Cellar Clearance

Why cellars are unusually laborious

Cellars are where things end up when you do not want to decide about them. The contents are correspondingly mixed: furniture, sports equipment, tinned food, tools, paint cans, electrical appliances, boxes of unclear content. That mixture means sorting work, because practically every material group has its own disposal route in Switzerland.

Then there is access. Cellar stairs are narrow, often with tight turns, low passages and steps. A sofa that once made it down into the cellar will not necessarily come back out the same way once it has become damp and swollen.

Damp and mould

Many older Swiss cellars have permanently elevated humidity. Cardboard, textiles, upholstered furniture and paper absorb moisture and go mouldy. Such material can no longer be reused and has to be disposed of as general waste (Kehricht) — it does not belong in the paper collection.

Where mould is visible we work with respiratory protection and bag the material on the spot so that no spores are spread through the stairwell. After the clearance, drying out and, if appropriate, an investigation of the cause by the property management are advisable.

Who is responsible?

The cellar compartment is part of the rented property and must be handed over empty and clean at the apartment handover (Wohnungsabgabe). If it is forgotten, that counts as a handover defect like any other and can lead to a subsequent charge against your deposit. For abandoned compartments in a building, the property management may not simply dispose of the contents but must document the process first.