Basement to clear, an estate to empty, a move that can't wait — junk removal cost in Montreal comes down mostly to volume and access. Here's the real price chart, actual project examples, and how to avoid overpaying.
Describe what needs to go, or send us photos — we'll give you a price range before we ever show up.
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If you've shopped around for junk removal in Montreal, you've probably noticed nobody gives you a straight number before seeing the job. That's frustrating when you're just trying to plan a budget. The truth is that the cost of residential junk removal depends on five main factors, and once you understand them, you can estimate your own cost fairly accurately before you even pick up the phone.
The first factor, and by far the biggest, is volume — not weight, not the number of items, but the space it takes up in a truck. An old sofa and a bookshelf take up more room than a box of dishes, even though the box is heavier. That's why we price by volume instead of by item or by the hour: it's more predictable for you, and it avoids arguments over whether one piece of furniture "counts double."
The second factor is access. A bungalow in Laval with a driveway straight to the garage is not the same job as the third floor of an elevator-less triplex on a Plateau side street. Montreal's signature outdoor staircases, narrow back lanes, and tight parking all add handling time, which can move the final price. We're set up for it, but it's a real variable.
The third is the type of items. Furniture, appliances, boxes, bulky household goods — that's the bread and butter of the job, priced at standard rates. Materials like liquid paint, chemicals, tires, or large quantities of e-waste sometimes need different handling or a referral to a specialized resource, since they can't all go in the same truck to the same destination.
The fourth factor is urgency. A pickup booked two weeks out generally costs less than one that has to happen tomorrow morning because a house sale closes in 48 hours. We offer 24-48h emergency service, but like with almost every home service, speed carries a premium.
The fifth is location — though for us it plays a much smaller role than with most competitors, since we serve the whole Greater Montreal area, Laval, and the South Shore with consistent rates rather than charging a neighbourhood premium.
| Volume | Real-world example | Estimated price |
|---|---|---|
| A few items | 2-3 pieces of furniture, one appliance, a stack of boxes | $150 – $300 |
| Quarter load | One basement corner, part of a garage, one room to clear | $400 – $550 |
| Half load | A full basement, a full garage, or two rooms | $550 – $700 |
| Full load | A complete 4½-5½ apartment clear-out, an average estate | $800 – $1,200 |
| Large load / whole house | A large single-family home, a bulky estate with several furnished rooms | $1,200 – $1,500+ |
Estimated prices for Montreal, Laval, and the South Shore in 2026, confirmed based on actual access (elevator, stairs, back lane, walking distance to the truck) and the volume seen on site. The range you get on the phone is the one we honour — not a surprise at the end.
To make it more concrete: a "load" in the trade is basically the equivalent of a standard moving trailer. A quarter load is roughly what would fill the trunk and back seat of a large SUV. A half load is about what a small studio-move U-Haul would take. These reference points help you picture where your project lands before we ever arrive.
A sofa, a bed, a dresser, and a few boxes before a move. Elevator access, short-term parking available underneath. This typically lands in the quarter-load range, $400-$550.
Clearing a full apartment after a tenant moves out, with the neighbourhood's typical spiral outdoor staircase. Volume can be identical to a ground-floor unit, but access adds handling time — often near the top of the $800-$1,200 range.
Old furniture, storage boxes accumulated over 15 years, a worn-out rug. Direct access through the garage. This usually falls into the half-load range, $550-$700.
Furniture from several rooms, dishware, clothing, and personal effects accumulated over decades. A respectful approach with keep/donate/recycle sorting. Often full load, $1,000-$1,500+ depending on how many rooms are furnished.
A client who needs to vacate before a lease ends, calling Friday for a Monday pickup. Emergency service adds a bit to the base price by volume, but stays within a reasonable range — no gouging.
Selective clear-out: keep the staging furniture, remove the surplus, old furniture, and bulky items from the basement and garage. Usually half to full load, $600-$1,100 depending on what stays.
There are legitimate ways to bring down a junk removal cost, and others that feel like savings but end up costing more in time and stress. Here's what actually works.
If everything is already gathered in one room or near the door, the crew spends less time going room to room. It's not required — we'll go through the whole house if needed — but pre-grouping cuts handling time, and sometimes the final price, when you're close to the line between two tiers on the chart.
Furniture still in good shape, appliances that still work — if you have the time and energy to list them on Marketplace or give them to a charity before we come, that reduces the total volume to remove. We already prioritize donation ourselves, but if you want to control who gets what, do it in advance.
