House clearance in Balbriggan when you live elsewhere: how to manage it remotely

Who tends to manage a clearance from a distance

Most remote clearances fall into a few patterns. Knowing which one you are in helps you decide who needs to be told what.

• An executor or family member clearing a home after a death, often with siblings in several places.
• A landlord with a property that a tenant has left, or that needs to be emptied for sale or refurbishment.
• An owner who has moved abroad or to another county and is selling, or is releasing a house that has been empty.
• A family member helping a parent who is moving to a smaller place or into care, from another county.
• A seller whose solicitor and estate agent have asked for the house to be empty by a date.

In all of these, the person who instructs is not standing in the hall when the crew arrives. That is entirely workable, and it is something we do regularly, provided that the information is good and the plan is clear. The sections below set out what a good remote plan contains.

Who is allowed to instruct the clearance

Before a crew is booked, be clear about your authority to instruct, and make sure whoever else has an interest knows you are doing it.

• After a death: usually the executor, or the administrator where there is no will. Ask the solicitor if you are not sure. If the family disagree about the contents, settle it in writing before anything is cleared.
• A landlord: the owner of the property. Check your tenancy documents for how a tenant’s left-behind items are to be handled, and photograph everything before it is touched. Take advice from the appropriate body if there is any dispute.
• An owner or seller: the owner, with the solicitor aware if it is part of a sale.
• A family member acting for someone else: make sure the person whose belongings they are has agreed, and that the arrangement is clear to everyone.

We work for whoever instructs us and we do not decide who owns an item. If ownership of something is unclear, tag it and settle it before the day.

Keys, access and security when you are not there

The practical question is how the crew get in, and how the property is secured afterwards.

Whichever you choose, decide who is the on-site contact on the day, and give us a phone number that will be answered. If the property has an alarm, give us the code and tell us how it works. If there is a pet next door, a neighbour who is sensitive to noise, or a gate that sticks, tell us.

Security after the clearance

• Confirm that the crew have locked up and who has the keys.
• Check the doors and windows are secure, if someone is on site.
• Remember that an empty house is more attractive to opportunists than a lived-in one. Ask neighbours to keep an eye out.
• Check your insurance conditions for an empty property.

The photo protocol: what to ask whoever is on site to take

If you cannot be there, photographs are your eyes. If someone else is on site on your behalf, ask them to follow a simple protocol, and use the same one yourself if you are visiting. This is the list we recommend.

1. Front of the house from the road, and the street in both directions.
2. The front door, hall and stairs from the door and from the top.
3. Each room from the doorway, with the lights on. One wide photo is more useful than five close-ups.
4. Open wardrobes, presses, the hot press and under-stairs storage, because contents are what get priced.
5. The attic, from the hatch, with the light on. Do not climb in if the floor is not boarded.
6. The garage, shed and any outbuildings with the doors open.
7. The garden, with a note on side access and a back lane.
8. Anything of value or sentiment, close up, with a note of who might want it.
9. Anything you are unsure about: labelled tins, cylinders, sheeting, damp, damage.
10. Meter readings and the stopcock, for your records.

Name the photos by room, or send them in order with a short message for each. Good photographs let us give a fixed price without anyone needing to visit, and they are the record you can compare with the after-photos.

The video walk-through

Photographs are good; a live video call is better, particularly for the decisions that need a person. A typical session takes forty minutes to an hour and goes like this:

• One person is on site with a phone; the others join the call.
• Walk the house slowly, one room at a time, in a set order.
• In each room, say aloud what is staying, what is claimed and what is going. Someone writes it down.
• Record the call if everyone agrees, so you can check afterwards.
• Tag items with sticky labels as you go, using a name.
• Finish by confirming the list by message.

This is also a kind way to include a relative who cannot travel. It lets them say yes or no to the wardrobe, the clock or the picture, without being in the room.

A decision list, so nothing is decided twice

A shared list that everyone can see removes most of the confusion. A simple table does it.

Send the final list to the clearance company before the day. We work to a written list.

A remote clearance timeline

A remote clearance needs a little more notice than one that is run in person, because more steps depend on other people. Rough order:

We do not promise a date before the job is agreed, and we will tell you honestly what we can and cannot meet.

What happens if the crew find something unexpected

With a remote client, the question of what to do with surprises needs an answer in advance. Our approach:

• If we find cash, jewellery, letters or documents, we stop and ring the contact number.
• If we find something we cannot take, such as paint, solvents, oils, fuel, chemicals, gas cylinders or asbestos, we leave it where it is and tell you.
• If an item is not on the list and the contact is unsure, it is set aside and not loaded until someone decides.
• If conditions are unsafe, we stop and tell you.

Tell us who is allowed to decide on the day: you, or the on-site contact. That one sentence prevents most delays.

Fingal County Council and the waste that is left

Balbriggan is in the Fingal County Council area. If someone on site wants to take a few things to a council centre first, here is what is available, as we last checked.

Fingal County Council does not offer a bulky waste collection. It tells householders to use an authorised collector with a National Waste Collection Permit Office (NWCPO) permit, or to bring items to one of its two recycling centres: Estuary, Seatown Road, Swords (beside Swords Business Park), and Coolmine, Porter’s Road, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Dublin 15 (beside Coolmine Fire Station). Both open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm (last entry 7:30pm) and Saturday 8am to 6pm (last entry 5:30pm), closed Sundays and bank holidays, and either may close in severe weather. The phone number is 01 890 5000.

