Garage and roof washroom clear-out guide

Why garages and roof washrooms fill up

In Malta and Gozo, the garage often stops being a place for a car within a few years. Narrow streets and tight entrances make parking inside awkward, so the garage becomes a store for everything that has no room in the house: old furniture, tools, paint tins, building leftovers, bikes, Christmas decorations and boxes from the last move.

The roof washroom (kamra tal-bejt) goes the same way. Built for laundry and water tanks, it gradually becomes a store for anything that might be useful one day. Because both spaces are out of sight, it can be years before anyone looks properly.

Decide before you move anything

Start with the question: what is this space for?

• Parking a car or scooter?
• A workshop?
• Storage for seasonal items?
• A laundry or gym?
• Preparing a property for sale or rent?

The answer decides what stays. A garage that needs to fit a car has very different limits from one that will be a workshop.

Plan the clear-out

1. Pick a dry day. You will need to put things outside while you sort.
2. Clear a staging area on the drive, the roof or a spare room.
3. Have containers ready: boxes, strong bags and labels.
4. Wear gloves and sturdy shoes. Old garages have sharp edges, nails and dust.
5. Book your disposal before you start, so piles do not sit for weeks.

Sort into five piles

• Keep: things you will actually use, and that suit what the space is for.
• Give away or sell: working tools, furniture, bikes, toys and appliances someone else could use.
• Recycle: metal, cardboard, wood and items for the civic amenity site.
• Hazardous: paint, solvents, chemicals, oils, batteries, gas cylinders.
• Rubbish: broken, rotten or useless items.

Deal with hazardous items first

Garages and washrooms are where paint tins, chemicals and car fluids collect. Set them aside before anything else so nothing is knocked over or thrown in the wrong place. Our guide to hazardous household waste in Malta covers safe storage and who to ask. If you suspect asbestos, for example in old water tanks or roof sheets, do not touch it.

Getting rid of large items

• Council bulky refuse collection, booked in advance, for furniture and large items you can get to the street. See how to get rid of old furniture.
• WasteServ civic amenity sites, if you have a vehicle. Check what each site accepts first.
• Appliances: see disposing of old appliances in Malta.
• A clearance service, when there is a lot, items are heavy or the washroom is up several flights of narrow stairs.

If you are weighing up a skip, see skip hire or a clearance service. A skip does not help much when everything has to be carried down from a roof.

Cleaning the empty space

Once it is empty, it is worth doing properly:

1. Sweep the floor and walls from the top down, wearing a dust mask.
2. Wash the floor with a stiff brush and soapy water. For oil stains, use a degreaser and scrub.
3. Wipe down shelves and walls, and check for damp patches, cracks and leaks.
4. Leave doors and windows open to dry fully before anything goes back.

Damp and the Maltese climate

Garages and washrooms take a beating: summer heat on the roof, winter rain, salt air near the coast and rising damp in older stone buildings. Before you put things back:

• keep items off the floor on shelves or pallets,
• use plastic crates rather than cardboard,
• keep stored items away from external walls,
• check the roof drains above a washroom. See looking after a flat roof in Malta.

When to call a clearance team

A clearance team makes sense when there is too much to handle yourself, items are heavy or awkward, the washroom is several floors up or you are on a deadline, such as a sale, a move or a new tenant. We clear garages, roof washrooms, stores and lock-ups across Malta and Gozo. See our junk removal service or get a quote.

If the clear-out is part of a move, see our moving home checklist.