Cleaning out a hoarder house: any helpful tips?

[EmmaDonovan]

That's good advice. Don't let one hoarder house spawn more hoarder houses!

That won't happen here. I can't have a lot of stuff in my house. It makes me feel suffocated, like everything's pressing in on me. It gives me the heebie-jeebies. It doesn't bother me when I'm in other peoples' homes, interestingly. Just my own. Our house wasn't cluttered when I was growing up. It was always organized and clean. The Irish tend to be very house proud.

I don't have any oriental decor but my tastes run rather eclectic. The lamp doesn't have any markings on it so I don't think it's an antique or valuable but it has a lot of blue and I like blue hues. I like interesting furniture. I think the lamp will look nice on a living room end table. I'll try to post a photo of it in a bit.

 

[cavemanrich]

The lamp doesn't have any markings on it so I don't think it's an antique or valuable but it has a lot of blue and I like blue hues.

If it's something you like,,, It has VALUE to you.
I occasionally watch the PBS, program " Antique Road Show."
Not all the items featured , although rated Valuable,,, appeal to my taste.

 

[CombNWattles]

If it's something you like,,, It has VALUE to you.
I occasionally watch the PBS, program " Antique Road Show."
Not all the items featured , although rated Valuable,,, appeal to my taste.

I love Antique Road Show!!

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

That’s neat!
You can sell the books on thrift books if you don’t want them. They pay pretty well!

 

[Anon112]

I'm late to this thread, but please check out the YouTube channel Midwest Cleaning Magic. His specialty is cleaning out hoarder houses. He has good advice about how to start and cautions about how to stay safe and also how to get rid of things in an ethical way. (For example, if there's been a serious rodent or insect problem, things like mattresses should be trashed instead of donated).

 

[kcan2]

The Irish tend to be very house proud.

Is that it!? I don’t think I know enough Irish people…
I too grew up very clean and orderly. Almost a minimalist but not quite. Function is ok to keep, or favorable to look at. Really I hate dusting so the less clutter the better. Not sure if that’s Irish showing, or just a lazy aversion to dusting

You seem to have a great attitude and approach to the project! I enjoyed following your progress thus far.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I'm late to this thread, but please check out the YouTube channel Midwest Cleaning Magic. His specialty is cleaning out hoarder houses. He has good advice about how to start and cautions about how to stay safe and also how to get rid of things in an ethical way. (For example, if there's been a serious rodent or insect problem, things like mattresses should be trashed instead of donated).

Ooo... thank you. There are some great cleaning videos there. My goodness that guy deals with some serious stuff!

I think I should clarify this place isn't that bad. We are not heroic, just determined. There is no trash, mold, dirty dishes, half eaten food, pet feces, or anything like that. If there were, we wouldn't be trying to go through it ourselves, she would hire someone for that. The house is just packed floor to ceiling with STUFF. It's like an old storage unit except it's an entire house. It looks like this, but not this.

It's not very dirty aside from layers and layers of desert dust, which is to be expected. That's why we use gloves and masks and vacuums and HEPA air cleaners. The owner was my friend's aunt who passed away and left the house and its contents to her, so we fortunately do not have to deal with the person who did the hoarding.

I feel for anyone who tries to clean out a house while the hoarder still lives there. I've seen the Hoarders tv show and it's extremely, if not prohibitively, difficult to do much while the person is there. They did a house in Tucson, that was interesting, but I had to stop watching the show because it just made me very sad for everyone involved.

The exterminator said he can't do much until we have the house cleaned out. I guess that's because they have to check all the nooks and crannies and they can't see those while the rooms are still packed. He said since none of the pantry food was chewed into it's unlikely there's an active infestation, so that's good.

Here is the lamp. Not everyone's taste, I know, but I like it.

 

[cavemanrich]

Beautiful lamp

 

[Molpet]

The hoarder in me is cringing when throwing everything in the dumpster is mentioned.


Donation is good and not becoming a hoarder yourself is paramount .