Whenever a home is filled with various belongings to the point the people who live there can’t move around freely or are unable to use needed spaces such as the kitchen and bathroom, the house is considered hoarded. Such a home can be dangerous for the occupants and anyone who is on the property. Even a cluttered home where spaces are still somewhat accessible can feel overwhelming and need a thorough cleaning to give all the occupants a fresh start.
At Knoxville Hoarding, we specialize in providing hoarding and clutter cleanup in the Knoxville area and surrounding communities throughout Eastern Tennessee. While each cleanup is unique, there are often biohazards present needing to be cleaned out such as feces, urine, mold, and rotten food. Professionally certified in both bloodborne pathogens and mold remediation, our team knows what it takes to quickly clean an entire property, save any valuables, and restore the home to safe conditions.
Hoarding Cleanup
Whether you are dealing with a hoarded property after someone has passed away or are rectifying the situation after code enforcement has issued a citation, our team of hoarding experts at Knoxville Hoarding are here to help. While each hoard is specific to the person who collected the items, most hoards generally fall into one or more of several categories. From piles of boxes to mold and feces, Knoxville Hoarding has experience with it all. By knowing what kind of hoard we are dealing with, we’ll know what equipment and cleaners are needed to clean out the property and make it safe to occupy for yourself or a new renter. Common types of hoards can include:
- Animal Hoarding: When a person has more animals than they can care for on their property, urine, feces, and dead bodies accumulate and pose a health hazard to anyone in the area. Our team at Bio Solutions Tennessee have the training, safety equipment and proper chemicals to handle these specialized cleanup cases.
- Food Hoarding: For people who don’t throw away rotten food and accumulate far more than they need, mold and pests become a huge problem in addition to the overwhelming odor.
- Trash Hoarding: There are those who see value in trash, whether their own or others, and have difficulty parting with anything, no matter how useless it may be to anyone else.
- Paper Hoarding: Paper hoards can include things like books, newspapers, mail, files, and travel brochures.
- Sentimental Hoarding: Sentimental hoarders are those who never discard something once used to the degree there is no longer room in the home for the people who once lived there.
- Shopping Hoarding: When a person becomes addicted to the rush of endorphins they feel when making a purchase, packages can build up in the home, often unopened, to an overwhelming degree. Usually unorganized, the packages become a health hazard as they take up space and become a breeding ground for insects and rodents.
No matter what kind of hoard the person has collected, all the belongings in the home is a health hazard. Between the dangers of tripping, falling, the hoard crashing down on someone, expired food, hidden sharp objects, and lung issues with the urine, feces, and mold, living and cleaning out a hoard is a dangerous situation.
Clutter Cleanup
Looking at a property filled with clutter knowing it all needs to be cleaned out or sorted through can be a monumental task. With Knoxville Hoarding, however, that monumental task is just one phone call away from being handled with confidentiality and professionalism. With years of experience sorting through items and making sure nothing of value is lost, our team can quickly clean out the property, dispose of all the unwanted items, and make sure the area is safe for someone to come back and make a fresh start or for new renters to enjoy. Examples of items we search for and set aside for our clients can include but aren’t limited to:
- photographs
- important papers
- antiques
- money
- firearms
- collectibles
- antiques
- family heirlooms
When we are done, everything is either responsibly disposed of, donated, or saved for the owner to look over later. What is left behind is a cleaned-out property free of all clutter and debris.
What is the Cost of Hoarding and Clutter Cleanup?
The cost of cleaning up a hoarded or cluttered house depends on multiple factors and can widely vary. While we would love to give you a quick quote over the phone of what it will cost to cleanout your property, there are multiple factors we must take into account before giving an accurate cost estimate. To do this, we usually need to see the home in person to gather this needed information. We can then give you a estimate of what it will cost to clean out the area in question. As we’ve handled all types of jobs from big to small, we’ll tailor a solution to fit your exact needs. Factors that influence the cost include:
- The size of the hoard or amount of clutter: Some houses are merely cluttered and don’t require many dumpsters to clean out. Other houses are packed from floor to ceiling and require a long line of containers into which to dispose of the trash. Each dumpster we use costs money to rent along with the dump fees so we have to take a look at the hoard in person to properly estimate what it will cost to dispose of the material. In addition, the more material there is to sort through and dispose of, the more people we need to have at the job site to do the necessary work.
- What biohazards are present: When someone hoards items in a home, biohazards are often present among the boxes and other belongings. Whether the person or an animal has gone to the bathroom in the hoard, food has rotted, or there is a mold issue, special personal protective gear and cleaning equipment must be used to protect the people working on cleaning out the hoard and the people who will live there once everything is moved out.
- How much needs to be sorted through: Some hoards are a simple cleanout of everything in the home going into dumpsters. This may happen after a renter has abandoned the property, after a squatter has occupied the home, or when a hoard is so filled with biohazards that nothing can be saved. At other times, there are precious belongings hidden among the trash needing to be found. In these cases, we carefully sort through belongings before they are thrown away so nothing of value is lost.
Once we have a good look at the property in question, we’ll be able to give a estimate and answer any questions you may have. While insurance usually doesn’t cover the cost of hoarding cleanup, we make sure our prices are fair and work with you on the cost of hoarding or clutter cleanup.
Call us today for hoarding and clutter cleanup
If you need help cleaning out a hoarded property or a cluttered home, see our hoarding cleanup page or call us with any questions you may have at 865-730-2461 so we can confidentially discuss your particular situation. We are always happy to provide an in-home, estimate and consultation as well as tailor a solution to your specific situation. We are here to help you.