Property Cleanouts in Fort Meade, FL

Clearing a century home on Fort Meade's landmark streets

Fort Meade dates to 1849, when the military road from Fort Brooke to Fort Pierce crossed the Peace River here, and more than 150 buildings in town are designated landmarks. The Victorian and early-1900s houses on those streets were built with attics you can stand up in, back porches that hold a chest freezer, and a smokehouse or shed out back. Emptying one is two or three trailer loads and a full day, and Rob plans it that way from the walkthrough. Both trailers come. One crew works the house, the other the porch and outbuildings.

Old houses hide things. The crew stops when they find anything that looks like a deed, a photo or something worth money, and shows it to you before it moves. Furniture still good is sorted for donation, case by case, usually Goodwill or the Salvation Army. What's left goes on the 14 and 16-yard trailers, which fit the narrow drives under the old oaks where a roll-off truck wouldn't.

Ranch and acreage cleanouts toward the Hardee line

Past the town limits it's cattle, groves and phosphate land, and the houses out there come with a barn, a pole shed and a burn pile. A ranch changing hands after fifty years is the job that makes an hour's drive sensible: the house, the barn and the shop cleared in one visit, quoted together so there's no second bill for the outbuildings. The dump trailer follows a pickup down a sand road and turns around in a pasture.

Fuel, farm chemicals and paint stay off the trailer. The crew sets them apart, and Polk residents drop them free at the county facility in Winter Haven. The mid-century block homes in town produce the smaller version: a garage clear, a move-out, or a couple downsizing out of the house they raised a family in, with the crew working at their pace.

Fort Meade is a scheduled south-county day

At 58 minutes from the yard, south through Bartow on US-17 or US-98, Fort Meade is booked a day or two out and grouped with Bartow and Frostproof. Same day isn't realistic this far south and Rob says so. Family out of state can walk the house by FaceTime, pay remotely, and get photos of every empty room. The crew sweeps floors and the driveway before leaving. Cleaning and repairs are another trade.