We cover all areas of County Durham including Durham City, Bishop Auckland, Consett, Chester-le-Street, Seaham, Spennymoor, and the surrounding villages.
We were recently contacted by a family from Kent who had inherited a detached three-bedroom property with land on the outskirts of Bishop Auckland. The house had belonged to their grandfather, who had once been a mechanic and smallholder. The property included a large stone garage, a wooden outbuilding, and a heavily overgrown rear yard.
The family had tried to start the clearance themselves but quickly realised the scale of the job was far beyond what could be done in a weekend. After finding us online and reviewing some of our past work, they called to arrange a full, fixed-fee clearance with all items removed — including scrap, tools, and carpets.
The property condition:
Our County Durham clearance team arrived at 9 AM and got to work immediately. The house had been left untouched for several years and showed signs of hoarding, with many items stacked in corners or boxed and forgotten in outbuildings.
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Living room: Filled with armchairs, cabinets, paperwork, old oil heaters, and hundreds of catalogues.
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Kitchen: Still had pots on the hob, food in the cupboards, and a leaking washing machine. We also removed a freestanding fridge-freezer and cooker.
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Bedrooms: Every wardrobe was filled with old clothing, tools, and various household items. One room had been used exclusively for storage — we removed over 50 boxes.
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Loft: Contained three suitcases of family photos, vintage linens, and Christmas decorations.
Garage and outbuildings:
The garage was packed with spares, engine parts, buckets of bolts, and multiple shelving units filled with old tins and tools. Our team spent over two hours safely clearing it due to the number of sharp and heavy items.
A wooden barn-style outbuilding behind the house was completely full of rusted gardening tools, broken lawnmowers, car batteries, fencing wire, and sacks of solidified cement.
The rear garden was overgrown and full of scrap metal, garden chairs, a broken greenhouse frame, and timber offcuts.
Important items found and returned to the family:
Despite the disarray, we managed to locate and preserve a number of important items:
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A full set of WWII medals, including the Defence Medal and War Medal
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A 9ct gold pocket watch tucked in a coffee tin
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Three wallets of family photographs and negatives
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Several letters between the grandfather and his war-time sweetheart
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A sealed document wallet with house deeds, pension records, and investment papers
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A carved tobacco pipe set and a boxed silver hip flask
The family were especially emotional about the letters and the medals, which they had feared were long lost.
Job completion:
In total, the job took just over 8 hours and required four van loads — two to a licensed recycling centre and two to a local County Durham charity. We removed all carpets and underlay, disconnected and removed all white goods, and swept out the garage, barn, and garden area upon completion.
Client testimonial:
“We were completely overwhelmed until we found James and his team. They took on a massive task and handled it with professionalism, care, and kindness. They didn’t just clear the house — they helped us recover treasured family history. Absolutely faultless from beginning to end.”