It’s a hoarding situation. I live 3 hours away and have gone to work on clearing her house twice a month for a year and a half. 6 hours round trip and 8 hours of cleaning in one day. I’m tired. I have the first floor cleaned up but the basement is full and I just can’t do it. I need to hire someone to bring everything out of her basement and put it in backyard so I can go through it, then dispose of what will not be kept.
This may not work for your situation but you might check out the garbage rules where this house is. I could not do this where I live now in SC but it was a great option in NY especially as that state tends to be overly expensive. I appreciated our property tax costs working in our favor. We also went to our recycling center the town had frequently. Hopefully some of the suggestions will work. I wouldn't pay a large amount just to haul away a few pieces of furniture if you can avoid it.
It sounds like you need help moving things out of the basement. We contacted my MIL’s church. Through them we found a donation center that moved items out for us.
This problem is more common than you might think. One thing is for sure. I’m not a hoarder but I’m going through my things. I don’t want to put my family through anything like this
My husband drown down to FL from WI twice to do my parents house spending about a week each time hauling things to goodwill, to the dump, etc. he hired 1800junk for the things that didn’t seem to have any value. He gave things away to the folks that cared for their lawn or other workers that expressed an interest. He brought a few boxes of things home for me - which I still haven’t opened 9 months later, if I’m honest, and I would not have cared to not have. Great ideas above about how people how managed to get rid of it all. I’d focus there … on getting rid of it all vs bothering to go through it. If it’s hoarding, you and your parents don’t even know what they have so how will you know what’s gone missing?
It cost them money but there is no way I could do this myself. With help it took over two weeks just for the clean out. The house was infested with mice so I had to hire a company to clean and sanitize. I also had to sell the home.
Start local and don't beat yourself up over this. Cleaning out a home is bad enough without the hoarding aspect
The estate company emptied the house (we both lived in other states so we just let go of control) and separated everything into sell, donate, and trash. When they found something they thought we might want they emailed us pictures. They held sales and left us with an empty house except for the literal shovels they used to do the final cleaning. It was a nightmare but God bless that estate company.
Find cleaners, movers, haulers:
To get into back yard first: hire kid(s) from high school or college.
Then hire more professional people once you know what / how you want to get rid of things.
* Check days/times when dump and Good Will/SalvArmy are open.
- Some places will NOT take furniture, etc. so check beforehand.
Use: and get references:
* Next Door (if you have)
* Facebook
* Post at church or activity centers
* Get referrals from friends
* Ask for references (do not leave anything valuable unattended)
* If drivers / truck needs, ask for copy of insurance (or consider it)
I believe there are professional 'hoarding' situation cleaners
I hope that you are able to recoup your time and travel expense, if your mom could reimburse you.
Gena/Touch Matters
Alternately, they could have done an estate sale if it had been worth it. But there was not a high value on many of the items in the house, so I'm just as happy that people who are trying to establish or re-establish their homes are getting use from the items.
There is a fee for their services. You'd need to check their website or call to see if they are in your area. They were great to work with.
Look in yellow pages for services that may offer different approaches and fees for this.
Most will want to come and assess the need on site before quoting a fee.
You may want to check with Habitat for Humanity...they will pick up some items and move some from inside a dwelling. Others like Kidney Foundation require the items be left outside and then they pick up ..must schedule first and determine IF they want the items.
Downsizing and cleaning out a house can be distressing and debilitating to say the least.
Take it slow...and take care of yourself !!! Good luck
they haul and clean. I have used them several times. I go by ratings not hourly charge. Some hustle and some don’t.
It will be a win win.
They were sly and cunning and stubborn. They did whatever they wanted to. They had no regard for me and no concern for the others in my home.
I'm cleaning the junk in my house, I find important things strewn in the midst if the trash. I'm deliberately slow about it so I do not exhaust myself and do not waste my life away cleaning.
I would be terribly afraid of having some stubborn individual pick up newspapers by the handful and throw them all out with no regard for what might be hidden among the layers. They would be throwing away things that could be priceless.
I don't want anyone in here "helping" me!
I'm picking up newspaper clippings one at a time and sometimes find items that can't be tossed or pictures that should not be tossed out.
I think there would be dishonest people in all the groups mentioned in this thread and I think you would need to have a way with people before you think about calling them.
I hope your mom’s house is in a big city, as there should be services. At least maybe call a cleaning service and ask if they have any resources.
Maybe call the local council on aging? They might have people to refer you to as it seems this generation is the pack rat children of the depression generation. They also had a lot of walls in their houses so that adds more stuff (though I know hoarding is a different mental condition from just stuff to fill walls).
Better to contact someone who does estate sales. They'll always have a contact for someone who'll clear out a house after the sale. After my parents' estate sale, a company came in and spent three days clearing out every inch of that house and yard, and it only cost me $1600.