What You Could Find (and Should Avoid) When

Cleaning a Hoarder's Space

Hoarding is a medical condition that compels a person to acquire and store more and more items in their home. They fear losing something important so intensely that they refuse to throw away or get rid of anything. These items are kept indefinitely, even if they have no real value or not.

Because they keep gaining more things and don’t get rid of anything, the piles become larger and larger in their home and eventually make it difficult to live. Daily activities like cleaning and cooking are prevented, and there can be resulting in sanitary and safety issues.

When cleaning a hoarder’s house, it is important to know what you may find and what proper precautions to take to ensure that everyone stays safe. The general poor sanitary conditions can negatively affect the hygiene and immune system of those living in the house.

Health Hazards

Decomposing items like food, trash, or human or animal waste all release byproducts that can be dangerous and full of bacteria and disease. If space is occupied by animals as well, the germs can multiply very quickly.

Because cleaning becomes almost impossible, the air quality in the home is very bad. The massive amounts of dust and ammonia can give anyone spending time in the home respiratory problems like chronic coughing, shortness of breath, or inflammation of the lungs.

Pests also become a huge problem in the home of a hoarder. The decomposing and forgotten food attracts cockroaches, ants, flies, rats, mice, and other animals. They are also given ample room to hide because of all the piles of things. Once an infestation has occurred, it is very hard to eliminate the vermin. Animals like this can add to health issues because they can carry parasites, bacteria, and disease.

There is also likely to be a mold problem in the home of a long-term hoarder. Clutter prevents proper air circulation, and condensed water and leaking pipes that go unnoticed provide a lot of humidity. That, coupled with the decaying organic material, is the perfect atmosphere for mold to develop and thrive. Old food starts to decay and mold and then flourishes because of the right environment and lack of cleaning. Mold can cause allergies, damage the respiratory system, and aggravate other health conditions.

Physical Hazards

Because of the large number of things in a hoarder’s home, walkways are usually blocked and cluttered. This increases the likelihood that someone will trip and fall as they try to navigate through the debris. Falls can cause serious injuries like sprains, cuts, broken bones, and fractures.

If the hoarding has progressed, the things may be piled in tall towers throughout the house as well. Stacks can easily fall over onto people and cause injuries or trap someone underneath the large quantities of things.

A hoarder’s house also poses a large fire hazard. Not only does the debris act as fuel for a fire, but it can also cause excessive amounts of smoke and make it difficult to exit the house in the case of a fire.