My Whole Attic Disaster Story

Alright folks, grab a drink. This attic cleaning thing turned into way more work than I bargained for. Seriously frustrating. So my attic? Full of junk. Old boxes, Christmas decorations the squirrels chewed on, dusty stuff my parents left behind... total nightmare. Finally decided enough was enough, needed pros.

I started digging into local cleaning companies. Easy, right? Wrong. First I typed in "best attic cleaners near me" on my phone. Got flooded with websites. Felt overwhelming. Clicked maybe ten different ones. Every single one bragged about being "professional," "thorough," "affordable." Like everyone says the same thing. How do you know who's real? Frustrating.

I decided to get actual quotes. Called three places based on their online reviews looking decent.

• Company A: Guy shows up late. Barely glances up into the attic hatch. Just throws out a number – $900! Told him I had maybe 20 boxes and some old furniture. He shrugged, "Yep, that's the price." Felt like he didn’t care. Just wanted the job fast. Said no thanks.
• Company B: This guy seemed nicer on the phone. Actually came on time. Crawled up there with a flashlight, poked around for ten minutes. Came down covered in dust. His quote? $1200. Reason? Saw some old insulation lying around, said it might be "trouble." Did it need special handling? Wasn't sure. Price scared me off. Felt like maybe they saw me coming.
• Company C: Got a virtual quote – just sent pictures. Their email response? Super fast. Quote looked okay, $700. But something felt off. Checked online reviews deeper. Like, way deeper. Found a bunch buried on some forum. People complaining about hidden fees! Extra charges for "heavy lifting" or "disposal." One person said they left half the junk behind! Massive red flags. Dodged that bullet.

Seriously doubting all of them now. What to do? Fine. I’d figure it out myself. Went to the store. Spent maybe $80 total. Bought super thick dust masks (the N95 ones), heavy work gloves, a bunch of huge plastic bins, lots of contractor trash bags, and one of those little handheld lights you strap on your head.

Weekend project from hell began. Climbed up there Saturday morning. Absolute chaos. Dust clouds like you wouldn’t believe. Felt like breathing ancient history. Gloves came in clutch grabbing nasty stuff. Sort. Sweep. Bag. Sweat. Move boxes down piece by piece. Took two full days, maybe 16 hours total? Back was killing me. Found weird things – old books turning to mush, a creepy broken doll head, even a bird’s nest.

Final result? Honestly? Satisfied. Got it done myself. Saved a ton of cash. Learned the hard way: Those glowing online reviews? Often fake or paid for. The easy quotes? Might sting you later with fees. Digging past page one of reviews and finding the real, angry complaints saved my wallet and my sanity. It’s dirty, hard work up there, but honestly? Doing it myself meant I knew it was actually finished right. You just gotta be ready for the grime.