Recyclables and household WEEE are free, as are fluorescent tubes, batteries and cooking and engine oil. Mattresses, carpets, duvets and pillows are charged, and so are soil and stones. The centres take household waste only: household bin refuse and commercial waste are refused. Staff are not permitted to help lift items, there are no public toilets, and payment is by debit or credit card. Council fees, opening days and rules change. The figures here are as we last checked them, October 2026 (council data checked on 6 October 2026), so confirm with the council or the centre before you travel.

The Fingal centres list household hazardous waste such as paint, herbicides and cleaners among the things they accept, with a charge, and they take cooking and engine oil free. We do not accept any of those items in a clearance, so if there are any in the house they need their own trip to the council centre, before the clearance day. Gas cylinders are not in the list of materials Fingal’s centres say they accept, so ask the council (01 890 5000) before you drive anywhere with one.

For a house that has to be emptied while you are somewhere else, the recycling centres rarely help, because they require a person and a vehicle on site. A permitted crew can work from photographs and a written list. Fingal’s own advice is to use an authorised collector with an NWCPO permit. Our permit number is NWCPO-25-13287-01.

How the load is sorted

The load is sorted on the truck as each room is emptied. Furniture and household goods in good condition are set aside for reuse where there is a realistic second life; we do not promise a destination for a particular item, because that depends on condition and demand that week. Metal and electricals (fridges, washing machines, TVs, cables) are kept apart as WEEE. Cardboard, paper, clean timber and textiles are separated. What is left goes to authorised waste facilities under our collection permit, No. NWCPO-25-13287-01. Disposal is charged by weight, so every kilo kept out of the general load lowers the cost of the job.

What we do not accept. We do not accept paint, solvents, oils, fuel, chemicals or gas cylinders, in any quantity, and we do not accept asbestos or clinical waste. That includes the half-used tins in the shed and the bottle by the back door. We cannot make an exception on the day, so please set these aside, tell us about them when you ask for a quote, and use the council route described below.

Afterwards, from a distance

• We send photos of every room, so you can check the result.
• Keys are handed back as agreed, to the person you named.
• Loads are held briefly in case something was missed, so ring us at once if you think it was.
• The invoice and our permit number are available for the solicitor, landlord or estate agent.
• The property is left empty and swept, not deep-cleaned. If you need a clean before a handover, arrange it for the next day.
• Cancel or transfer utilities and redirect post.

Common problems with remote clearances, and fixes

A model instruction message

This is the kind of message that lets us give an accurate quote and run the day smoothly. Adapt it.

“Three-bed semi in Balbriggan. I live in [place] and will not be there. Photos attached of every room, the attic, garage and shed. Staying: the dining table (collected by my brother on [date]) and the box marked K in the hall. Everything else is going. Access: driveway for one truck; stairs straight; no lift. [Name] will let you in at 9am and can be reached on [number]. Please ring [name] if you find cash, jewellery or papers. Deadline: keys back to the agent on [date]. Not sure about: the tins in the shed (we will set them aside for the council).”

Notice that it says who decides, who lets the crew in, what stays, and what is not accepted. It does not ask for a date to be promised in advance.

If you do travel: a one-day visit plan

If you can come for a day before the clearance, use it for the things only you can do.

1. Collect papers, valuables and photographs into boxes and take them with you.
2. Walk the house with the family on a video call and tag items.
3. Take the access photographs and measure the narrowest points.
4. Set aside paint, solvents, oils, fuel, chemicals and gas cylinders and take them to the council centre, or arrange it with someone local.
5. Meet the neighbour who will be your contact.
6. Check the alarm, the keys and the utilities.
7. Leave a written list on the kitchen table.

If you cannot travel at all, the same list can be done by a relative or friend on site, and the video call lets you take part.

Questions to ask any clearance company when you cannot be there

1. Can you give a fixed price from photographs and a written list?
2. Who from your team will be the contact, and how do we reach them on the day?
3. What do you do if the contact on site is not there when you arrive?
4. Will you send photos of every room afterwards?
5. How are keys handed back, and to whom?
6. What is your waste collection permit number? (Ours: NWCPO-25-13287-01.)
7. What will you not take? (We do not accept paint, solvents, oils, fuel, chemicals, gas cylinders, asbestos or clinical waste.)
8. What days and hours do you work? (Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm, and not on Sundays.)

Staying in touch across time zones and working hours

If you are abroad, working hours will not match ours. Agree in advance how to communicate on the day.

• Choose one channel, such as WhatsApp or a phone call, and tell the crew lead which.
• Say what time of day you can be reached, and who can decide on your behalf if you cannot.
• Ask for photographs at the end of each stage, if you want them, rather than live updates throughout.
• Keep the on-site contact informed of any change to your plans.
• Put the key decisions in writing the day before, so that nothing depends on a call at an awkward hour.

What affects the quote

We do not publish prices. The things that decide a quote are the volume, the weight, access, the mix of items and how much can be reused, and your timing. For a remote clearance, the photos and the written list are the basis of a fixed price, so it is worth taking time over them.

Questions from people managing a Balbriggan clearance remotely

Related pages

• House clearance Dublin
• End of tenancy clearance Dublin
• Storage unit clearance Dublin
• Bereavement clearance Dublin
• House clearance in Howth: planning around access, steps and parkingClearing a house in Howth is mostly a question of access: steps, long carries, parking and shared drives. How to plan it, what to photograph, and how the load is sorted.