West Hollywood is filled with some of the most beautiful homes, condos, and apartments in the country. It boasts many different architectural styles, including mid-century modern masterpieces, sweet bungalows, Mediterranean/Spanish-style mini manses. It stands to reason that the people who own these homes are very proud of them, and they’ll do anything that they can to make sure that their homes and their neighborhoods remain beautiful. It’s also understandable why people who live in these neighborhoods become extremely concerned when there’s a hoarder house in the vicinity.

What is a hoarder?

A hoarder is someone who is unable to let go of anything that comes into their possession. They suffer from a condition called hoarding disorder, and it simply means that they hold on to everything. If they buy clothes and they don’t fit, they don’t return them but instead simply keep them. They keep the boxes that deliveries arrive in. They’ll find a random piece of junk on the street that was thrown out by someone else, and they’ll bring it back into their home. If you try to reason with them and tell them that they don’t need these items, they usually become very agitated.

Hoarding disorder requires a lot of mental health assistance to overcome. Hoarders who are looking for help usually work with therapists and psychiatrists to get their compulsion under control. Until they do, they continue to pile up the mess.

After a while, entire rooms in their homes become overrun with items and objects. Pretty soon, critical rooms like bathrooms and kitchens can’t be used because of all of the junk that are stashed inside of them. Good sanitation and hygiene practices are no longer practiced. Kitchen sinks pile up with filthy plates with caked-on food because the faucets aren’t even able to be turned on. Dishwashers are loaded junk until they become usable and broken. Bathrooms are filled from floor to ceiling with all sorts of random junk, making it impossible for someone to do something as simple as take a bath.

Eventually, the house descends into squalor. Mounds of biohazardous and infectious waste grow throughout the home. Biohazardous waste is a serious health risk, so pretty soon, it’s dangerous for anyone to even be in the house.

When the actual home gets too full, some hoarders allow their possessions to spill out into their yards. At this point, the entire neighborhood is now involved. What may have once been a beautiful property is suddenly one covered with junk and garbage. This decreases the level of enjoyment of the neighborhood for the neighbors. What may have once been a beautiful street has now diminished in value due to the hoarder house. Additionally, hoarder houses usually have pests and vermin. Vermin won’t only stay at the hoarder house but will instead spread throughout the neighborhood, causing health risks for other families.

At this point, local authorities are usually asked to get involved. If they deem the house a threat not only to the residents of the home but to the neighborhood, they can threaten to have the home taken away from the occupants until it’s cleaned up. This is the point at which many hoarders reach out for help with hoarder house cleaning services.

Why is biohazardous waste so dangerous?

Biohazardous waste is extremely dangerous because it contains pathogens. Pathogens are microorganisms that cause diseases in humans. When you get pneumonia, you’ve been hit with a bacterial pathogen. When you get HIV, you’ve been contaminated by a viral pathogen. In a hoarder house, pathogens exist in biohazardous waste like human waste, animal waste, carcasses, bathtubs filled with sewer water, rotting garbage that hasn’t been emptied for months, and a host of other types of matter.

What will the hoarder house cleaning company do?

The hoarder house cleaning company will come in, clean the space, and remove all signs of biohazardous waste. Failure to do so will result in a home that may look clean but could have dangerous pathogens lurking right at the surface.

The first thing the team will do is do is remove all of the junk and garbage that’s piled up in the home. They’ll next remove all of the biohazardous waste. This waste will be separated from the junk because they need to be disposed of in different spaces. Regular junk can be tossed into a dumpster. Biohazardous waste needs to be placed into special bags and containers that are sealed to prevent leakage. Leakage could cause the contents within to contaminate surfaces or people. 

Once the waste and junk has been removed from the home, the home will be completely washed down. The cleaners will use OSHA-approved and EPA-approved cleaners and disinfectants to help ensure that the house has been cleaned and cleared of dangerous pathogens. 

For hoarder homes that have extremely bad smells and odors, the teams will use specially formulated deodorizers that not only get rid of the smells but also destroy the organisms that cause the smell. If the smell is extremely bad, they may bring in tools like ozone generator machines. The ozone will target the source of all odors in the room, eliminating them at their source. They’ll let the machine run in the room for as long as necessary in order to remove the smell.

Hoarder houses are no joke. Getting them cleaned is not an easy task. In order to make sure that the hoarder house that you’re dealing with is cleaned efficiently, professionally, and thoroughly, work with a company that can help you get the job done. Give us a call if you have any questions.