Tips For Cleaning Out An Inherited House

24 May 2016
 Categories: Industrial & Manufacturing, Blog

Share

Have you recently inherited a house that was owned by a hoarder? Is the house stuffed with things that you now need to sort out? Organizing any home can seem overwhelming at first, especially if the items were acquired by somebody else. But getting the house cleaned out and fit for habitation once again doesn't have to be complicated. Here are some tips to make the process go more smoothly:

Go one room at a time: When a house seems to be filled with nothing but junk, the urge to go through all the rooms and just throw everything away can be overwhelming. Contacting a local dumpster rental service like the one represented at http://parksandsons.com about having a dumpster on the property is a good idea. But you should rethink simply throwing everything away at once. By doing that, you could overlook something of actual value. Buried amidst the stacks of newspapers, for example, could be a vintage lunchbox that can be sold to a collector. If you simply scoop up the entire stack at once, the lunchbox could get tossed in the dumpster with the rest of the stuff. By sifting through one room at a time, rather than trashing whole piles at once, you're less likely to miss anything that might be valuable. 

Use masks or respirators: Even if your relative didn't hoard animals, there could be nasty surprises lurking beneath some of the undisturbed piles of trash. A stack of magazines that conceals a vintage silver dollar collection could be full of potentially hazardous mold spores. Unfortunately, you may not notice the mold and mildew damage until after you've picked up the pile. While dumpster rental services can take the magazines off to the landfill where they belong, only by wearing masks or respirators can you avoid becoming sick from disturbed mold, mildew and other airborne household hazards. 

Make a list of what you're keeping: In a house that is packed full of items, it may be difficult to remember what you plan on keeping. If you find out that some of the rusty tools in the garage are worth money, you may forget this later as the work progresses. Avoid accidentally having your local dumpster rental services from carrying away valuable items by making a list of what you intend to keep. Make a note of where it was found, why you intend to keep it, and a brief description of the items in question. You may also want to do this with some of the bigger items that you junk. If your cousin comes looking for a dining set that was in the house, you may want to be able to tell him or her how badly the set was damaged and why it needed to be thrown away.