Bringing the crew back three times for three small calls almost always costs more than one visit with everything grouped together. Travel fees and the service minimum apply per visit. One well-planned appointment is nearly always the cheaper option.
If your deadline has some flexibility, say so. The 24-48h service exists for real emergencies — a closing sale, a disaster clean-up, a tight lease deadline — and a modest surcharge applies because it pulls the crew off the regular schedule. If you have a week or two, standard scheduling generally costs less.
It sounds obvious, but plenty of people let a crew show up without asking for a ballpark price on the phone first. Describe what you have, or send photos — you should always leave that call with a realistic range, not just "we'll see when we get there."
In Montreal, the two best-known options for residential junk removal are national franchises like 1-800-GOT-JUNK, and local companies. Here's how that stacks up, factually, without knocking anyone.
National franchises have the advantage of brand recognition and a well-marked truck fleet, but they generally don't publish a precise price list online — you still have to call or fill out a form to get any estimate, and the final price can vary quite a bit from one regional franchise to another since each territory is independently operated. Local companies often provide solid service, but with very little public information on pricing or process, which makes it hard to compare before calling.
Our approach is different: the volume chart above is the one we actually use, published before you even contact us. You already know, before the call, roughly where your project should land. And once we quote a price on the phone, that's the one we honour on site, unless the actual volume clearly differs from what was described.
The other difference is in approach: we emphasize sorting, donation, and recycling ahead of landfill, with particular care for estate clean-outs that call for a gentler touch than a straight "everything in the truck." That's not a premium add-on service — it's simply how we work by default.
If your project blurs the line between a home clear-out and a business space — say, an apartment above a shop that's changing hands — it's worth reading our breakdown on commercial space cleanout before closing or relocating, since the pricing logic and timeline for a business space differ a bit from a standard residential job.
Loading, transport, on-site sorting, donation or recycling when possible, and final disposal of standard household waste (furniture, appliances, boxes, mattresses, electronics).
Very difficult access (multiple flights of stairs, a long carry distance), 24-48h emergency service, special materials needing a specific referral (liquid paint, chemicals, large quantities of tires, medical waste).
The good news is we flag these potential add-ons before the job, not on the final invoice. If your project overlaps with renovation work — say you're clearing a basement while redoing the kitchen — construction debris (drywall, framing lumber, tile) follows different pricing than household items. We go deeper on this in our guide to construction waste removal in Montreal: dumpster bin vs direct pickup, useful if your residential clear-out overlaps a renovation project.
A lot of people call us thinking they need "residential junk removal" when their project actually fits a different service category, which can change both pricing and approach. Here's how to sort it out quickly.
Residential junk removal covers anything tied to a house, condo, or apartment: furniture, appliances, basements, garages, estates, pre-sale prep. That's the service described on this page.
If you're clearing a business space instead — an office, a shop, a restaurant that's closing or relocating — commercial cleanout is the right service, priced according to the volume and type of space. We cover this in more detail in our article on commercial space cleanout before closing or relocating, relevant if your situation touches both a residence and a business space (for example, an apartment above a storefront).
And if your project mostly involves renovation debris — drywall, wood, tile, demolition materials — construction waste removal is the fit, with volume pricing that differs from standard household items and is often organized by dumpster bin or direct pickup depending on the scope of work.
We serve Montreal, Laval, and the South Shore with the same price chart, with no hidden travel premium by neighbourhood. That includes areas like Rosemont, Villeray-Saint-Michel, Côte-des-Neiges-NDG, Hochelaga-Mercier, the Sud-Ouest, and RDP-Pointe-aux-Trembles on the Montreal side, plus Chomedey, Duvernay, Pont-Viau, Laval-Ouest, and Sainte-Rose in Laval. Check the full list of service areas to confirm your exact neighbourhood.
Knowing what to expect on the day helps you plan, especially if you need to be present or coordinate access with a family member, tenant, or real estate agent. Here's the typical flow of an appointment, start to finish.
We confirm the arrival time by phone or text, with a reasonable window instead of a vague "sometime between 8am and 5pm" that has you waiting all day. For dense urban appointments, we factor in traffic and parking to land inside the agreed window.
The crew takes a quick look at what needs to go, confirms volume and access, and gives you the final price before loading anything. If the actual volume differs meaningfully from what was described on the phone, we tell you before continuing — never after.
