Junk Removal, Demolition & Site Prep
Junk removal, demolition, and site prep is the residential trade that hauls out debris, dismantles non-structural items, and prepares lots for landscaping or construction — single-item pickup from $250, full-day site prep packages to $6,000. The shed in the back corner that has been falling apart for six years. A garage stacked floor-to-ceiling after a parent moved out. The kitchen the remodeler tore down but never hauled away. A bare patch of mud where a hot tub used to sit, now needing a gravel pad before the new one lands. A driveway expansion that needs silt fence before the inspector signs off. Handis covers three sub-trades — light demolition, junk and debris, and site prep and cleanup — within honest handyman scope, with a clear handoff to a licensed Washington L&I contractor on anything structural, permitted, or in a utility line.
Services
What Does Junk Removal, Demolition & Site Prep Cover?
Handis covers three connected residential sub-trades on Seattle-area properties — light demolition (the non-structural tear-out work that does not need a contractor permit), junk and debris hauling (single-item pickup through full-truckload loadouts with sorted disposal at licensed transfer stations), and site prep and cleanup (post-construction cleanup, lot resets, gravel pad prep for sheds and hot tubs, and silt-fence erosion control on disturbed soil). Pricing starts at $250 for a single-item demolition or pickup and runs to $6,000 for a multi-day site prep package on a larger lot. Each sub-trade has its own page below with detailed pricing, the work we do, and the work we route to a licensed contractor.
Light Demolition
Non-structural interior tear-out — old kitchen cabinets and countertops, broken vanities, vinyl flooring, drop ceilings, panelling, base trim, shelving runs. Exterior small-demo — sheds (under 200 sq ft), deck boards down to the framing, wood and chain-link fence removal, swing sets, hot tub demo (drain and dismantle, refrigerant evac handled by an EPA tech). Anything load-bearing, anything inside a wall on a gas or supply line, any roof framing, anything that requires a Seattle SDCI permit routes to a licensed Washington L&I contractor. From $250 for a single item.
Light Demolition — interior tear-out, sheds, decks, fences, hot tubs
Junk & Debris
Single-item, partial-load, and full-truckload hauling — a single fridge or mattress, a garage cleanout, an estate clean-out after a move, the leftover pile from a remodeler who walked off the job. Sorted disposal at licensed transfer stations (Recology, Republic Services, Cedar Grove for yard waste). Metal goes to a metal recycler. Refrigerants get evacuated by an EPA-certified tech before fridges and freezers go in the truck. Paint, chemicals, and asbestos route to the King County Local Hazardous Waste Management Program — we never put them in a standard load. From $350.
Junk & Debris — single-item, garage cleanouts, estate, full-truckload
Site Prep & Cleanup
Post-construction cleanup after a remodel or addition (fine-dust vacuum, window track detail, fixture wipe-down, debris haul), lot and yard cleanup (storm debris, blackberry clearance, brush, leftover landscape rubble), gravel and pad prep for sheds, hot tubs, trash enclosures, and small equipment pads, and silt-fence erosion control to WSDOT 9-14.5 spec on any disturbed soil over the wet season. Year-round PNW work — mud and rain affect scheduling, and the silt fence usually goes up before the weather window closes. From $500.
Site Prep & Cleanup — post-construction, lot reset, gravel pads, silt fence
Junk Removal, Demolition & Site Prep Pricing
Final pricing depends on volume, debris type, disposal-stream sorting, lot access, and whether the job is single-visit or multi-day. Each sub-category page lists detailed pricing for that family. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us what is on the lot — we will sort the scope, the disposal, and the contractor handoff.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Junk, Demo & Site Prep
Most junk and site prep calls we get are for the second or third thing on the property that has been sitting too long — a shed that started leaning two winters ago, a garage stacked from an estate cleanup, a bare mud patch behind the kitchen addition that needs gravel before the rain returns. The cost of leaving each one alone keeps climbing. Soft sheds collapse on what they were storing. Garage piles get rodents. Bare disturbed soil washes downhill and earns the homeowner a stop-work order from the city. We do the work that fits handyman scope, sort the debris into the right disposal streams, and tell you honestly on the booking call when the right answer is a licensed contractor instead of us.
