What a Basement Cleanout Costs in Denver
By Darius Schultz, owner · Updated
The Straight Answer, Then the Math.
$149 covers the first 2 cubic yards, then it is $75 a yard. Most basement cleanouts are 4 to 10 yards, $299 to $749, plus $25 a flight for the stairs. Below: the add-ons that show up in basements, worked examples including a real Englewood job, and how to keep the number down.
- Price quoted on site before anything comes up the stairs
- Every extra written down, and you approve the price before we start
- Owner-operated, Registered & Insured: Darius handles the job start to finish
One Rate, and Here Is Where Basements Land.
Price = $149 + $75 for each yard past the first 2, quoted to the nearest half yard, plus $25 for each flight the load comes up. There are no tiers. The ranges below are a rule of thumb, confirmed on site before anything moves.
A Few Items or One Corner
One couch, a mattress and box spring, or a few small items
Up to 2 cubic yards · the minimum, plus stairs
Most Basements
A finished rec room to a well-stocked storage level, carried up and swept
Commonly 4 to 10 cubic yards, plus $25 a flight
Packed Full Basement
A whole lower level, floor to joists, or part of a whole-home clear-out
10 cubic yards or more · two trips on the 6x10 dump trailer, same per-yard price
| Cubic yards | Price | With one flight of stairs |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 2 | $149 | $174 |
| 4 | $299 | $324 |
| 5 | $374 | $399 |
| 6 | $449 | $474 |
| 8 | $599 | $624 |
| 10 | $749 | $774 |
| 12 | $899 | $924 |
| 15 | $1,124 | $1,149 |
A cubic yard is 3 x 3 x 3 ft, about a washer and dryer side by side. The full yard table is on our pricing page. How the job itself runs, what we carry up and how to book it is on the page for basement cleanout in Denver.
The Extras That Show Up in Basements.
Basements have more add-ons than garages because of the stairs and the heavy things people store down there. Each one is written down before we start. There are no others.
| Add-on | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stairs | +$25 a flight | Per flight the load comes up. A single step at the door is not a flight |
| Refrigerant appliance | +$50 each | Chest freezer, spare fridge, dehumidifier with refrigerant |
| Long carry | +$40 | From a walkout door more than 100 ft to where the rig can park |
| Heavy material | +$25 a yard | Tile, brick or concrete from a basement remodel. No dirt or sod |
| Safe or slate pool table | $349 minimum | Quoted on site, not by the yard, +$25 a flight |
| Upright piano | $349 to $449 | Ground floor, depending on the piano. +$150 a flight (4 or more steps), +$100 if it has to be broken down. Starting rates; confirmed before we lift. No grand pianos |
Not add-ons: exercise equipment, wet carpet, an already-disconnected water heater, taking furniture apart to make the turn, a second trip, travel, fuel and dump fees. Heavy items get their own guide: heavy item removal cost.
What Real Basements Add Up To.
The first is a real job. The rest are example math at today's rate, so you can see how the pieces combine.
A 1920s Upright, One Flight Up, in Pieces
A century-old upright piano at the bottom of a full flight of basement stairs. It took six people to get it down years ago, so it came back up broken down, cast-iron plate and all, in 3 to 4 hours.
Upright, ground-floor starting rate
One flight of stairs
Broken down on site
That is $599 to $699 under today's starting rates. We charged $600 at the time. Read the Englewood basement piano case study.
A Finished Rec Room
A sectional, a TV stand and a dozen boxes, about 5 yards, one flight.
$374 + $25 = $399
After a Leak
Pulled carpet and pad, a ruined couch and soggy boxes, about 6 yards, one flight. Wet carpet is not an add-on.
$449 + $25 = $474
A Packed Storage Basement
About 10 yards of boxes, furniture and a treadmill, plus a chest freezer, one flight.
$749 + $50 + $25 = $824
Basement Plus a Few Garage Items
5 yards from the basement and 1 yard from the garage. Booked separately, that is $399 and $149. In one visit it is 6 yards plus one flight.
$449 + $25 = $474, not $548
Why Two Basements Quote Differently.
Two basements with the same square footage can quote differently. Here is what we are weighing on the walk-through.
The biggest factor, at $75 a yard past the first 2. Basements hide volume in storage rooms and under stairs, so photograph every corner.
$25 for each flight the load comes up. Most basements are one flight; a split-level or a walkout can change that, and it is counted on the walk-through.
Stairs that open near the front or garage door are a short carry. A walkout at the back of a deep lot can be a long one, and over 100 ft adds $40.
Freezers add $50 for the refrigerant. Safes and slate pool tables carry a $349 minimum, and upright pianos have their own price, from $349. Everything else heavy is still by the yard.
