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Hoarder’s House Clearance In Catford – 25 Ton Of Household Waste Cleared From Property In London SE6

March 18, 2013 By Avery Associates

Hoarded House Clearance In Catford

We were asked to attend a property in Catford London SE6 in November 2012 to quote for an extreme house clearance. My client described his mother-in-law as a “bit of a hoarder” and to be prepared for a major job.

50 Years Of Hoarding

Upon arrival his house looked neat and tidy from the outside with fairly new double glazing to the front. After gaining entry with the client I soon realized the scale of the task. Literally every room of this 4 bedroom house was full from floor to ceiling with boxes and clutter. The conservatory was packed to the roof, and the whole garden was a meter deep with pots, rusty iron, and general rubbish accumulated over 50 years. Our client then informed us that he had already spent over a month going through the contents looking for personal items but reached a point where he had no room left to move and wanted us to take over and clear the entire property, so we agreed a price to clear the house, garden and shed and arranged for the clearance to take place in March 2013.

Hoarder House Clearance Specialists In London And UK

Picture Of Hoarders House In Catford

Hoarders House In Catford

Extreme House Clearance

After receiving the go ahead we attended the property on the 11th March with a six man team, our largest 7.5 ton box truck and a smaller 3.5 ton truck. I headed the team myself and systematically cleared the downstairs starting with the front room which took 4 hours to clear alone. This room now became our sorting area and tea room as the kitchen was completely blocked and rather unhygienic. Our client in the mean time was making rounds of tea and coffee which was gratefully received. Following this we started clearing the downstairs hallway and dining room but by 6pm we packed up for the day having removed over 5 ton of household waste eve after saving many items of furniture and personal material for the client.

Five Days To Clear The House Alone

The clearance continued room by room over the next 5 days ending up in the loft which took a complete day to clear alone, and after 5 truck fulls and 16 ton later we took a day out on Sunday and returned on the Monday to attack the garden conservatory outhouses and shed. We arrived at 7am on Monday and pressed on quickly and within 5 hours we had cleared the area outside the kitchen door and the inside of the conservatory giving access to the main garden. At this point I was able to take my way through the overgrown brambles to the shed at the very end of the garden with a comment of “good luck with the shed” shouted over the fence from the neighbor of 20 years. Through the broken glass window I could see the shed was well packed like a shipping container and the only way in was by removing the door from its hinges. Amongst the items inside I noticed 2 1950’s televisions several bicycles with the old Brooke’s saddles, tiles, paint, timber, paint tins, tools, garden mower, garden table and chairs and much more, yes a Tardis considering the shed was only 8’x 4′.

Garden Shed Like A TARDIS

The following 3 days were spent clearing the garden debris, cutting back the brambles and trees and removing the contents of the garden shed. Finally we cleared the front garden, scrubbed the mud from the downstairs floors and swept the floors from top to bottom. Our client was extremely satisfied with the end result and had not realized how hard the job was going to be and the amount of things that had been buried away. He recognized many items from his childhood mixed amongst the clutter including an old school blazer and a poem he had written when he was 8 years old.

Inside Of The House Like A Museum

Amongst the items removed we found over 100 bottles of washing up liquid, a similar amount of washing powder, vintage clothing including men’s underwear still in its original packaging dated 1945, old toys, three Triang scooters and a tricycle, three Raleigh gents bikes, hardware still wrapped over 80 boxes of expired food, numerous pots, pans crockery cutlery cups tea sets Sylvac animals, picture post magazines, readers digest in their hundreds, national geographic magazines, 200 Andrex toilet rolls and in fact too many things to list. But a large amount of the content was good enough to re-use and the wonderful 1950’s and 1960’s advertising memorabilia interesting enough to go to a museum.

Compulsive Hoarding Help

Of the many hoarded house clearances this was one of the largest but still a job that we were able to carry out effectively and on schedule. If you find yourself in similar circumstances and need an experienced house clearance company who regularly clear out hoarders houses the we are able to help. Avery Associates are the UK’s leading house clearance company and can help with any house clearance in a discreet and confidential manner.

For advice and personal assistance in all matters concerning compulsive hoarding and clearing out a hoarded house call Jeffrey Avery directly on 0800 567  7769

Filed Under: Compulsive Hoarding Tagged With: catford, london

Our House Clearance Services

We provide a full house clearance and property management solution:

  • We clear hoarded houses, regardless how big or how cluttered
  • We clear all types and sizes of property, irrespective of location, or access is restricted or where parking is difficult or not available.
  • We can help avoid water damage by draining the central heating system.
  • We can secure the property and change the locks.
  • We can reinstate the gardens and maintain them whilst the property is empty.
  • We can provide 24 hour security to eliminate the risk of squatting or unlawful occupation.

As well normal house clearances we specialise in clutter clearance and we can clear a hoarded house which may contain years of accumulated possessions, or which have abnormal amounts of general household items, sometimes as a result of compulsive hoarding syndrome.

Equally we can help to clear a property where the occupants were previously unwell and unable to care for themselves or their property which sometimes results in insanitary, dangerous or just plain unpleasant conditions.

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291 Mitcham Rd
Tooting SW179JQ

Tel: 0800 567 7769 or 0208 640 0044

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