While the crew loads, they're already mentally sorting what can be donated or reused from what needs to be recycled or landfilled. If you have specific instructions — "keep that lamp," "that box is fragile" — that's the moment to say so.
Once the volume is out, the crew does a basic sweep of the space so no debris is left on the floor. It's not a full cleaning service, but the space is left in reasonable shape, ready for the next step of your project (painting, listing, a new tenant).
Payment happens on site once the work is done, at the price confirmed in step 2. Most standard residential appointments take 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on volume and access.
You don't need to prep everything perfectly, but a few minutes of preparation avoid misunderstandings and speed up the job.
Clearly identify what stays (with a note or coloured tape if needed), remove personal items or sensitive documents from furniture being removed, clear the path between the room and the exit if possible, plan parking for the truck.
Empty drawers one by one, disassemble large furniture, carry anything to the door yourself, or clean before we arrive — that's our job.
If you're managing a clear-out remotely — for example, an estate in a city you don't live in — we can coordinate access with a neighbour, real estate agent, or family member on site, and send before/after photos if you'd like.
After hundreds of residential clear-outs across Greater Montreal, we see the same planning mistakes come up again and again. Here are the most frequent ones, and how to avoid them.
"It's just a bit of stuff in the basement" sometimes turns into three full rooms accumulated over ten years once we're on site. That's fine — it happens all the time — but it can shift the final price between the phone estimate and the on-site confirmation. To avoid a surprise, take a few wide photos of the whole space before calling, not just close-ups of one or two items.
If you have a closing date, a lease end, or a specific event, book as soon as you know the date instead of calling the day before. 24-48h emergency slots exist and work well, but booking ahead gives you more flexibility on timing and avoids any rush surcharge.
If your residential clear-out also includes renovation debris (say, you're emptying a basement while tearing down a wall at the same time), mention it on the phone. Construction debris is priced differently, and flagging it in the initial call avoids an on-site price adjustment.
There's a service minimum that covers travel and setup, regardless of volume. So a "few items" job doesn't cost ten times less than a full load, even if the volume is ten times smaller. That's standard across the industry — the same logic applies with every serious provider.
A lot of people assume "junk removal" means "everything to the landfill," but that's not how we work, and it's not the direction the Montreal industry is heading in 2026 either. Here's concretely what happens to what we pick up.
Furniture and appliances still in working order are prioritized for donation — whether through community organizations, resource centres (ressourceries), or reuse platforms. Clothing and small household items in good shape follow the same logic. What's no longer reusable but still recyclable (metal, some electronics, cardboard) is sorted and routed to the right stream. What's left after that sort — often the smallest share of the total volume — goes to landfill, for lack of an alternative.
This approach takes more coordination than a straight run to a landfill site, but it's a difference that matters to a lot of our clients, especially for estate clean-outs where items carry sentimental value even when the family isn't keeping them — knowing they'll go on to serve someone else instead of ending up directly in a dump changes how people experience the process.
It comes down mostly to volume. Expect $150-$300 for a few items, $400-$700 for a quarter or half load (a basement corner, one room), and $800-$1,500+ for a full home or an estate. The exact price is confirmed on site before anything gets loaded.
We give you a realistic range over the phone based on your description or photos, then confirm it on site before starting. You never get a surprise on the final bill.
It can add a bit, because it takes more time and manpower, but our crew is used to elevator-less Montreal triplexes, narrow Plateau back lanes, and the outdoor staircases the city is known for. We factor that into the estimate up front, not as a surprise afterward.
Yes. We prioritize reuse and donation ahead of landfill as part of the standard service, not as a paid add-on.
Most large franchises and local competitors don't publish a precise price list online — you have to call to get any sense of cost. Our volume-based chart is published up front and confirmed before work starts, so there's no guesswork.
Special materials (liquid paint, chemicals, tires, medical waste) are handled case by case — we tell you clearly ahead of time, or point you to the right resource if we can't take them.
Planning a pickup? See all of our service areas, including Saint-Laurent and Ahuntsic-Cartierville. Related reading: Junk Removal Before Selling Your Home: A Pre-Listing Checklist for Montreal and Bulky Appliance and Heavy Furniture Removal in Montreal.
Describe your project on the phone or fill out the form — a clear estimate, no commitment.
📞 (514) 295-2123From $150, same-day pickup often available in Montreal, Laval, the North Shore and the South Shore.
GoodBye Junk Montréal
Montreal, QC, Canada
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