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The city of Carson, California, is located just 16 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. It is home to the International Printing Museum and countless outdoor recreation areas.
Unfortunately, many people in Carson suffer from compulsive hoarding disorders. Studies show that this severe and often debilitating mental illness affects up to 6% of the nation’s population.
Compulsive hoarding can lead to the accumulation of stuff, often to the point where natural movement and habitation are no longer possible. Unfortunately, many people keep their hoarding tendencies secret. Others do not even recognize the extent of their problems.
Individuals’ reasons for hoarding vary. Many people are afraid to part with items that may be useful to them in the future. Others refuse to part with things for sentimental reasons. Feelings of anxiety and indecision are often factors in a person’s inability to let go of unnecessary items.
Each year, families in the Carson area seek out professional, discreet, and compassionate hoarding property cleaning services. After years of excessive acquisition and hoarding, properties often become unsafe for habitation.
What Is Hoarding?
According to the Mayo Clinic, hoarding is a psychological disorder that prevents individuals from discarding or parting with their possessions. Hoarding tendencies can lead to the accumulation of excess things, usually to the point where the items become a fire and safety hazard.
The hoarding of excessive and unnecessary items can lead to an unimaginable amassment of stuff. Pathways, such as stairways, halls, and doorways, may become so piled with things that they are no longer accessible or safe for use. Even everyday surfaces can become the source of unimaginable clutter. Counters, tables, cabinets, and closets lose their functionality when they are filled well beyond their capacity. Surfaces that are not safe for storage, such as stovetops and bathtubs, may become a looming threat as objects pile up on top of them.
In such cases, the accumulated items can become threats to the health and wellness of the hoarder. When items become wet or dirtied, the risks are heightened. At which point, imminent intervention is required.
Signs and Symptoms of Hoarding
Hoarding habits are often marked by the excessive and obsessive acquisition of items. Hoarded objects have no significant value, and there is usually no place to store them. Other signs of hoarding include:
- A persistent resistance to throwing away or parting with possessions
- Disillusions about the need to save and retain items
- Excess clutter to the point of where rooms are no longer habitable
- Difficulties with organization
- A general attitude of avoidance, procrastination, indecisiveness
Animal Hoarding
According to the ASPCA, animal hoarding is defined as the accumulation of pets to the point where owners can no longer offer adequate nutrition, socialization, sanitation, shelter, or veterinary care. Animal hoarding can lead to the deterioration of a home or property. Sometimes, situations get so bad that floors and other surfaces are covered with animal feces, urine, and other biological materials.
In 2016, 25 dogs were taken from a home in nearby Torrance and sent to the Carson/Gardena Animal Care Center. The animals, which suffered from several physical and mental ailments, lead to shelter overcrowding.
In Carson, animal hoarding is a violation of California’s animal cruelty laws. It also impacts the safety and welfare of the hoarder, who may face regular exposure to biohazardous materials, including urine, feces, pathogens, and bodily fluids. In many cases, there are also dead animals, rodents, and insects where there is animal hoarding.
How Hoarding Cleanup Works
The Institute for Challenging Disorganization (IDC) has developed a Clutter-Hoarding Scale. The scale can be used to access the extent of clutter in a household. Hoarding environments may be rated low to severe.
No matter the scale of the clutter, hoarding property cleanup is a complicated task that necessitates professional hoarder property cleanup services. The presence of biohazardous materials creates a grave threat to the health and wellbeing of the hoarder and those involved in the cleanup.
Unfortunately, hoarder property cleaners are often only called to the scene after the passing of the hoarder. At which point, the cleanup becomes that of an unattended death and hoarding.
If the hoarder still resides in the home, the intervening individuals and cleaners need to in agreement with the property owner. Since hoarders are often in denial of their issues, this requires a careful, tactical approach.
The Dangers of Hoarder Properties
Hoarding cleanup experts must prepare themselves to face several health and safety violations, including the presence of biohazardous materials. In extreme cases, cleaners must don extensive personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves during the cleaning and restoration process. They must also employ hospital-grade disinfectants and other specialized cleaning tools to eliminate harmful pathogens.
As hoarding progresses it clusters, clots, and clogs can develop. When this happens, regular living areas become no more than dumping grounds. Items exposed to mold, mildew, rodent droppings, and other biological waste materials put inhabitants at risk for serious health complications.
Hoarder properties are complex situations that must be handled with the utmost sensitivity and expertise.
Hoarding Help in Carson
If you or your loved one has an issue with hoarding, you may be overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning and restoring the impacted property. The threat of biohazards and other health and safety violations should have you considering professional hoarder property cleaning services.
Our team at Eco Bear offers discreet, compassionate, and thorough hoarder property cleanup. Give us a call at (818) 358-4359, and we’ll get you a fast and accurate cleaning quote.
