A volume hauler charges for every cubic foot in the truck — the broken chair and the paint that disposes free, the returnables worth money, the bike a charity wants. We sort first. Roughly a third of a typical Vancouver garage costs nothing to get rid of, provided it goes to the right place, and sorting is how it gets there.
Vancouver has good volume-based junk haulers, and for a pre-sorted pile of genuine garbage they're the right call — we'll tell you so on the phone. Their model is simple: truck space costs money, everything in the truck is billable, off it goes.
The problem is what a real garage actually contains. When we clear a typical Vancouver double garage, the load breaks down roughly like this:
| Share of load | What it is | Where it goes | Cost to dispose |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~25–35% | Paint, oil, batteries, electronics, tires, propane, bulbs | BC stewardship depots | Free |
| ~15–25% | Usable furniture, tools, bikes, sporting goods | Charities and reuse organisations | Free |
| ~10% | Scrap metal, clean wood, cardboard | Recycling / reduced-rate streams | Low |
| ~5% | Returnable containers | Bottle depot | Pays you |
| ~30–40% | Genuine garbage, broken goods, mattresses | Transfer station / landfill | Tipping fees |
In a volume truck, all five rows bill the same. Sorted, only the last row costs real money — and Metro Vancouver tipping fees being what they are in 2026, that difference is not small. Our full fee breakdown is on the Vancouver garage cleanout page.
Household hazardous waste — paint, solvents, gasoline, propane, pesticides — is banned from Metro Vancouver garbage loads, and loads found containing it attract surcharges. A hauler who cheerfully throws your paint cans in with the couch is creating a problem billed to somebody, eventually. We route it to the free depots it legally belongs at, which costs you nothing and is the entire point of the stewardship programs.
The two things that stop a job: suspected asbestos (pre-1990 vinyl flooring, pipe wrap, some cement board — testing first, certified abatement if positive), and chemical quantities beyond household scale. We tell you immediately rather than quietly leaving them behind.
Three services, one honest sorting rule:
Most people who call about "junk removal" turn out to want the second or third. That's fine — the walkthrough quote is free either way, and pricing the right service beats underpricing the wrong one.
From $399 with us, including sorting, loading, hauling and donation routing, plus landfill disposal at cost. Volume haulers charge $150–$650 by truck space. A pre-sorted garbage pile favours the volume hauler and we'll say so; a typical unsorted garage — where a third disposes free — usually comes out ahead sorted.
We route rather than refuse most things. The genuine stops: suspected asbestos material, which needs testing and certified abatement, and chemical quantities beyond household scale. Everything else — paint, propane, batteries, electronics — has a legal channel and we take it there.
Yes, and then you may not need us at all — a volume hauler takes a pre-sorted garbage pile cheaply. Our service exists for the common case: nothing is sorted, decisions haven't been made, and half the value is making the keep-donate-dispose calls with you.
Yes, and they ride free — Product Care for paint, BC Used Oil for oil and antifreeze, stewardship depots for batteries and electronics, designated facilities for propane. These are banned from Metro Vancouver garbage loads anyway; mixing them in exposes you to surcharges.
Often, depending on the day and where you are — deadline situations get priority. Late-day pickups may be tipped the next morning because disposal facilities keep fixed hours; that doesn't change your price.
Reuse first, stewardship second, recycling third, landfill last. You get the disposal receipts and a summary of what was donated, recycled and landfilled with the invoice.
Free walkthrough quote. Sorted before it's hauled, disposal at cost with receipts, and a summary of what was diverted.
Serving Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, the North Shore, New Westminster, the Tri-Cities, Surrey and Delta.