The short answer
Movers take what you are keeping. Everything else — the sagging sofa, the mattress you are replacing, the particleboard bookcase that will not survive another trip, the paint-splattered shelving in the basement — is a separate job.
| What is left | Truck fill | Flat price |
|---|---|---|
| A few items and some boxes | 1/4 | $241 |
| One room's worth | 3/8 | $338 |
| Typical leftovers from a house move | 1/2 | $431 |
| Basement and garage leftovers too | 3/4 | $587 |
| Everything that did not make the truck | Full | $732 |
Minimum visit $75.
Indianapolis moving season is a real thing
The metro turns over in a compressed window. Leases across Indianapolis, Lawrence, Speedway, Greenwood and the townships overwhelmingly end late July into early August, Butler move-in lands mid-August, and the IU Indianapolis campus fills the same two weeks. Add the families timing a suburban move to the Hamilton County and Center Grove school calendars and you get one enormous two-week crunch.
What that means practically: movers, elevators, dumpsters and pickup slots are all scarce at once. If your lease ends July 31 and you are calling on July 29, you are calling late. Book the cleanout when you book the movers.
What movers will not load
- Anything with liquid or fuel. Propane tanks, gas cans, the mower with fuel still in it, paint. Those need a county household hazardous waste route anyway.
- Mattresses and upholstery they think are contaminated. If it smells like a damp basement, expect a no.
- Flat-pack furniture. A particleboard bookcase that has been assembled once rarely survives a second move, and plenty of movers will not take responsibility for it.
- Anything over a weight limit they did not agree to. The chest freezer, the safe, the cast iron radiator sitting in the garage since the boiler came out.
Flat prices for those: bookcase — particleboard / flat-pack $100, bookcase — solid wood tall $123, chest freezer $146, small safe $100, cast iron radiator $123.
The basement is where the move goes over budget
Indianapolis houses have basements, and basements hold the things you last thought about when you moved in. Old shelving, a dead dehumidifier, the previous owner's paint, kids' furniture, boxes that have sat on a concrete floor long enough to soften at the corners.
Our clay soil keeps old block foundations damp, so cardboard down there is heavier than cardboard upstairs and it does not travel well. If you are moving out of a bungalow in Irvington or a foursquare in Meridian-Kessler, budget a half load for the basement alone and be pleasantly surprised if it is less.
A representative basement-leftovers list: dehumidifier $77 + rolled carpet $68 + storage cabinet $74 + large junk pile $208 = $427. Which is basically the half-load price of $431, so you would take the flat $431.
Two moves, added up
Downsizing out of a Broad Ripple double into a Carmel apartment. Sofa $126 + loveseat $119 + queen mattress $103 + box spring $92 + dining table 6-8 seat $163 = $603. Above the three-quarter rung of $587, so you take $587.
Leaving a one-bedroom near the IU Indianapolis campus. Twin mattress $82 + futon $111 + desk $83 + office chair $61 = $337. Just under the 3/8 rung of $338, so item pricing wins by a dollar and you pay $337.
Both ladders are published in advance, so you can do this arithmetic at your kitchen table before anyone quotes you anything.
Sequence it properly
- Four weeks out: decide what is not coming. Be ruthless about anything that is already broken.
- Three weeks out: list the good stuff. Central Indiana resale is genuinely active — solid wood, tools, and anything in decent shape moves.
- Two weeks out: book the movers and book the cleanout for the same week. In August, do both earlier.
- Moving day minus one: cleanout. Not the same day as the movers, because two trucks want the same driveway and the same doorway.
- Moving day: movers only, on an empty-ish house.
Selling the house rather than renting
Different deadline, same job. If the house is listed, get the cleanout done before listing photos. An empty Garfield Park bungalow photographs like a bungalow; a full one photographs like a project.
And if you are closing, the walk-through clause usually requires the property broom-clean and free of personal property. A half load at $431 the week before closing is cheaper than a holdback at the table.
Access on moving week
One practical note for the older neighborhoods: if you live on a narrow street in Fountain Square, Loccurbie or Herron-Morton and the movers have the front of the house all day, tell us and the crew will work the alley instead. Most of those blocks have one, and it keeps two trucks from fighting over the same twenty feet of curb.
In the suburbs it is simpler — driveways are wide and there is room for both.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a moving-out cleanout cost in Indianapolis?
Typical house-move leftovers are a half truck at $431. Add the basement and garage and it is usually three-quarters at $587 or a full load at $732. Short lists price by item, with a $75 minimum visit.
When should I book during Indianapolis moving season?
Late July into August is the metro-wide lease turnover plus Butler and IU Indianapolis move-in. Book the cleanout at the same time you book the movers, not the week of.
Should the cleanout happen before or after the movers?
The day before. Two trucks competing for the same driveway and the same front door on the same morning is how moving day runs two hours late.
Can you take what the movers refused?
Most of it, yes — mattresses, flat-pack furniture, appliances, basement shelving. The exception is household hazardous waste like paint, solvents, fuel and propane tanks, which goes through a county drop-off instead.
I am selling, not renting. Does the timing change?
Do it before listing photos, and again before the final walk-through if anything reappeared. Most contracts require the property broom-clean and free of personal property at closing.