Looking to completely clean out your home? It’s not a bad idea to start with the bottom and then work your way up, and a basement clean outcan change the way you look at the entire space. Suddenly that couch in your living room that you love and don’t want to get rid of (but need to replace) has a place to go.
By emptying out your basement, you open a world of possibilities. Are you artsy, and need a space for all of your tools? Or how about setting up a home gym so that you can get in the best shape of your life without changing out of your pajamas? It all starts with the first load of junk up the stairs and out the door.
Stairs and Hauling Junk
Let’s talk about stairs for a minute. They are, without a doubt, the trickiest and most dangerous part of a basement clean out. Carrying a washing machine out the door on the ground floor is one thing, but trying to lift it up the stairs can be extremely dangerous if you’re not careful.
The key is positioning. Your staircase is probably too narrow to have more than two people carrying one object, which means that whoever is on the lower step will be doing the brunt of the heavy lifting while the higher person will need to stoop down.
In a perfect world you’d position a tall, strong person on the bottom and a shorter, strong person up top. We don’t live in a perfect world, which means you need to exercise extreme caution. Consider a brace for your core so that you don’t hurt your back and take breaks whenever you need to – just be sure that the object won’t slide down the stairs when you set it down.
Looking to avoid injury? Hire a professional hauling service like us. With West Coast Junk, you can sit back and relax while we do all the heavy lifting.
Map Your Basement Clean Out
Great generals don’t send their troops into battle without a plan. Your basement clean outis war, so don’t go in unprepared! Before you lift a single box, take stock of everything you have stowed away. If it’s been a while since you’ve been down in the basement, you might be surprised at what’s sitting around gathering dust. There’s nothing worse than thinking a job will be easy and then it turning into a nightmare, so take careful note of everything that needs to be moved.
It might be a bit difficult to envision what the space will look like when it’s mostly (or completely) cleaned out, but it’s worth it to take some time to plan for the future as well. If you have an idea for what you want to do with the area after your basement clean out, you might be able to avoid making two trips to accomplish the same thing.
For example – if you are thinking about making your basement into a guest room, you might not need to drag that box of old books up the stairs. Bring a bookshelf down and stuff it with the books to add a little more flair to the room. Or, maybe you don’t need to get rid of everything in the basement because your future plans are smaller than you think.
Start your remodeling dreams without breaking a sweat by calling West Coast Junk today at (510) 421-1730. You can also schedule an appointment online.