Board 8 > Advice on what to do...

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So about three years ago my mother passed away and, long story short, I agreed to let my no-good brother and his girlfriend live there because he didn't have anywhere else to go and he's family. He just had to pay me a little bit (very reasonable I know he was broke) of rent to help us both out. Well we don't get along very much so it's not like we made the effort to see each other so I didn't know how bad my mom's former house was getting.

Cut to a week or two ago and my brother is gone, who knows, he does this sometimes. I'm not worried about where he went or getting any money out of him or anything like that. My concern is that the house is destroyed. Furniture covered in animal fur, skud on everything, it's grungy, there's an aura of just filth in the air you can kind of feel it. I don't know if they didn't clean the entire time they were here or not but it's trashed. Garbage all over the floor; paper towels, old cardboard boxes, used pads, food trash, and even some animal feces. Full of bugs too needless to say. My mom loved to clean so she would have hated it lol.

Okay, my question is; I need to pay someone to help clean this up. I'm just not sure who or what to call. I need someone to clean up all this garbage, haul away all this ruined furniture, scrub the heck out of everything, mop, basically, the works. Also, I need an exterminator. What complicates things is that this was my mom's house and we kept a lot of sentimental stuff around here so I need to be able to have someone who can pick through this nastiness and find out if all my mom's sentimental stuff is just already ruined. And find it under all this trash. Should I call an exterminator first, or a cleaner first? Is there a cleaner that will do it all, or do I have to find separated folks to haul stuff away, etc. Thanks!

You want someone to comb through garbage and determine which items are "sentimental"? That is a job that seems best suited for you...

Yeah, you'll have to do the first pass yourself to figure out what you want to keep. I would try calling both an exterminator and a cleaning service for advice regarding the order of actions after that.
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But like what sort of a cleaning service?

PerfectChaosZ posted...

But like what sort of a cleaning service?

There are removal services that do this exact kind of thing--haul out junk, clean, etc. But I don't think you'll have much luck hiring someone to collect mementos for a stranger.

Just Google a cleaning service and give them a call.

The worst they can do is say no.

Id recommend getting the exterminator first though, so theyll clean up all the remnants for you.

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PerfectChaosZ posted...

But like what sort of a cleaning service?

Try Googling for rental property cleaning services in your area. Your situation is sort of similar to that. When you call (or e-mail if you really don't like talking on the phone, but phone is better) tell them your situation and ask them the same questions you put in this topic.
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There are cleaners that specialize in this sort of thing (like cleaning hoarder houses), but they're notably more expensive than a regular cleaning service. They'll know who to call for getting a dumpster in and out and can remove the furniture for you. They may even be able to separate out recyclables like electronics and such if that's a concern. You can also be there while they do it to pick out anything of sentimental value, so you don't really need to do that first or worry about them throwing away things worth keeping. You'll want to hire them first before the exterminators as they'll be used to this kind of job, and you may not necessarily need an exterminator once the place is clean again. If you do, though, they'll probably know who you need to call next.

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ChichiriMuyo posted...

There are cleaners that specialize in this sort of thing (like cleaning hoarder houses), but they're notably more expensive than a regular cleaning service.

this unfortunately. Regular cleaning services generally wont touch cases like this. So you should expect to pay out the ass for this.

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I wouldn't call them "hoarder services." There are actual businesses that clean out deceased peoples' houses. Usually the deal is that you are basically letting them scrap every item in there though, so you absolutely have to take a first pass.

Right. Thanks a bunch.