Hoarding Cleanup in Covington, LA

Hoarding Cleanup Services in Covington, LA

PuroClean provides you with the hoarding help you need without being ashamed or embarrassed. Homes that may seem daunting and overwhelming due to the amount of clutter, trash, and abundance of personal belongings are one of our many areas of specialty.

The Challenge

PuroClean can help with the shame and guilt that may accompany hoarding. It’s not unusual for hoarders and their families to stay in their homes, not invite guests in, and try to conceal the condition from friends, relatives, and well-wishers who really are concerned and actually care. If hoarding goes unaddressed, it could lead to a very unpleasant outcome.

According to the Mayo Clinic, signs and symptoms of hoarding may include:

• Excessively acquiring items that are not needed or for which there is no space,
• Persistent difficulty throwing out or parting with your things, regardless of actual value,
• Feeling a need to save these items, and being upset by the thought of discarding them,
• Building up clutter to the point where rooms become unusable,
• Having a tendency toward indecisiveness, perfectionism, avoidance, procrastination, and problems with planning and organizing

Excessive acquiring and refusing to discard items result in:

• Disorganized piles or stacks of items, such as newspapers, clothes, paperwork, books, or sentimental items,
• Possessions that crowd and clutter your walking spaces and living areas and make the space unusable for the intended purpose, such as not being able to cook in the kitchen or use the bathroom to bathe,
• The buildup of food or trash to unusually excessive, unsanitary levels,
• Significant distress or problems functioning or keeping yourself and others safe in your home,
• Conflict with others who try to reduce or remove clutter from your home,
• Difficulty organizing items, sometimes losing important items in the clutter.

Hoarding – a Hazardous Situation

For a lot of individuals, hoarding can slowly grow into an unmanageable situation. For many, cleaning up and remediating a hoarder’s property can be a hazardous job. Hoarders find it very hard to part with their possessions while also dealing with family members or other caring materially interested parties as it can cause frictions that will last for many years to come.

Hoarding presents a high level of danger and risk to property and more importantly life.

• Health hazards
• Trip hazards
• Hazardous to Those That Help
• Fire hazards
• Access and egress in case of emergency
• Putrid odors
• Deferred maintenance
• Obscured damage
• Cleaning Hazards

Excessive contents can hide serious problems such as:

• Water losses,
• Roof leaks,
• Exterior moisture penetration,
• Cause extensive and long-term damage,
• Structural integrity risks and failure issues.

Statistics show that hoarding affects “as many as 1 in every 20” individuals and is more common in older age groups, increasing with age. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), up to 5 percent of the world’s population display traits of clinically diagnosable hoarding. The National Study Group on Compulsive Disorganization guideline for comprehending the level of hoarding and its impact on a house:

Hoarding Level 1: Small areas of clutter, all doors, and stairways easy to access, three or fewer locations of animal waste in the home, and no smells; this is what’s considered safe and sanitary.

Hoarding Level 2: Dirty food prep surfaces, noticeable pet waste on the floors, garbage bins that are overflowing, signs of mildew in kitchens and bathrooms, light smells, 2 or more rooms inhabited by clutter, over 6 months of a malfunctioning healing, cooling or ventilation system, and at least one blocked exit.

Hoarding Level 3: At hoarding level 3 rooms become completely impossible to use. Also, there exists various major structural problems and damage along with clutter becoming a problem inside and outside of the property.

Hoarding Level 4: Social problems become much more noticeable at level 4 of hoarding. There are major problems such as sewer backup, nearly impossible to use kitchens and bathrooms, animal waste laying around the floor, and more. Mold and mildew are easy to spot throughout every inch of the house, and there are a few rooms close to not being livable.

Hoarding Level 5: The most extreme level of hoarding, Level 5 includes the following: Basic necessities like electrical, plumbing and running water are non-existent. Extremely obvious signs of structural damage throughout the property, rampant odors, noticeable pests present, and garbage presents a challenge when trying to access various areas of the home. The entire premises are in need of severe restoration to again become liveable.

The Solution

The approach to cleaning up a hoarder’s home or building can be daunting for many reasons. Calling PuroClean is a good start. Our professional teams will work with compassion and empathy in developing a plan and executing the plan with you, family members, or caregivers as well as any other materially interested parties that want to provide the best care.

