A call to our Baltimore office in regards to a cleanup for a hoarding disaster.
A man had lost his wife in a traumatic murder years ago and has been attempting to hold on to her memory by hoarding everything that reminds him of her. His family is the one who called us explaining that it’s started to get out of control and need needed our assistance to get their dads life back on track.
We wanted to get a little bit more information from the family and they mentioned that he lived in a small townhome that they owned and it was so packed full no one could hardly get in the front door let alone walk around the home.
The family also told us that the townhome had a basement that was also packed full and smelled of urine. They had owned a few small dogs who would get lost for days in the home, and one is still missing which they assume the body is somewhere in the basement.
Advanced Bio Treatment doesn’t only clean up traumatic scenes, we also cleanup hoarding disasters.
Hoarding situations often accumulate over years, just like in this particular case. This man had been hoarding items for six years and after that amount of time bacteria, trash, and piles of stuff can become a potential hazard for yourself and others. It’s important to call for professional services when dealing with an extreme hoarding situation.
The children of the man had already removed him from the home because they thought he could be at risk for an injury since he was an elderly fella. The family mentioned that to us when they called that the home had not actually been lived in for a few days in preparation of our services.
When we arrived to the townhome the garage was open and we could already see the piles of garbage, cloths and an enormous amount of furniture. ABT was prepared to completely sanitize and get the home back it’s normal state.
When we made our way around the home itself every room had piles of clothes, garbage, shoes, various items, and furniture. We had a really difficult time walking through safely.
We were so glad that the family called us to help them with this battle. Many are not aware that crime scene cleanup companies also handle hoarding catastrophes.
It took us a few days to completely clear out all the big items before we could actually start sanitizing. The basement was the worst, it was packed all the way up to the ceiling and halfway up the stairs leading down to the basement. A lot of the items the man let us donate to local shelters that were in need so something good did come out of the disaster.
We also found an amazing amount of cash hidden in the pages of books, photo albums, and just about anywhere cash could be hidden!
We had to remove the carpet in the basement because it was severely stained with urine from the dogs the owner previously had. There was such a strong urine smell, it was horrible and disgusting. Once we finished the job it looked as if a hoarder had never been there. They were pleased with it just as much as we were. We take a lot of pride in our company and services.