto a lane at the back. That is good for a removal job — the truck backs to the garage door and nothing crosses the front of the property — but the lanes are narrow and neighbors park in them.

The HOA side is worth five minutes before you book. Most associations across the south valley have rules about where a commercial vehicle may stand, how long, and whether anything may sit on the driveway or the curb. The straightforward answer is that nothing sits: we load and go, and we do not stage a pile on your driveway overnight. If your association requires notice or a contractor pass, get it in advance and tell us which lane to use.

What we leave behind

The chemical shelf. Every garage in this belt has one and it is usually bigger than the old-neighborhood equivalent, because these houses come with real yards: lawn fertiliser, weed killer, pool chemicals, paint from the builder, sealant, oil, antifreeze, propane cylinders and car batteries. All of that goes to the county household hazardous waste route, not on a junk truck. Pull it out to one side before we arrive.

Everything else goes, including the wire shelving itself, the broken garage fridge, the flat-pack cabinets and the bagged garden waste that has been waiting since autumn.

Book it as one visit

The most common mistake here is doing it in halves — one weekend for the gym equipment, another for the rest. Two quarter-truck visits are $241 + $241 = $482; one half truck is $431. You also pay the $75 minimum once instead of twice.

Walk the garage, list what is going, price it both ways on the pricing page, and book the lower number. You will see the total before you approve it, it is the same total whether your driveway is flat and new or a pitched one in the old part of the city, and it does not change on the day.

Frequently asked questions