Large Fairfax County estates and mansions, often gated, with long driveways (22101, 22102). Discreet, unmarked, insured crews, whole-property clears priced flat from photos from $75, donation documentation for the executor — and no sales tax on the service in Virginia.
Send photos — one flat price back, no tax line, no on-site renegotiation
Upload Photos & Get Quote →McLean is a Fairfax County estate belt — large houses and mansions on wooded lots, plenty of them gated, with driveways long enough that the front door isn't visible from the road. The households behind those gates are executives, diplomats and cleared-contractor leadership, and that changes what people are actually shopping for.
Elsewhere the question is "how much and how fast." Here it's usually "who exactly is coming into my house, and will anyone know they were here?" That's not vanity. When a family's professional life runs on clearances, confidentiality or a diplomatic posting, a stranger's truck parked at the top of the drive with a phone number painted down the side is a genuine problem, and so is a crew that stages the contents of a study across the front lawn where the whole street can read them.
So we run McLean differently. Unmarked vehicles. Vetted, insured crews, with proof of insurance ahead of the date. Sorting done inside the property rather than on the lawn. No interior photography beyond what's needed to quote. And we're comfortable dealing entirely with an estate attorney, a relocation coordinator or a property manager instead of the family, if that's simpler.
The other McLean distinction is why the house is being cleared. This isn't only local downsizing. It's an international posting with a hard departure date, a clearance-driven relocation, an executive transfer that was decided in another time zone. Those moves come with deadlines set by an institution, not by a real-estate market — and they don't accommodate a hauler who wants to come look first and quote later. Ours is quoted flat from photos before anyone is dispatched, and because Virginia doesn't tax junk removal as a service, the number has nothing added at checkout.
Room by room, plus the basement, garage and any outbuildings. A flat price comes back in seconds — no estimator walking through the house before you've decided anything.
Gate code or guard arrangement, driveway width, turnaround at the top. We plan the approach in advance and send proof of insurance if you want it on file.
Unmarked, insured crews, staged over as many days as the property needs, donation-routed with documentation, floors and drive protected, broom-clean at the end.
Whole-property work prices as truck-fill from photos — the same published ladder whether it's one truck or the fourth one. Named heavy pieces price individually. Loading, the long carry from a basement or an outbuilding, and disposal are all inside the number, and Virginia adds no sales tax on top.
| Truck fill | Flat price |
|---|---|
| 2/8 of the truck | $325 |
| 3/8 | $455 |
| 4/8 (half truck) | $580 |
| 5/8 | $690 |
| 6/8 | $790 |
| 7/8 | $890 |
| Full truck (8/8) | $985 |
The pieces McLean houses actually hold
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Sofa | $170 |
| Riding mower | $205 |
| Wine cooler (large) | $210 |
| China cabinet | $215 |
| Home gym | $240 |
| Refrigerator (large) | $246 |
| Safe (large) | $273 |
| Sectional — 4-piece | $307 |
| Conference table | $350 |
| Sectional — 5-piece | $365 |
| Upright piano | $390 |
| Sauna | $395 |
| Hot tub | $434 |
| Grand piano | $590 |
| Pool table | $812 |
Off-site storage, cleared out
| Storage unit | Flat price |
|---|---|
| 10x20 unit | $1,580 |
| 10x30 unit | $2,365 |
$75 order minimum. A whole estate is quoted as several truck-fills rather than a per-item tally, which is almost always the lower number — photograph rooms, not objects. Loose boxes, files, linens and garage clutter price by volume.
Two third-party numbers that make the flat price make sense. HomeGuide's 2026 cost research puts national franchise junk removal at roughly $400–$600 for a half-truck and $700–$1,000 for a full truck, confirmed only after a crew comes out to look. And the disposal side is real money here: Fairfax County charges commercial haulers about $90 per ton in FY2026 to tip at the I-66 Transfer Station and the I-95 Landfill / Energy-Recovery Complex (Fairfax County DPWES). A whole-estate clear is measured in tons, not bags — that tipping cost is genuine, and it sits inside our flat price instead of appearing as a surprise on arrival.
