San Diego
ADU Garage-Conversion Cleanout in
San Diego
Turning the garage into a granny flat? Before the framing goes up, the garage has to be empty to the walls — and once the build starts, there's demolition debris to deal with. We handle both: the years of stored junk and the construction debris, in one coordinated job, scheduled around your contractor. Truck-fill from $241, construction debris $120 a cubic yard, loaded straight from the garage. Flat photo price, no CA sales tax on the service.
How an ADU garage-conversion cleanout works
1 · Send a photo
Snap the garage as it sits, and tell us your build dates. A flat truck-fill price comes back in seconds; add a debris haul for after demo.
2 · We clear it before the build
A vetted, insured crew empties the garage to the walls so your contractor can start on schedule — donation-routed, freon recovered on any old fridge.
3 · We take the debris after demo
When the garage door, drywall and old flooring come out, we haul the construction debris — priced by the cubic yard or as truck-fill.
How much does an ADU garage-conversion cleanout cost?
Two priced pieces, both flat and photo-quoted. Clearing the garage's stored contents prices as truck-fill. The construction and demolition debris from the conversion prices per cubic yard, or as truck-fill for a big load. The labor, the load-out, the drive and the disposal are already in it, there's no CA sales tax, and we divert what we can to keep the number fair.
| Piece of the job | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Clear the garage — quarter truck | $241 |
| Clear the garage — half | $431 |
| Clear the garage — full | $94 |
| Construction / demo debris, per cubic yard | $120 |
| Single items (e.g. old fridge / washer) | $164 / $133 |
$75 minimum. Truck-fill fractions between quarter and full are $338, $513, $587 and $661. Disposal included; usable goods donated, metal and e-waste recycled, freon recovered. No CA sales tax on the service — the flat price is all-in.
California's granny-flat boom, one garage at a time
California's ADU laws turned the garage into the most valuable square footage on a lot, and San Diego homeowners are converting them fast — a rented granny flat, a home office, a place for aging parents or an adult kid. But there's a catch built into the local housing stock: with no basements here, the garage was doing all the storage work, so it's not empty — it's packed with a life's worth of furniture, tools, boxes and gear. Before a single stud goes up, all of it has to come out. It's the story across the county — the master-planned two-car garages of Carmel Valley and Rancho Bernardo, the big-lot stucco-ranch homes of Encanto and Southeastern San Diego with their ADU-ready yards, and everywhere in between. We handle the clear-out so the build isn't waiting on it.
Two waves of stuff — we take both
A garage conversion generates junk twice, and we're built to catch both:
- Before the build — the stored contents: the spare furniture, workbench and tools, boxes and bins, beach and camping gear, the dead second fridge and freezer, the paint and yard stuff. Cleared to the walls so demo can start.
- After demo — the construction & demolition debris: the removed garage door and tracks, old drywall and framing offcuts, flooring and concrete rubble, insulation, siding, and pulled cabinets and fixtures.
- Along the way — the leftovers: packaging and offcuts, the odd broken tool, and the general job-site clutter that piles up mid-build.
Contractor-coordinated, loaded from the garage
ADU builds run on a schedule, and a full garage or a debris pile is exactly the kind of thing that stalls one. So we work to the project, not against it: we clear the contents before demo so the crew can start, and time the debris haul to the phases of the build. Everything is loaded straight from the garage and the work area — nothing is staged at the curb, which matters in HOA neighborhoods like Carmel Valley, Rancho Bernardo and 4S Ranch where a curbside pile isn't allowed and can draw a notice. Send a photo, get a flat price, give us the dates, and we slot in around the contractor. General contractors and homeowners both book us this way; the flat photo number makes it easy to fold into the project budget.
Where it all goes
A clean-out is only fair if it's routed honestly. Usable furniture and goods from the garage go to Goodwill of San Diego, The Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul / Father Joe's Villages and Habitat for Humanity ReStore — where old cabinets, doors and fixtures often find a second life. Mattresses go to free Bye Bye Mattress recycling at Miramar; TVs, monitors and computers to free California e-waste; paint and chemicals to the Miramar HHW facility; fridges and freezers get EPA-certified refrigerant recovery; and scrap metal and clean construction materials are recycled where possible. Only the true remainder goes to the Miramar Landfill — and because San Diego's disposal is moderate with no add-on refuse tax, doing it right keeps your flat price fair.
When San Diego homeowners call us for an ADU cleanout
- Before demo — the garage has to be empty to the walls before the conversion can start.
- Mid-build debris — hauling the demolition debris and job-site clutter as the phases finish.
- Downsizing into the ADU — a family clearing the main house and garage as they reshuffle for a rental or in-law unit.
- Permit & inspection prep — a clean, cleared site for the next inspection.
- Final punch-out — clearing the last packaging and offcuts before the ADU is move-in ready.
Why San Diego ADU projects choose JunkRabbit
- Junk and C&D in one relationship — the stored contents and the construction debris, handled by the same crew.
- Contractor-coordinated — cleared before demo, debris timed to the build.
- Flat price from a photo — easy to budget, no on-site estimate, no CA sales tax.
- Loaded from the garage — full-service and HOA-safe; nothing hits the curb.
- Donation & recycling routed — usable materials to ReStore and charities, freon and e-waste handled.
What San Diego customers say
"Converting our Carmel Valley garage into an ADU and it was packed — twenty years of storage with no basement to put it in. They cleared it to the walls before my contractor started, then came back for the drywall and old garage door after demo. One flat price each time, nothing on the curb for the HOA. Kept the whole build on schedule."
"Building a granny flat for my mom in Rancho Bernardo. JunkRabbit took the stored junk and the demo debris in two coordinated trips, priced from photos, and routed the old cabinets to Habitat ReStore. Easy to work into the project budget."
"I'm a GC and use them on garage-to-ADU jobs across the county. Flat photo pricing I can quote to the client, they clear before demo and haul the C&D on my timeline, and they load from the garage so nothing sits out front. Reliable."
ADU garage-conversion cleanout — FAQ
How much does an ADU garage-conversion cleanout cost?
Flat, photo-quoted: clearing the garage prices as truck-fill from $241 (quarter) to $732 (full); construction/demo debris is $120 per cubic yard. $75 minimum, disposal included, no CA sales tax.
Junk and construction debris in one trip?
Yes — we clear the stored contents before demo and haul the C&D after, or take both together, so the build isn't stalled.
Do you coordinate with my contractor?
Yes — cleared before demo, debris timed to the phases. Send a photo and the dates and we slot in.
Do you load from the garage?
Yes — straight from the garage and work area; nothing at the curb, which keeps HOA neighborhoods happy.
Where does it go?
Usable goods to ReStore and charities, metal/e-waste and clean materials recycled, freon recovered; only the remainder to the Miramar Landfill.
Ready to Get It Gone?
Send a photo and get one flat price back in seconds — carry-out, hauling and disposal are all in it.
Upload Photos & Get Your QuotePrefer texting? 💬 Text (858) 339-5865 — send a photo, get the price.