The short answer: this is two different jobs

The May job is preventative. You clear the garage so that when a storm is forecast, everything loose outside has somewhere to go. Typically a 3/8 truck at $338 or a half at $431, sometimes just a quarter at $241.

The post-storm job is cleanup. Waterlogged lanai cushions, a chest freezer full of spoiled food after a multi-day outage, the plywood you cut and the sandbags you filled. Also usually $338 to $587, and it is the busiest two weeks in our Jacksonville calendar.

Doing the May job well makes the November job smaller. That is the whole argument of this article.

Your garage is hurricane equipment

This is the framing that makes the cost make sense. In Northeast Florida the garage is not just storage. It is the place your outdoor life goes when a storm is coming, and its capacity is a preparedness number.

Count what has to fit in there at short notice on a typical Duval County property:

  • Patio table and four to six chairs
  • Umbrella and base
  • The grill
  • Potted plants, which are heavy and numerous
  • Pool floats, noodles, the skimmer pole
  • Kids' things - trampoline nets, ride-ons, a portable basketball hoop
  • Bins, bikes, the hose reel, the door mat, the flag

That is a lot of cubic feet. If the garage currently holds a treadmill nobody uses, three seasons of old hurricane supplies, and forty collapsing cardboard boxes, it does not hold any of the list above - and you end up putting patio chairs in the living room at 9pm the night before, which is exactly the frantic version of this that everyone in Jacksonville has done at least once.

The stratum of old hurricane supplies

Nearly every long-occupied Jacksonville garage has this layer, and it is the single best thing to clear because it is bulky, useless and emotionally easy to let go:

  • Plywood cut for the windows of a house you may no longer live in, warped and delaminating from the humidity.
  • Sandbags from two or three seasons back, split at the seams and leaking. Wet sand is extremely heavy - this is real volume.
  • Tarps gone brittle in the UV.
  • Water long past date, and battery lanterns with corroded terminals.
  • Storm shutters for openings that no longer exist after a window replacement.
  • A generator that has never been started, with stale fuel in the can beside it.

Note the last one carefully. We take the generator. We cannot take the fuel - gas, diesel, propane cylinders, paint, pool chemicals and pesticides all go to a Duval household hazardous waste facility instead. Check the city's current locations and hours before you load the car.

The patio audit

Do this walk in May with one question: would I actually bring this inside, or would I leave it out and hope? Anything in the second category is not furniture any more, it is a projectile, and you should clear it now rather than discover that in September.

The Jacksonville items that repeatedly fail the test:

  • Aluminum patio chairs with sun-rotted straps that nobody sits in
  • A glass-topped patio table that has been cracked for two years
  • The second grill
  • An unused portable basketball hoop, which is the classic high-wind hazard on a Duval driveway
  • An above-ground pool that has not held water since 2023
  • Cushion boxes full of mildewed cushions

Screen enclosures deserve a word here too. A pool cage is a wonderful thing and a vulnerable one, and loose items inside it become interior projectiles that tear the screen from within. Clearing the deck is cage protection as well as house protection.

After the storm

What we actually haul in the two weeks after a named storm affects Jacksonville, in rough order of frequency:

  • Chest and upright freezers full of spoiled food after a multi-day outage. $146 and $149 respectively. Tape the lid before we arrive.
  • Soaked upholstery and mattresses from rooms that took water. Prices do not change because something is wet.
  • Carpet and rugs lifted after water intrusion. Rolled carpet $68, carpet removal per room $71, large area rug $68.
  • The used prep materials. Sandbags, plywood, tarps.
  • Electronics killed by the restoration surge. TVs $62 to $73, box of electronics $77.
  • Damaged screen panels and fence sections.

One important distinction: household contents are not storm debris. During a declared event the city normally issues specific instructions for curbside debris - separating vegetative from construction from appliances, and where to place it. Check the current guidance after the event rather than assuming, because those rules are not the same as ordinary bulk collection, and household furniture put out with the branch pile is often simply left.

Prices and worked totals

The ladder: $241 for a quarter truck, $338 for 3/8, $431 for a half, $513 for 5/8, $587 for 3/4, $661 for 7/8, $732 for a full truck. Minimum $75 per visit.

The patio purge. Patio table $89, six patio chairs (6 × $30 = $180), propane grill $71, portable basketball hoop $115. $89 + $180 + $71 + $115 = $455. A half truck is $431, so book the half.

Post-outage freezer and debris. Chest freezer $146 plus twenty bags of debris $259. $146 + $259 = $405. That is under the $431 half truck, so itemize this one.

The small prep clear. Charcoal grill $59 plus ten bags of debris $132. $59 + $132 = $191.

The dead pool and the mower. Above-ground pool frame and liner $145 plus lawn mower $65. $145 + $65 = $210.

Book it in spring, not in the queue

The practical scheduling reality in Jacksonville: for most of the year you can get a window quickly. In the week after a storm affects Northeast Florida, every removal crew, tree service, roofer and restoration contractor in the region is booked at once, and it stays that way for a while.

So the cheap, calm version of this job is a Saturday in April or May. The expensive version in time and stress is the same job in September with a tarp on the roof and a queue in front of you.

If you are reading this in the middle of the season, still book. Just expect the window to be a few days out rather than tomorrow, and get the freezer taped shut in the meantime.

What is included

Two people, the truck, the carry-out from the garage, the shed, the lanai or the back fence line, and disposal. No charge for the long driveway. No same-day surcharge. No separate landfill fee afterwards.

Not included: fuel, propane, paint, pool chemicals and pesticides, which go to household hazardous waste; and anything structural, which is a contractor's job rather than a removal.

Frequently asked questions

When should I do a hurricane-prep garage cleanout in Jacksonville?

April or May, before the season opens on June 1. A cleared garage is what lets you bring patio furniture, grills, plants and pool gear inside quickly when a storm is 48 hours out. Expect $241 to $431 depending on how full it is.

Can you take old sandbags, plywood and tarps?

Yes. Old storm supplies are one of the most common things we clear from Jacksonville garages. Note that wet sandbags are genuinely heavy, so a large pile is real volume - twenty bags of debris is $259.

Will you take the generator and the gas cans?

The generator, yes. The fuel, no. Gas, diesel, propane cylinders, paint, pool chemicals and pesticides are household hazardous waste and go to a Duval drop-off facility. Check the city's current hours and locations.

My chest freezer is full of spoiled food after the outage. Can you take it?

Yes, and it is one of our most common post-storm jobs. A chest freezer is $146 and an upright is $149, spoiled or not. Tape the lid shut before we arrive.

Is household furniture the same as storm debris at the curb?

No, and this catches people out. During a declared event the city issues specific separation and placement rules for storm debris. Household contents put out with the vegetative pile are frequently left behind. Check the current post-event guidance.

How fast can you come after a storm?

Usually within a few days, but that week is the busiest of our Jacksonville year - every crew in the region is booked at once. Book early in the week if you can.