While a hoarder may be stocking up on a mix of valuable and invaluable items, the process of stockpiling can cause considerable damage both psychologically and financially. From the additional weight, a hoard can have on the structural stability of a property, to the psychological impact hoarding can have on an individual and their loved ones, the cost of hoarding can become excessive. In this article, we’re going to discuss the cost of hoarding and how much a professional clean up will be.
Hoarding is the compulsive behavior of finding and keeping objects, animals or trash that the person believes has significant value. Common items that are hoarded are newspapers, photographs, clothes, food, plastic, furniture, appliances and electronics.
Hoarding can have a significant psychological impact and trigger anger, frustration, resentment and depression among family members. Hoarding behavior can be a result of emotional trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health conditions but its cost on an individual and their loves ones can cause additional distress. When the behavior spirals out of control and living conditions become unacceptable, a professional cleaning team is required.
Typically there are 5 levels to hoarding behavior, and the sooner you can intervene in this difficult situation, the better in terms of how expensive it will be to clean up.
Level 1: This is the first stage of hoarding behavior and may involve clutter, excess shopping and storing goods.
Level 2: This is when hoarding starts to impact your home and causes emotional distress. Family members may start to realize that there is an issue.
Level 3: After hoarding objects comes self-neglect. This could be connected to diet, personal hygiene and mental health.
Level 4: At this point intervention is key. A hoard can become excessive and start to cause psychological and physical damage. As the items start to mount up, the cost to clean up a hoard will become more expensive.
Level 5: Spiraling out of control, this is the final stage of hoarding and reflects a significant and on-going problem. In some cases, the mess can include pet feces, trash, hazardous materials and mold.
Hiring experts in hoarding cleanups can be expensive and you’ll need to understand how the cost will be calculated.
Professional cleaning depends on what needs to be cleaned, the extent of the hoard that needs to be cleared and how dirty the property is. The time that it will take to remove trash, sort and organize the hoard and deep clean each room will also be taken into consideration. Typically it takes a company to clean out a hoard is between 1-3 days. This is why it’s important to bring in the professionals before a hoard gets out of hand.
Step 1: Our professional hoarding clean up team will walk through the property with you first to assess the impact and level of the hoard.
Step 2: Next, we will discuss what needs to be done, and how we plan to remove, clean and organize the space. This is when we can discuss your expectations and any requirements you may have.
Step 3: Before we carry out any hoarding clean up duties, we will first detail the rooms that need to be cleaned, whether there are any white goods and appliances, soft furnishings and carpets that need to be cleaned.
Step 4: During the hoarding clean up we will organize all items into 4 piles. When we work through a house we use a 4 pile system to organize the items. It’s a common misconception that hoarding clean up professionals will just throw everything away. We respect the psychological impact hoarding and cleaning up a hoard can have, so we take time to help and assist rather than take over.
1: Things to keep
2: Items to donate
3: Trash
4: Any items that the client is unsure about will be kept in another pile
If you would like to speak to our team about our professional and compassionate hoarding clean up services, feel free to contact us now.
About Bio-One Inc.
Bio-One Inc. is the first crime and trauma scene cleaning franchise, operating in 40 States with over 100 locations. Bio-One is committed to providing excellent service in recovery and suicide cleanup, homicide cleanup, hoarding situations, junk removal, deceased animal recovery, feces removal, pest and rodent droppings and much more. Each office is independently owned and operated by a member of the local community. For more information about becoming a Bio-One franchisee, visit us at BioOneInc.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
