A storage unit cleanout empties the unit completely: furniture, boxes, mattresses, and the trash in between, with the floor swept behind it so the space is ready to hand back or rent out again. County Line Junk Disposal does that whole job around Trinity, Huntsville, and Livingston. We sort out anything worth donating, load the rest into the dump trailer, and you pay by how much space the pile fills, with a firm number before we lift a thing.
Three kinds of people call us about storage units. Auction buyers who just won a unit and are staring down a facility deadline. Renters who finally added up what the monthly bill has cost them on a unit they haven't opened since the last move. And facility managers who deal with abandoned leftovers every month. This guide covers all three, because the job at the end is the same: everything out, floor swept, done.
What happens when a storage unit goes to auction?
When rent goes unpaid long enough, the facility sells the unit's contents at a lien sale, which is standard practice across Texas. The winning bidder buys everything inside and typically gets a short window, often 24 to 72 hours set by the facility, to empty the unit completely.
The exact terms vary by facility. Some give a day, some give a long weekend, and most spell it out in the bidder agreement you accept before the sale, so read that before you raise a hand. Two things are nearly universal, though. First, you bought all of it, including the water-stained boxes and the couch with the busted frame. Second, the unit has to come back broom clean. Leaving your reject pile behind usually costs you a cleaning deposit, and it will definitely cost you your welcome at that facility's next sale.
That second part is what trips up new bidders. The mini fridge and the tool chest fit in the truck. The sleeper sofa, the box springs, and the eight bags of clothes are a different story, and the clock the facility set is running the whole time.
Won a unit? Here's how to beat the deadline
Pull the sellable stuff first, stage a donate pile second, and book a hauler for everything else before your window closes. You keep the profit. We clear the leftovers and sweep the floor.
Here's the order that gets a bought unit empty with the least panic:
- Walk the unit and pull the money items straight to your vehicle: tools, electronics, anything you already know sells.
- Stage a second pile of decent furniture and household goods. Our East Texas donation guide lists who takes what around here.
- Text photos of everything left to (936) 259-3200. You'll get a ballpark the same day, based on how much trailer space the pile will fill.
- We load it, haul it, and sweep the unit so you walk away clean with the facility.
This is the same triage we run on what's left after an estate sale: sell what sells, donate what's decent, haul the rest. We work seven days a week, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Greg answers his own phone, so a short facility window is usually workable if you call early in it.
Is your storage unit still worth the monthly bill?
Add up a year of rent and compare it to what's actually inside. If you can't name three things in that unit worth the total, one haul-off ends the bill for good.
Most long-term units start as a short-term fix. You rented it for a few months during a move, the few months turned into a few years, and the rate has crept up the whole time. Meanwhile the contents sat still: the spare couch got musty, the boxes on the bottom took on damp, and the exercise bike is worth less than the drive to go get it.
Run the honest math. Whatever the stuff inside would bring at a garage sale, weigh it against another year of rent, because that bill keeps coming whether you visit or you don't. For most units we open, the keepers fit in one pickup run and the rest is a haul-off. A 5x10 unit is usually a quarter to a half load in our trailer, one trip, done, and the rent stops forever.
If the unit is part of a bigger move, our moving cleanout checklist walks the whole keep-donate-haul sort, and the same system works fine inside a 10x20.
What does a storage unit cleanout cost?
Most 5x10 units run a quarter to a half load, so $175 to $325. Bigger units scale with the pile: you pay for the space your stuff fills in the trailer, and the number we say on site is the number you pay.
The full ladder: single item $95, quarter load $175, half load $325, three-quarter load $475, full load $650. Mattresses and box springs, which storage units grow like mushrooms, add $30 each. A fridge or freezer with freon adds $35. You get a firm price before we lift anything, and you're free to walk if you don't like it. New customers get 15% off the first job.
Everything we haul rides in a Big Tex hydraulic dump trailer behind a 2024 Ram 2500, so even a packed 10x20 is one or two loads instead of a weekend of pickup trips. See the full rundown of what we take on our services page.
One call for abandoned and post-auction units
A standing hauler relationship solves the leftover problem. We clear abandoned units and post-auction rejects around Huntsville, Livingston, and Trinity, and every unit comes back broom clean and ready to rent.
If you manage a facility, you already know the pattern. A tenant moves out at midnight and leaves half the unit. An auction winner takes the good boxes and ghosts on the couch. Either way the unit sits full, earning nothing, until someone deals with it.
We'd like to be that someone. One number to text, load-size pricing so a half-full 5x10 costs you a quarter load instead of a flat fee, and donatable furniture gets pulled out for donation instead of riding straight to disposal. We're family owned out of Trinity, we answer our own phone, and we're building exactly these standing relationships with facilities across the area right now. Call (936) 259-3200 and ask for Greg.
Whether you're an auction winner watching the clock, a renter done writing that monthly check, or a manager with a wall of abandoned units, the fix is the same trailer. Text photos to (936) 259-3200 or get a free quote and we'll give you a firm number before anything moves. Based in Trinity, hauling 50 miles in every direction, seven days a week.
Questions we hear a lot
We do. County Line Junk Disposal clears bought units around Trinity, Huntsville, and Livingston: you pull what you're keeping, we sort donatables, haul the rest, and sweep the unit broom clean so you're square with the facility. Text photos of the unit to (936) 259-3200 for a same-day ballpark.
Usually a short window set by the facility, often 24 to 72 hours, and the unit generally has to be left broom clean. Terms vary by facility, so read the bidder agreement before the sale. We run seven days a week, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, so call early in your window and it's usually workable.
Decent furniture and household goods get set aside for donation when they're worth donating, and the rest rides in the dump trailer to proper disposal. You keep anything you want to sell first. You pay by the trailer space the leftovers fill, with a firm price before we load.
A 5x10 usually runs a quarter to a half load, so $175 to $325, quoted firm on site before we touch anything. Mattresses add $30 each and a freon appliance adds $35, and we name those up front. New customers get 15% off the first job.
Yes, and we want more of that work. If you manage a facility around Huntsville, Livingston, or Trinity, we'll clear abandoned and post-auction units on a standing basis, priced by load size, swept clean and ready to rent. Call (936) 259-3200 and ask for Greg to set it up.