Professional Probate Contents Clearance
House clearance for probate is best done by professionals who are aware of and responsible for any health & safety issues during property clearance. If the property was owned by a hoarder, then there will be more issues than a well-kept property.
Hoarder Defined
According to research, hoarding also known as compulsive hoarding can best be surmised as obsessive stockpiling accompanied by an inability to throw things away. Hoarders also have a great sense of importance attached to everyday items and over the years can accumulate an incredible number of items. Houses being cleared for probate where hoarders have occupied the property, need extra special work done on them.
Hoarding – What About Health And Safety?
Keeping family photographs and important memorabilia is not hoarding. Not being able to throw away purchases while continuing to collect things that are not needed is a sign of hoarding. Hoarders collect items that may be useful one day without any desire to use them. They stay stashed, the hoarder has to have and accumulate. Enter the house clearer readying the house for probate.
What Kind Of Things Do Hoarders Collect?
There is no limit to hoarding except when one’s house can literally not hold or contain any more items. We are specialists in house clearance for probate when it comes to properties previously occupied by hoarders, even when the task is daunting to the untrained eye.
Some of the most commonly hoarded items include:
• Magazines & newspapers
• Coins, old and new
• Clothing & shoes
• Cookery utensils, jars and containers
• House gadgets such as irons, kettles, cutlery
• Free samples of products such as shampoos and soaps
• Chinaware
• Towels and tablecloths
• Plants
• Dolls
• Ornaments
• Jewellery
• Music collections
• Rugs and carpets
• Wall hangings
• Garden furniture and garden gizmos
A Hoarder’s Home
The first thing one notices upon entering a hoarder’s home is usually a strong odour, the untidiness of it and how full it is. Every space is used up to store things and leave things. Their homes are fire hazards and have to be cleared with great care and attention to health & safety. Hoarders properties are notoriously filthy, they become more difficult to clean, the more that is hoarded.
Cluttered stairwells invite dust and reduce movability in and out of the house especially if there are access stairs. Kitchens often have food still in the pots and pans with dirty water in washing up bowls. Some hoarders collect old, dysfunctional white goods which often smell and have mould growing. A hoarder’s kitchen is not a pretty sight.
Making The Property Safe
Hoarders sometimes take years to get to their properties to the point where moving around becomes almost impossible. Hoarders rarely allow tradesmen to work on the property and so it will be in a state of bad neglect.
Hoarders properties endanger nearby properties as they are fire hazards. Access to lose wires, broken cables, threadbare wires may be impossible and take hours or days to get to.
Bathrooms also can be quickly filled up including sinks, bathtubs and shower spaces. Stashes of paper behind fridges that are plugged in, items stored inside operational cookers, junk piled up in front of windows and doors, can make properties relatively impassable.
Hoarders fill up every available space in their property, some look like junk yards inside and out. Table and dressers full to the brim, piles of books, clothes stored in bathtubs and every space occupied. Rubbish in and out of bags often strewn around the inside and outside of the house. Floorboards bending under the weight of the goods.
House clearance for properties such as these should be done by professionals. Up to 80% of house contents can usually be recycled. Preparing a hoarders’ home ready for probate usually takes a few days, depending on the size of the property. Professional house clearance is strongly advised. For an obligation free consultation, call Avery Associates on 0800 567 7769.
Author – Angie Lemon
