Florida garages fill faster than garages anywhere colder, because nothing forces the annual cleanout that a freezing winter does. So the pile builds for years and the job feels enormous by the time anyone starts.
Do it in this order
- Book the haul first. Having a Saturday deadline is what makes the sorting happen.
- Pull everything onto the driveway. Sorting in place never works — you cannot see what you have.
- Make three piles: keep, go, and needs special handling.
- Put the keep pile back properly, on shelves, before the go pile leaves.
- Set the special-handling pile aside, clearly. Paint, fuel, propane, chemicals.
Sizing it honestly
A single-bay garage cleared to the walls is usually about a half trailer. A packed two-car garage can be a full one. Stand at the door and take two or three wide photos rather than close-ups — the quote is judging volume, not identifying your old bicycle.
The bit people regret skipping
Put the keepers back before the junk goes. Every garage that gets cleared and refilled within a year was refilled from a keep pile that never made it back onto a shelf.