The short answer

The stuff that does not make the truck is always more than you budgeted for. Price it two ways and take the lower.

Volume: quarter $241, three-eighths $338, half $431, five-eighths $513, three-quarters $587, full $732.

Item by item: sofa $126, queen mattress and box spring set $143, dresser $126, dining table (2-4 seat) $103, desk $83, bookshelf $72, TV 42 to 65 inch $68.

Visit minimum $75. Oregon has no sales tax, so the quoted number is final.

The Portland move-out calendar

This city moves in a narrow window and you should plan around it.

Late June to mid-September is the whole ball game. It is the only reliably dry stretch of the year, leases turn over, PSU, Reed, Lewis and Clark and the community colleges empty and refill, and every truck, every mover and every rental counter in the metro is committed. The last weekend of August is the single busiest moment.

October to May is quiet and wet. Fewer people move, slots are easy, and the whole job happens in rain — which changes how you stage things but not what it costs.

There is no seasonal surcharge and no same-day surcharge. But in the August peak the schedule genuinely fills, so book the cleanout a week out rather than discovering on the 31st that you have a sofa, a dead mattress and four hours before the walkthrough.

Sequence it properly

The order that actually works in a Portland move:

  • Two weeks out: post the furniture you are not taking to Buy Nothing or the vintage shops. Give it one weekend, not three. Claimants who have not shown up by Sunday are not coming.
  • One week out: book the cleanout for the day after your movers, not the same day. Two crews on one narrow eastside street is a parking problem nobody enjoys.
  • Moving day: the movers take what is going. Everything else stays put, indoors.
  • Day after: the cleanout crew takes the rest, and the place is walkthrough-ready.

The failure mode is putting the leftovers on the parking strip on moving day because the truck is full and you are tired. In July that mostly works out. In any other month it rains on it, nobody takes it, and it is still your problem and your landlord's photograph.

What gets left behind in this city, specifically

  • The mattress. Almost nobody moves a mattress they have had for six years. A queen is $103, the set is $143.
  • The basement storage cage. Old eastside fourplexes have chicken-wire lockers in a damp basement. Whatever is in yours has been absorbing that basement since you moved in.
  • The balcony or back-deck furniture. Two patio chairs at $30 each plus a patio table at $89 is $30 + $30 + $89 = $149. After a couple of Portland winters it is mossy and not donatable.
  • The bike. $37. There is always a bike.
  • The particleboard desk and bookshelf. Desk $83, bookshelf $72. Flat-pack rarely survives a second move here, particularly if it spent a winter in a basement.
  • The rug. Large area rug $68, small $33.

Worked examples

Buckman one-bedroom, leaving the furniture

  • Sofa $126
  • Queen mattress + box spring set $143
  • Bed frame, standard $68
  • Desk $83
  • Bookshelf $72

$126 + $143 + $68 + $83 + $72 = $492. A half load is $431, so take the half load.

Student place near PSU, mostly bagged

Twin mattress $82 + 15 bags of debris $196 = $278. Against a three-eighths load at $338, the item route wins.

Selling a Woodstock bungalow

House contents mostly going with you, but the basement and garage are not. That is usually a half to a full load, $431 to $732, and the basement is the reason.

Buildings, and what to arrange

Mid-rise with an elevator — Pearl, Lloyd, South Waterfront, the newer Division and Williams buildings. Reserve the service elevator, book the loading dock window, and ask the office early what proof of insurance they want. A Friday-afternoon request will not be answered before the weekend.

Old eastside fourplex — Buckman, Kerns, Sunnyside, lower Alberta. No elevator, narrow original stair, often a narrower back stair, and a shared entry you cannot prop open for long. Tell us the floor. No walk-up fee applies.

House with a raised porch — most of North and Northeast Portland. There is a flight of front steps before the sidewalk. Also not billed.

Narrow street with no legal parking — Ladd's, Clinton, parts of Sellwood. Tell us and the crew will plan the walk.

Getting the deposit back

Most deposit disputes in this metro are about things left behind, not about paint. The cheapest insurance is having the place genuinely empty when you hand over the keys, including the basement cage, the balcony, and the parking-space storage if the building has one.

Photograph the empty rooms afterwards. If the cleanout happens the day after the move and before the walkthrough, you have a clean set of photos and a clean handover, and the whole thing cost a published number you agreed to in advance.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a move-out cleanout in Portland?

Most leftovers come to a quarter or half truck load, $241 or $431. A one-bedroom's worth of abandoned furniture priced item by item often lands close to $492, in which case the half load at $431 is cheaper.

When should I book if I am moving in August?

A week ahead at least. Late June to mid-September is the whole metro's moving season — dry weather plus lease turnover plus student move-out. There is no seasonal surcharge, but the slots go.

Should the cleanout be the same day as the movers?

Book it the day after. Two trucks on one narrow inner-eastside street at the same time is a parking problem, and you will not know what is actually left until the movers have gone.

Can I just put the leftovers out on the parking strip?

In July it often clears by itself. Any other month it rains on it, nobody takes it, and it is still sitting in front of the place your landlord is about to inspect.

Do you charge extra for a third-floor walk-up?

No. There is no stair charge and no walk-up fee. A sofa from the top of a 1915 back stair in Kerns is $126, same as ground floor.