Hoarding: Myth versus Reality

7/30/2018 (Permalink)

With the popularity of the hoarding shows on TV many think they have the knowledge and the skill set to handle a hoarding issue.  But there are a lot of things homeowners need to consider before tackling a hoarding issue themselves.

The first issue to be considered is your safety.  If the hoarding situation has been an ongoing situation there are many safety hazards to consider.  Mold, air quality, fire hazards, diseases from pests and structural integrity are just a few of the things you need to consider if choosing to handle yourself.

If, after careful consideration, you are ready to clean all or part of a situation the next stepis to form a cleaning plan and what cleaning supplies you will need. Once you are ready to begin set up a staging area to help you decide what can be saved and stored, cleaned and then stored or discarded.  Once the clean out has begun, finding a secure place to store what is salvageable, while the interior of the property is cleaned and sanitized will be critical because this part of the process can take days or weeks depending of the severity of the issue. This part can be very labor intensive so having people to help you is critical.

Once the structure is empty of its contents, it is best to have a trained professional check for structural issues before any demolition and cleaning has begun.  You may need to do this before the clean out process has started if you suspect the integrity of the structure has been compromised by water damage or dry rot. Depending on the neglect you may be able to simply sanitize and clean.  If it is a more severe case you may need to remove drywall, carpets, tile and flooring.

If this seems like a daunting task, calling the professionals of SERVPRO of Lexington/Thomasville should be your first task.  We can walk you through step by step and assist with all or part of the clean up.  Give us a call at  for you no cost assessment and we can help make this task a lot less daunting.