| Option | Cost | Speed | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County bulk / special collection (DPWES) | Free for serviced households | Scheduled appointment | Item caps and exclusions set by the county, curbside only — everything goes to the road, down a long gated driveway, and sits there visibly until the date |
| Estate-sale company | Commission on what sells | Weeks | Sells the valuable minority; the unsold majority is still sitting in the house afterwards and still has to be removed |
| Self-haul / hired labor + dumpster | Dumpster + permit + ≈$90/ton tipping (Fairfax FY2026) | Days | A dumpster on the drive announces the job to the entire street, and you're managing the labor and the disposal yourself |
| Franchise hauler (1-800-GOT-JUNK, College HUNKS) | ≈$400–$600 half-truck, $700–$1,000 full (HomeGuide 2026) | 1–3 days | Volume-priced and confirmed after an on-site estimate; branded trucks, and discretion isn't part of the offer |
| JunkRabbit | From $75 · truck-fill $325–$985 · multi-truck for a whole estate | Same day to a staged multi-day clear | None — flat photo price, no VA sales tax, unmarked insured crews, donation documentation |
Fairfax County runs its own bulk and special collection program for the households it services, with item caps and exclusions the county sets. Check Fairfax County DPWES for the current rules at your address — the caps and accepted-item list belong to the county and they change, and what a neighbor did two years ago isn't a reliable guide.
Where it stops fitting a McLean property is structural rather than bureaucratic. It's a curbside program: everything has to reach the road. On a gated lot with a several-hundred-foot driveway, "put it at the curb" means moving a household's contents a distance most people underestimate, and then leaving it stacked at the road, in full view, for however many days until the scheduled appointment. For a family that hired us specifically so the street wouldn't know a house was being emptied, that's the opposite of the outcome.
It's also a volume mismatch. A per-appointment item cap and a 6,000 square foot house with a finished basement, a garage and outbuildings are not in the same conversation — you'd be booking appointments through the season. And the categories an estate clear generates most reliably are the excluded ones: renovation debris, a hot tub, a safe, a sauna, construction material from a garage project.
Here's the piece that makes the economics honest, and it's the reason a "free" option and a flat quote aren't really comparable. Whatever isn't donated or recycled has to be tipped, and in this county that costs about $90 per ton commercially in FY2026 at the I-66 Transfer Station and the I-95 Landfill / Energy-Recovery Complex (Fairfax County DPWES). A whole-estate clear runs to tons. Any hauler quoting you is paying that at the scale — the question is only whether it's inside the number you were given or added to it afterwards. With us it's inside, along with the labor, the long carry and the driveway distance.
A McLean house rarely empties into a landfill, and it shouldn't. Usable furniture and household goods go to donation first: Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Goodwill of Greater Washington, the Salvation Army, and A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, which furnishes homes for families leaving homelessness and takes exactly the kind of solid, well-kept furniture these houses hold. Donation documentation comes on request, itemized by where things went — if you're an executor settling an estate, that paperwork is part of the deliverable, not a favor.
Metal — gym frames, filing cabinets, safes, appliance shells, grounds equipment — goes to scrap. Electronics go to Northern Virginia e-waste recycling rather than the trash stream. Anything holding refrigerant, from a wine cooler to a second-kitchen refrigerator to the chest freezer in the garage, gets EPA-certified refrigerant recovery before disposal; a legal requirement, included in the price.
Only what's genuinely waste reaches the scale at I-66 or I-95. At roughly $90 a ton, diverting isn't a green talking point for us — every donated sofa and every scrap load is a ton we don't pay for, which is precisely why the flat number can stay flat.
Access: tell us the gate code or the guard arrangement, the driveway width and whether there's a turnaround at the top, and send a photo of the approach. Where a full-size truck can't turn at the house we stage closer with a smaller vehicle and shuttle down. We keep to the drive rather than cutting across turf, and we protect the drive edges and lawn.
Inside: runners on the path, corners and door casings padded, banisters blanketed, nothing dragged across hardwood or stone. Heavy pieces — a pool table, a sauna, a safe — come apart on site rather than being forced through a doorway. The floor underneath gets protected before anything moves.
Discretion: unmarked vehicles, vetted insured crews, proof of insurance ahead of the date, sorting done inside the property rather than staged on the lawn, and no interior photography beyond what's needed to quote. If the family isn't present, we'll coordinate entirely with the estate attorney, relocation coordinator or property manager.
