Garage Cleanout in Boise Before Winter: Get the Car Back In

Every October there's a morning in the Treasure Valley when you walk out with your coffee and the windshield is covered in frost. Then you glance back at a two-car garage with zero cars in it. That's usually when a garage cleanout in Boise before winter stops being a someday project.

It's also usually the morning I get the text.

The goal is pretty simple. Get the car back inside before scraping ice at 7 a.m. turns into a daily routine. Here's how to time it and what to deal with first.

Why fall is the best time for a Boise garage cleanout

Summer in Boise is great for a lot of things. Hauling boxes out of a garage that feels like an oven by 2 p.m. isn't one of them.

Winter's no better. Your fingers quit working, the driveway gets slick, and nobody wants to sort Christmas lights in a 25-degree garage.

That leaves fall. September and October days are usually dry and mild, the donation centers are running normal hours, and you're not juggling holiday plans yet.

There's another reason most people don't think about. Mice start looking for a warm place to spend the winter right about when the nights turn cold.

A garage stacked wall to wall with cardboard is basically a furnished apartment for them. I've pulled more than one chewed-up box out of garages in Meridian and Eagle.

Working backward from the first freeze

So when should you actually start? Earlier than you think.

The first hard freeze around Boise usually shows up sometime in October, but some years it comes early. Don't plan around a date. Plan around the steps.

Start with one afternoon of sorting. Pull everything out onto the driveway if you can. It's a lot easier to make decisions when stuff is sitting in daylight instead of buried on a back shelf.

Make three piles: keep, donate, and gone. Try hard not to make a fourth pile called "decide later," because that one always ends up right back in the garage.

Then give yourself about a week to act on it. Get the donations out first, while you're still motivated, and get the haul-away pile scheduled.

Whatever you're keeping goes back in with a plan. Usually that means shelves or wall hooks, not the floor.

If the sorting's done by early October, you're in good shape. Wait until the week before Thanksgiving and you'll be doing it in a coat.

What to pull out before it gets cold

Some things in a garage don't care about winter. Others really do.

Liquids are the big one. Latex paint that freezes and thaws a few times is usually ruined, and that half-used can of deck stain won't do much better.

If you're keeping it, move it inside to a closet or the basement. If you're not, don't toss it in with a regular junk load.

Ada County runs a household hazardous waste drop-off for paint and chemicals, and folks over in Nampa and Caldwell have options through Canyon County.

Drain your hoses, pump sprayers and pressure washer before they get put away. A cracked pump is a lousy thing to find in March.

Run gas-powered equipment dry, too. I'm happy to haul off an old mower, just not one with a full tank sloshing around in the trailer.

Then there's the summer stuff. Pool floats, the patio umbrella, the cooler nobody's touched since the last trip to Lucky Peak.

Put it up high or send it out the door. That floor space belongs to your car now.

Tip: When you put things back, leave a foot or two of open floor along the walls. Mice have a harder time nesting when there's nothing to hide behind, and you'll spot a leak or a chewed box long before spring.

Doing a garage cleanout yourself or calling someone

Yes, I'd love your business. But honestly, if your haul-away pile fits in the bed of a pickup, you can probably handle it yourself.

Usable stuff can go to Idaho Youth Ranch or St. Vincent de Paul. Call ahead on bigger furniture, since they can be picky. Scrap metal goes to a recycler, and the rest can head to the Ada County landfill or Hidden Hollow.

Calling someone makes more sense when the pile won't fit in one trip, or when it's heavy stuff like an old garage fridge, a treadmill or a built-in workbench. A loaded trailer on icy roads in December isn't anybody's idea of fun, either.

So what does it cost? That mostly depends on how much space your junk takes up and how heavy it is. The easiest way to find out is to text me a photo of the pile, and I'll give you a real number instead of a guess.

One more thing. Fall gets busy. Folks in the North End, up on the Bench and out in Star's new subdivisions all get the same idea at once.

I can usually get a job done within about 48 hours, but the sooner you reach out, the more say you'll have on the day.

The bottom line

Don't let the first frost make the decision for you. Sort the garage while the weather's still nice, handle the paint and gas stuff before the freeze, and clear the floor so the car can actually park there.

If the pile's more than you want to haul, snap a photo and text it to (208) 391-0221. I'll tell you what it'll cost, and if it makes more sense to just do it yourself, I'll tell you that too.