Honest scope — non-structural handyman work, contractor handoff when needed
We do non-structural interior tear-out, light exterior demolition (sheds under 200 sq ft, decks down to framing, fence removal, hot tub dismantling), junk hauling, gravel pads for sheds and hot tubs, and silt-fence erosion control. Anything load-bearing, anything inside a wall on a gas or supply line, anything requiring a Seattle SDCI permit, engineered grading or drainage, or a utility-line dig routes to a licensed Washington L&I contractor — we name the issue on the booking call and recommend a contractor when we know one.
Sorted disposal at licensed transfer stations — never a dumped pile
Every loadout gets sorted before disposal — C&D (construction and demolition) debris to a licensed C&D transfer station, metal to a metal recycler (often paid back), yard waste to Cedar Grove or a county yard-waste site, mattresses to a mattress recycler where one exists, e-waste to an Ecology-licensed handler. Paint, chemicals, asbestos, and other household hazardous waste route to the King County Local Hazardous Waste Management Program — never a regular load. You get the disposal receipts with the invoice.
EPA-certified refrigerant evacuation before any fridge, freezer, or AC unit goes in the truck
Federal law (40 CFR Part 82) requires refrigerants — R-134a, R-410A, R-22 — to be recovered by an EPA Section 608-certified technician before disposal. We coordinate the evac with a certified tech before any sealed-system appliance leaves the site. Loading a fridge without evac is a federal violation we will not do, and most transfer stations will reject it on arrival anyway.
Silt fence to WSDOT 9-14.5 spec — passes inspection on the first walk
Disturbed soil over 7,000 sq ft in unincorporated King County (varies by jurisdiction) needs erosion and sediment control under the Stormwater Manual. Silt fence is the standard tool. We install woven geotextile filter fabric to WSDOT Standard Specification 9-14.5, trenched 6 inches into the ground at the bottom edge, attached to steel T-posts at 6-foot spacing. The fence passes a city inspector's walk on the first try, not the third.
Year-round PNW scheduling, with weather honesty on the booking call
Western Washington gets 37 inches of rain a year and an atmospheric river or two between October and February. Mud affects loadout time, silt fence goes up before the weather window closes, gravel pad compaction needs a dry-enough day for the plate compactor to bite. We schedule around what the week is bringing — and if a job needs a five-day dry window that the forecast does not show, we tell you that on the call rather than starting the work and walking away mid-job.
Insured, background-checked, 30-day workmanship guarantee on the work that fits this trade
Every Handis crew member carries liability insurance and has cleared a background screening before the first job. The 30-day workmanship guarantee covers our work — a gravel pad that settles unevenly from our compaction, a silt fence that pulls a stake we drove, a debris haul that left behind something on the punch list. It does not cover damage from a storm event, sub-base failure unrelated to our work, or the wear-and-tear consequences of leaving a site exposed longer than the maintenance schedule recommends.
Estimate
Tell us what the project looks like — what needs to come out, what needs to go in (gravel pad, silt fence), the rough lot size, the access (truck reach, driveway width), and any deadlines (a city inspection, a delivery date, a closing). We send a clear estimate that lists scope, disposal, and the contractor handoff if any.
What Our Customers Say
Recent junk removal, demolition, and site prep reviews from verified Seattle-area customers.
We bought a house where the prior owner had stacked the garage to the rafters and walked away. Handis quoted a single-truckload removal, showed up with a dump trailer, sorted metal and e-waste from the regular trash on site, brought us the transfer-station receipts. Garage clean in one afternoon.
Remodeler tore out our kitchen and disappeared. Handis cleaned up the cabinets, the counters, the old vinyl, the drop ceiling, and hauled it to the C&D transfer station. They were upfront that an in-wall plumbing rough-in would route to a licensed contractor and that was outside their trade. Saved the project.
City inspector flagged us on erosion control before our addition could break ground. Handis put up 80 feet of silt fence to WSDOT spec the next day, trenched, T-posts every 6 feet, no inspector pushback on the re-walk. Fence held through the November atmospheric river.
Shed in the back corner had been falling apart since we bought the place. Handis demoed it, hauled the wood and the old roof shingles to the right disposal streams, and laid a fresh 12x16 gravel pad on geotextile so the new shed has a flat dry base. Replacement shed went up the next weekend.
Half-acre lot we inherited had blackberry through the back third and a pile of leftover landscape rubble from the prior owner. Handis cleared it in two days, dragged the stumps to the curb for the grinder rental, hauled everything in two truckloads. They were honest that grinding the stumps themselves was outside their trade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis junk removal, demolition, and site prep — pricing, scope, disposal, scheduling, permits, and what routes to a licensed Washington L&I contractor.