Pace: a garage or a single room is usually same-day. A full estate is staged over two or three days, scheduled backwards from a listing date, a settlement or a departure date — and we hold to that date, because on a clearance-driven or international move there isn't a second attempt.
"Whole estate including basement and attic, cleared over three days. Careful with the antiques, donation-routed. No sales tax in Virginia."
"Downsizing after decades here — kept what we marked, cleared the rest, donation-routed. Careful and discreet."
"Discreet, careful with the good furniture, realtor-ready. One fair flat price, no tax line. Highly recommend."
How much does an estate cleanout cost in McLean?
Truck-fill priced from photos: $325 at 2/8, $455 at 3/8, $580 at half, $690, $790, $890, and $985 for a full truck — multiple trucks for a whole property, each at the same published tier. Heavy named pieces price individually: grand piano $590, pool table $812, hot tub $434, sauna $395, safe $273, home gym $240. A 10x20 storage unit is $1,580, a 10x30 $2,365. $75 minimum, disposal included, no Virginia sales tax.
Are the crews discreet and unmarked?
Yes — unmarked vehicles, vetted insured crews, proof of insurance ahead of the date, sorting done inside the property rather than on the lawn. We'll coordinate with an attorney, relocation coordinator or property manager instead of the family if that's easier.
Will Fairfax County take it instead?
The county runs its own bulk and special collection with item caps and exclusions it sets — check Fairfax County DPWES. It's curbside and scheduled, which on a gated lot means hauling everything to the road and leaving it visible until the date.
Is there sales tax in Virginia?
No. Virginia doesn't tax junk removal as a service, so nothing is added at checkout — worth comparing against a District quote, where it is.
Can you get up a gated driveway?
Usually. Send the gate arrangement, the driveway width and a photo of the approach; where a full-size truck can't turn we stage closer with a smaller vehicle and shuttle. The drive and lawn edges get protected.
Do you provide donation documentation?
Yes, itemized on request — Habitat ReStore, Goodwill of Greater Washington, the Salvation Army and A Wider Circle in Silver Spring.
Can you clear a wine cellar or a basement gym?
Yes. Large wine cooler $210, home gym $240, treadmill $155, sauna $395, hot tub $434, pool table $812 — dismantled on site where needed, floors protected.
How long does a whole estate take?
A room or a garage is usually same-day. A full property with a finished basement, garage and outbuildings is typically two or three days of multiple loads, scheduled backwards from your listing, settlement or departure date.
No. Virginia does not tax junk removal as a service, so there is no sales-tax line added to your McLean bill. On a multi-truck estate clear that is a meaningful difference against a comparable quote across the river in the District, where sales tax is applied at checkout.
Yes, and in McLean that is usually the actual purchase criterion rather than a nice-to-have. The household may belong to an executive, a diplomat or a cleared contractor, and what leaves the house is nobody's business. Crews are vetted and insured, arrive unmarked, work inside the property rather than staging contents across the front lawn, and do not photograph the interior beyond what is needed to quote. We can provide proof of insurance before the date and coordinate through an estate attorney, a relocation coordinator or a property manager instead of the family if that is easier.
Usually yes, and we plan it before the date rather than on it. Tell us the gate code or the guard arrangement, the driveway width and whether there is a turnaround at the top, and send a photo of the approach. Where a full-size truck cannot turn we stage closer to the house with a smaller vehicle and shuttle, and we protect the drive and the lawn edges rather than cutting across them. Nothing is dragged over stone, brick or turf.
Yes. Usable furniture and household goods are routed to Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Goodwill of Greater Washington, the Salvation Army and A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, which furnishes homes for families leaving homelessness — with donation documentation on request. For an estate being settled, that paperwork is part of the job rather than an afterthought, and we will itemize what went where.
Yes — those are the McLean rooms that surprise people. A large wine cooler is $210, a home gym $240, a treadmill $155, a sauna $395, a hot tub $434 and a pool table $812. Garage and outbuilding contents, including a riding mower at $205, price as truck-fill by volume from photos. Heavy items come apart on site where they have to, and the floor underneath is protected.
A single-room or garage job is usually same-day. A 6,000 square foot house with a finished basement, a garage and outbuildings is typically staged across two or three days with multiple truck loads, scheduled around a listing date, a settlement or a departure date. Tell us the deadline when you send photos and we schedule backwards from it.