ADU and basement conversion cleanouts in Portland

The short answer

Two stages, two numbers.

Stage one, clearing the contents. A full basement in a pre-war Portland house is typically a half to a full truck load: $431 to $732. A detached garage being converted is usually a quarter to a half: $241 to $431.

Stage two, the demolition debris. Construction debris is $120. Carpet removal is $71 per room. Rolled carpet is $68. A cast iron radiator coming out is $123. Concrete and masonry debris is $219 per quarter truck, priced separately because it is dense.

Visit minimum is $75 and there is no sales tax in Oregon.

Why this job is so common here

Portland has spent years converting basements, attics and detached garages into accessory dwelling units and rental suites. The building stock makes it possible — deep lots with a garage at the back, full-height basements under foursquares, and attics with enough headroom to finish.

Every one of those projects starts the same way: the space has been used as storage for decades and now it has to be completely empty before a contractor will touch it. That is the call we get, and it lands most often in Alberta, Cully, Woodstock, Montavilla, Sellwood, Kenton and St Johns — neighborhoods with the right lot shape and the right vintage of house.

What comes out of a Portland basement before conversion

The contents are predictable and they are almost all going on the truck rather than to donation, because of the damp:

• Boxes that fail when lifted. Cardboard that has been in an unconditioned basement through fifteen wet winters has no structural integrity left.
• The second refrigerator or chest freezer. $164 or $146. Practically standard equipment in these houses.
• The old washer and dryer, if the laundry is moving upstairs as part of the project. $133 and $128.
• Cast iron radiators, if the heating is being changed. $123 each.
• The previous owner's leavings. Paint, storm windows, offcuts of old-growth fir, a door or two. The lumber and doors are genuinely worth offering to a salvage yard first.
• Shelving. Particleboard shelving swollen at the base is $100 for a bookcase; solid wood is $123.

What comes out of a garage conversion

The detached single-car garage at the back of a deep lot is the other classic Portland ADU. It is too narrow for a modern car, which is why it stopped being a garage and started being storage.

Uninsulated, single-wall, mossy roof. Everything inside is damp. Typical contents and prices: lawn mower $65, bicycles $37 each, storage cabinet $74, weight bench $69, propane grill $71, plus whatever quantity of boxes. Most of these come in at a quarter load at $241 or a half at $431.

The access detail that matters: the garage is 60 to 80 feet behind the house, down a strip driveway or a footpath, and the truck is on the street. Everything walks. That carry is included in the price.

Sequencing around the contractor

The order that keeps a project moving:

• Clear the contents first, completely. Contractors will not work around your boxes and you will pay more in delays than the cleanout costs.
• Offer the good material to salvage before demo. Old-growth fir framing, original doors, cast iron, and period windows have a market here. Arrange it before the demo crew arrives, not after.
• Book the debris pickup for the end of demo week, not the middle. Construction debris is $120 or a quarter load is $241, and one full trip beats three half-empty ones, each of which carries the $75 minimum.
• Keep hazardous separate throughout. Paint, solvent, old fuel, propane cylinders. Household hazardous waste, not the truck. Check the current Metro intake rules.

The old-house findings

Two things that turn up constantly in Portland basement conversions and are worth naming.

Damp and the reason for it. Basements here are wet because the water table is high in parts of the city and because a 1915 foundation was never sealed. That is a waterproofing conversation with your contractor, not a junk removal one — but the state of the boxes you pull out is a useful early signal of how bad it is.

Materials of unknown age. Older Portland houses can contain asbestos in pipe wrap, floor tile, or sheet flooring, and lead in paint. None of that goes in a general junk load. If you suspect it, testing and licensed abatement come before demolition — that is a specialist trade, not something a junk crew should be touching, and any hauler who tells you otherwise is wrong.

Worked totals

Addition shown:

• Basement contents as a half load + old washer and dryer: $431 + $133 + $128 = $692
• Garage contents as a quarter load + chest freezer: $241 + $146 = $387
• Demo week — construction debris + carpet removal for two rooms: $120 + $71 + $71 = $262
• Three cast iron radiators coming out: $123 + $123 + $123 = $369
• Full basement clear + concrete debris from a slab cut: $732 + $219 = $951

Access, parking and the neighbors

Inner-eastside blocks are narrow, parked solid, and mostly without alleys. A conversion project already means a contractor's van, a materials delivery and sometimes a skip, all competing for the same curb.

Practical suggestions: book the cleanout for a morning before the trades arrive, tell us honestly whether there is any legal parking on your block, and warn the neighbors if the curb is about to be busy for a day. Crews here are used to parking a house or two down and walking material out. It is not billed separately and it is a great deal less disruptive than a truck idling across somebody's driveway.

Frequently asked questions