As part of our services, PuroClean will ensure that no clutter is left behind for sentimental reasons, that everything is cleared, bagged properly, transported, and disposed of in a specialized manner, befitting the hazardous material it may be. PuroClean’s top priority is to ensure that their highly trained employees, the occupants, other materially interested parties, and the environment are properly protected.

Hoarding cleanup is another division of PuroClean’s biohazard remediation services and involves a high level of forensic restoration and cleaning services in which our PuroClean franchises* have been specifically trained. We know how to bring back a house and make it appear as great as before, even after hoarding problems.

The Cleaning Process – The PuroClean RapidDefense™ Program

Forensic cleaning is defined as the removal of biological contaminants to prepare surfaces, both vertical and horizontal, for professional disinfecting. There are two phases to the forensic cleaning process. First, all surfaces are dry cleaned with disposable microfiber pads to reduce both the bioload and the soil load to prepare them for wet cleaning.

Next, the wet cleaning process involves the application of an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant/cleaner dispensed through a foaming unit and manipulated via mechanical action using disposable microfiber pads.

As we are not cleaning for appearance but for health, all surfaces may be clean to the eye, however, testing the surfaces is an essential step to ensuring we have accomplished our goal, that we have cleaned for health.

How Hoarding Can Affect Insurance Claims

Homes that are in poor condition after hoarding problems can be susceptible to insurance coverage issues due to the lack of maintenance and degradation that occurs in these environments. Some insurance carriers, brokers, and agents will provide a list of concerns and issues detailing what safety and maintenance fixes to retain policy coverage. Failure to address these issues can lead to a loss in insurance coverage.

While calling in professionals like PuroClean and their expert crews to assist in sorting through a house and providing cleanup services may not be easy, it may be required to help with the daunting tasks related to the cleanup and remediation.

PuroClean’s biohazard remediation services are available near you and around the clock 24/7. Call PuroClean anytime at (985) 590-6600.

Providing Hoarding Cleanup Solutions Calls for Empathy and Compassion

The goal with any new project that PuroClean is hired for, is to make sure that everything is addressed according to the needs of the client and return the property over in a healthy and safe manner. Our technicians are careful, empathic, and compassionate for all those involved with the project while helping all who are coming to terms with this problem. PuroClean wants to ensure open communication while showing concern and empathy for all materially interested individuals dealing with these sensitive and concerning scenarios.

PuroClean of Covington, LA approach to hoarding cleanup:

Initial inspection – Every job begins with a first inspection and assessment to address Health and Safety as the first priority. Then, PuroClean will develop a scope of remediation, repair, and cleanup according to your needs. Every hoarding situation is unique and different, and so is the need for creating a strong working plan that helps move things along quicker.

Safety – Concern about protection is very important when working on a cleanup and remediation project. PuroClean makes it part of our responsibility to implement first aid kits, insect repellants or control solutions, flashlights, and fire extinguishers so that they are easily ready and accessible. We will also use the proper personal protective equipment for all of our employees.

Giving all the cleaning supplies – During the entire cleaning process, PuroClean uses various equipment and cleaning supplies. Our company response vehicles are equipped with all required items, equipment, PPE, cleaning solutions, and all other tools that may be needed to tackle the daily tasks.

Staging a dumpster – As dumpsters are essential when dealing with hoarding cleanup, we will consult with the person/s responsible for the property in locating an open area for a dumpster to be placed as safely as possible to minimize any potential damage from placement and removal. Dumpsters allow our technicians to put all contents that require discarding into a place to be removed from the property in a timely manner.

Decluttering – It takes time to complete the decluttering process for each and every area of the property. Gradually, the progress becomes noticeable and inspires the individuals to keep going. Once the communication with all parties is in place and clear, removing all the clutter from each area becomes an easy procedure.

Sorting the contents – Local laws and regulations should be followed when managing items that require special handling. All debris and garbage are bagged up and disposed of following guidance from local laws. Salvageable items are split into two separate piles: one is items to keep and the other is items to donate.

Repairing and cleaning the house – When the entire house is clutter-free, remediation and repairs are started if needed. These can include:

• Restoration services (after fire, water, mold, or biohazard damage),
• Forensic cleaning with an application of disinfectant that includes the house and any salvageable items and contents.
• Surface prep and repainting,
• Re-carpeting.

Hiring PuroClean brings the best highly trained team and cleaning services focusing on top-quality care for all. We have the highest quality of services, and our speed and compassion during the remediation and cleaning are unrivaled. No matter how challenging a cleanup might appear, we are willing to put in the work to keep our customers happy.