Storage Unit Cleanouts: Empty It Before the Next Bill Comes

To beat the next storage bill, work backward from your billing date. Check your rental agreement's move-out rules, sort out what you're keeping, and book the cleanout for a day that leaves a few days to spare. The price depends on how much is in the unit; see our storage unit cleanout page for how we quote it.

Work backward from the billing date

Pull out your rental agreement and find three things: when rent is due, how much notice the facility wants before you move out, and the facility's access hours. Then pick a cleanout day a few days before the next charge, not the day before. That cushion covers a rainy morning, a lost key or a change in our schedule. Same-day service is sometimes possible, but it isn't always available, because Damon works fire shifts and has a family.

If you've fallen behind on rent

This part matters more than most people realize. In Texas, a self-service storage facility has a lien on everything in your unit for charges that are due and unpaid, and that lien takes priority over other liens on the same property (Texas Property Code §59.021 and §59.006). If the rental agreement includes the lien in underlined or conspicuous bold print, the facility can enforce it by selling the contents. Here's the general sequence in Chapter 59:

1. The facility delivers written notice of the claim to the tenant.
2. If the tenant doesn't pay by the 14th day after the notice is delivered, the facility advertises the sale, typically in a local newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks.
3. If notice is published, the sale can't happen until the 15th day after the first notice runs. If notices are posted instead, the sale can happen after the 10th day.

Up until the sale, you can redeem your property by paying the lien amount plus the facility's reasonable expenses (§59.008). This is general information, not legal advice. If you're facing a lien sale, check with an attorney about your situation.

Sort before the truck shows up

Go through the unit once before cleanout day with three piles in mind: keep, give to family and haul. Pull out anything with paperwork, photos or IDs.

If you find paint, fuel or chemicals, set them aside, because we don't haul hazardous waste. As of September 2026, City of Denton residents can take those to the city's Home Chemical Collection in their original labeled containers.

You don't need to sort the haul pile any further. We load it all and sort as we go. Usable furniture and household goods go to local charities, recyclables get recycled, and the rest goes to the landfill. If most of it is couches, dressers and bed frames, it's the same work as our furniture removal service, just at a different address.

How a storage cleanout works with us

Send photos of the open unit, or ask for a walkthrough at the facility. We meet you or the facility manager at the unit, load everything and sweep it out so it's ready to turn over. Someone has to let us in, but it doesn't have to be you. Several units are quoted as one job.

The firm price is confirmed on site before we load anything, and you pay after the job is done to your satisfaction.

Sherman needed a pickup on short notice:

Byron's job was in Lewisville:

For facility managers

If you run a facility, we also clear abandoned units once your lien process is complete and leave them swept for the next renter. Our storage unit cleanout service has the details, and if your facility is up the road, see junk removal in Lewisville.