Why a Denver Basement Costs More Than the Same Pile in a Garage.
Most homes around Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Arvada and the Denver west side have a basement, and a lot of them have a narrow stairwell. The yards cost the same wherever they sit. What a basement adds is the flight of stairs, $25, and time, which is already inside the per-yard rate. So a 6-yard basement is $474 and the same 6 yards in a garage is $449.
The egress window rarely changes the price. It is sized for a person climbing out, not a couch going out, so plan on the stairs. A walkout door helps with speed, but check how far it is to the street.
Then there is the dumpster question. A roll-off on a Denver street needs a right-of-way permit from the city, one on your driveway does not, and either way you carry every item up the stairs and out to the container yourself. That stair carry is usually why people call us instead. Both options are laid out in our junk removal vs. dumpster rental guide.
Cheaper Options for Part of the Basement.
City bulky pickup. On Denver's city trash service, Large Item Pickup comes every nine weeks for up to 5 large items plus 10 bags, but not appliances, electronics or construction materials. The catch in a basement: you still have to get everything up the stairs and to the curb yourself.
Donations with a receipt. We can't give donation receipts. If the receipt matters, take the good pieces to a donation center before we come, and the load shrinks too.
Hazardous leftovers. Paint, solvents and chemicals can't go in any junk load, so they never add to our price. Jefferson County residents can book a household hazardous waste drop-off at the Rooney Road Recycling Center in Golden, and Denver runs its own program for residents.
Water heater and carpet. Ask the plumber who installs the new water heater whether hauling the old one is included in their price. If not, have them leave it disconnected and drained, and it goes with the rest of the load by the yard. Carpet has to be pulled up by the flooring or restoration crew before we can take it.
Four Ways to Keep Your Total Down.
Decide Before the Walk-Through
Only what leaves is measured. Push the keepers to one wall or tag them with painter's tape, so the quote is built on the go pile alone.
Bag and Flatten
Loose clothes and papers in contractor bags, empty boxes flattened. Tighter packing means fewer yards on the trailer.
Get Everything Ready to Go at Once
Have the water heater disconnected and the carpet pulled before we come, and add the few garage items to the same visit. Anything left for later becomes its own $149 minimum.
Photograph the Pile and the Stairs
One shot of the stuff, one of the staircase from the bottom. The pile tells us the yards and the stairs tell us the flights, so the price we text back is close to final.
Clearing a Parent's Basement, or Your Own After 40 Years.
Many basement calls come from an adult son or daughter clearing a parent's house before a move, or from a homeowner in their seventies who has no business carrying a dresser up a flight of stairs.
The price is the same per-yard rate. What changes is the pace: we work from your keep list, set aside anything that looks personal, and can run the whole thing by text with a family member who is out of state. If the basement is one piece of clearing a whole house, the estate cleanout page and the estate cleanout cost guide cover the bigger job.
What to Text Us for a Fast Quote
Send these to (720) 689-3713 and we will text back a price.
- One or two photos of the pile, taken from the doorway to show the scale
- One photo of the staircase, from the bottom looking up
- The heavy items by name: freezer, safe, pool table, piano
- Whether anything is wet, and whether the carpet is already up
- Your city and the day you are hoping for
- Whether the garage or the whole house is part of it
Mon to Sat 7am to 7pm. Sunday by appointment.
Basement Cleanout Cost Questions.
How much does a basement cleanout cost in Denver?
What is the average price for a basement cleanout?
Do the stairs cost extra?
How much does it cost to remove a safe or pool table from a basement?
Does wet carpet or an old water heater cost more?
Is it cheaper to do the basement and garage together?
Is it cheaper to rent a dumpster for a basement cleanout?
How do I get a basement cleanout price before you drive out?
Can you clean out a basement that flooded or has mold?
More on Pricing and the Work.
How the day goes: stairs and tight turns, water heaters and wet carpet, and what we won't take.
Same per-yard rate, usually no stairs, with two real garage jobs priced then and now.
The bigger picture: what junk removal costs in Denver across every kind of load.
Piano in the basement? See the piano removal cost guide. Same rate in Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Arvada and Golden. Every cost guide lives in the guides hub.
Stop Guessing. Get Your Number.
Text a photo of the basement and one of the stairs and we will text back a price fast. The final number gets locked in on site before anything comes up.
Snap a Photo of the Items, Get a Price
Drop your number below. Darius texts your price back, usually within 10 minutes during business hours.
Got it!
Darius will text you a price shortly. Keep your phone handy. The reply comes from (720) 689-3713.
In a hurry? Call now and skip the wait.