The team at Cleared Wright were recently instructed to proceed with what would turn out to be, a record breaking house clearance for our company. Sure, we’ve done some pretty impressive properties in the past, and removed all manner of items, but this property really took us by surprise.
On an unassuming street in the South Coast city of Brighton and Hove, on a terraced road, stood a house that blended in with the other houses in the neighbourhood. It didn’t look anything special, or even jump out as being owned by a hoarder, but what lied behind the front door was a classic hoarders house.
Set over 4 floors, with mostly 2 big rooms per floor (ground floor had 3 rooms), the property was a bit of a Tardis once you entered. However, entering was an issue. The door opened just enough for someone to squeeze in. Post and mail had built up behind the door, as well as rubbish. You then had to climb up approx 1 metre, to get on top of the rubbish, to walk through the property. Even with its high ceilings, our heads were still banging on the ceiling.
What would be the front room was full to the gunnels with stuff. Furniture, rubbish and other clutter. The second reception room was barely any better, and at the back, the bathroom had a clear area around the toilet, big enough for someones legs to sit down, and the bath was clear, but otherwise the rubbish piled up over 6 foot. Going downstairs took you past a locked room (more on this in a bit) and into the kitchen. Although called a kitchen, it did have a sink, and a cooker, but also more chairs and tables than room to put them.
Going back upstairs, and wanting to get to the upper levels, the stairs were relatively clear. Well, at least they were once you got past the first metre of rubbish. The 2 bedrooms on the first floor weren’t to bad. One had many bags of clothes, and the other had plenty of furniture and a nice 1980’s big CRT TV. Going up to the top was another bedroom. This looked like it hadn’t been touched since the 70’s, and was full of dust.
We began our clearance, and started to bag and remove the items. We knew we were going to be there for a while, to get it done. After a few days, we had approval to break into the locked room, on the lower level. We did wonder what would be found, maybe gold bars, maybe a body? Who knew. Getting through the door, we found a room set like a bedroom, with a writing desk in the middle. The paperwork laid out on the desk was dated for 1980. Had this room really been locked since then? It certainly looked like it.
So, why was this our biggest ever clearance, and a record breaker for us? Just from the inside of the property, excluding all outbuilding, sheds and garden areas, we removed 8 and half tonnes of rubbish. This is just rubbish. Not the scrap metal (about .5 ton) and the items that were donated / auctioned. 8500kg of rubbish from a domestic property. We’ve cleared many hoarders and hoarding places, but this one was a new one for us.
After 7 days, the property was empty, and ready to be marketed for sale.