Salem is an Oconee County town by Lake Keowee, and lake homes come with their own set of problems: owners who live somewhere else part of the year, community gates, and a shoreline that Duke Energy manages. Here’s how a junk job works around all three.
Can you do the job while I’m away?
Often, yes, because the price comes from photos rather than a walk-through with you. A remote job goes like this:
- Text photos of everything that’s going to (864) 555-0142, plus one of the way in from the driveway.
- We confirm a price from the photos.
- You arrange entry: the gate, a door code or a neighbor with a key, and a note on anything that stays.
- We load from wherever it is, basement, boathouse or lower deck, and sweep up where it was.
What about a gated community?
Sort out entry before the day. Keowee Key, at 1392 Stamp Creek Rd, is gated according to realtor listings, and The Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset is gated too. We can’t speak for any community’s gate rules, so ask yours how it handles a hauler with a trailer and whether a pass or a name on a list is needed. In Keowee Key, renovations go through the CARE office (864-944-1267); if the cleanout is part of a remodel, check with them first.
What do Duke’s shoreline rules mean?
You can’t abandon old property at the lake. Duke Energy’s Keowee-Toxaway Shoreline Management Plan bars abandoning property, including watercraft and building materials, so a dead jon boat or the boards from a torn-out deck can’t stay where they fell. Before you change or remove a dock, call Duke’s Lake Services at 800-443-5193; they approve dock changes. Fiberglass boats have one more catch: Oconee’s C&D landfill takes them only when cut into 4-foot sections.
Hot tubs and deck furniture
A hot tub is priced on its own from a photo, in the $300–$500 range. Send a picture of the tub and one of the path out to the driveway. Our hot tub removal page has more on how that job goes.
The rest of the deck goes by trailer space with everything else: sun-faded chairs, a rusted grill, cushions that held water all winter, a cracked dock box.
Second homes, estates and rentals
When a lake house is sold, settled or turned into a rental, the job is often the whole house. Estate cleanouts cover a family clearing a parent’s place, and rental cleanouts cover turnovers between guests or tenants. We set aside usable furniture for donation when it’s in good shape, and the Oconee Habitat ReStore in Seneca picks up donations in Oconee County.
Taking a load yourself?
If you’re an Oconee County resident, the Salem center at 397 Stamp Creek Rd takes scrap metal, large appliances and recyclables on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7am to 7pm. The centers are for residents only, so if the lake house isn’t your main home, check with the county’s solid waste office at (864) 888-1440 first. Mattresses go only to the Strawberry Farm center in Seneca, and our Oconee County dump guide lists the rest.
Before you send photos, the estimator gives you a ballpark range for the load.
