What hoarding cleanup actually is
A lot of people picture a crew showing up with shovels and a dumpster and emptying a house in an afternoon. That's not what this is, and it shouldn't be.
A real hoarding cleanup has a few parts. First we sort, because buried in most of these homes are things nobody wants to lose: birth certificates, a wedding ring, photos of grandkids, cash tucked in a coat pocket. Then we remove what's left and haul it, donating and recycling what we can. Then we deep clean and deodorize, because after years of buildup the floors, counters and air need real work. Last, you and your project manager walk through the home together.
Hoarding disorder is a recognized mental health condition. It's listed in the DSM-5, and the International OCD Foundation estimates it affects about 2 to 6 percent of adults. That matters for how we work. The person living in the home isn't lazy or dirty. They're dealing with something real, and pulling the stuff out of the house without them usually makes things worse. So we plan with them, not around them.
Who calls us
Most of the calls we get come from family. A daughter who flew in for the holidays and couldn't open the front door all the way. A son whose dad just moved to assisted living and now the house has to be ready for a sale. A sister who's been worried for years and finally got a yes.
We also hear from people calling about their own home. If that's you, thank you for reaching out. It takes a lot. You can read more on our page for people calling about their own home, and you're welcome to just call and talk before you decide anything.
Other calls come from:
- Executors and heirs handling an estate or probate cleanout after someone has passed
- Landlords and property managers with a unit that needs to be cleared after a tenant leaves
- Social workers, case managers and other professionals who refer clients
- Families facing a code enforcement notice or an eviction date
If you're the family member trying to figure out how to help, our page on helping a family member talks through how to start that conversation.
What a cleanup looks like, day by day
Every home is different, so this is a general picture, not a script. But it gives you a sense of how the work actually goes.
Before the first day
You call or send photos. Your project manager looks at them or comes out for a walk-through, and you get a free, private estimate. Then we sit down with you (and with the person who lives there, if they're involved) and build a plan. What has to be saved. Which rooms matter most. Whether there's a deadline. Who gets to make the calls on what stays.
You can read the full step-by-step on how it works.
Day one
The crew arrives, usually in the morning. Your project manager does a quick walk with everyone so the crew knows the plan: which room we start in, what we're looking for, and what never goes in the trash without asking.
Most of the time we start by clearing a path. Hallways, the front door, the route from the street to the dumpster. That makes everything after it safer and faster. Then we often go to the kitchen. Kitchens tend to have the most spoiled food, the most pests and the worst smells, so getting that room under control early makes the whole house easier to work in.
The crew sorts as they go. Boxes get labeled. Papers go into a separate bin to be looked through by hand. Anything that might be valuable or personal gets set aside.
The middle days
This is the steady part. Room by room, the crew sorts, bags and carries. Donations get loaded separately. If the person who lives there is taking part, we check in with them on the "ask" pile throughout the day instead of saving it all for the end, when everyone's tired.
You'll start to see floors again. Sometimes that's when the hard feelings show up too, for everyone. That's normal. We slow down when we need to.
The cleaning days
Once the rooms are empty, the cleaning crew comes in. Walls, floors, cabinets, bathrooms, vents. More on that below.
The final walk-through
You and your project manager walk every room together. If something got missed or doesn't look right, we fix it before we call the job done.
What we save
People worry, with good reason, that a cleanup crew will throw away something irreplaceable. Our crews are trained to look before they toss, and to set aside anything they aren't sure about.
Here's what we watch for in every home:
- Money. Cash shows up in envelopes, books, coat pockets, coffee cans and under mattresses. We find it more often than you'd think.
- Jewelry and watches, including pieces that look like costume jewelry but might not be.
- Important papers: wills, deeds, car titles, tax records, bank statements, insurance policies, Social Security cards and passports.
- Photos, letters and keepsakes: school pictures, military medals, a kid's drawing from 1974, a recipe card in your grandmother's handwriting.
- Anything you tell us about ahead of time. If your mom says her mother's ring is somewhere in the bedroom, the crew knows to look for it.
Old mail doesn't just go in the bin. It gets looked through, because a bank statement or a stock certificate can be sitting in a stack of grocery flyers. Our page on sorting and saving belongings explains the keep, donate, ask and toss system we use.
Where everything goes
Not everything leaving the house is trash, and we try hard not to treat it that way.
- Donations. Clothes, furniture, kitchen goods and other usable items go to local charities when they're in good shape.
- Recycling. Metal, cardboard, electronics and other recyclables get separated where local options exist.
- Family. Anything the family wants is boxed, labeled and set aside for you to pick up or for us to leave in a room you choose.
- Disposal. What's left goes to a proper disposal site. For bigger jobs we often bring a roll-off dumpster to the driveway. A 30-yard dumpster is about 20 feet long with walls taller than most people, and a full house can take more than one. Smaller jobs may go out in our own truck loads instead.
Cleaning and odor
Clearing the stuff out is only half of it. After years of buildup, a home usually needs serious cleaning before it's comfortable to live in or ready to list.
Our crews scrub and sanitize kitchens and bathrooms, clean floors and baseboards, wipe down walls and cabinets, and work on the smell. Homes with pet waste, human waste, rodent droppings and heavy odor are normal work for us. We've seen it before, and nobody on the crew is going to make a face or a comment.
Sometimes, after the cleaning, we find damage underneath. Carpet that can't be saved, subfloor that's soft, drywall that's soaked through. Repairs aren't something we do, but your project manager can connect you with trusted local professionals. You can read more about this on our hoarding deep cleaning page.
How long does hoarding cleanup take?
It depends on the size of the house, how full it is, how much sorting needs to happen and how involved the person who lives there wants to be.
A single room might take a day or two. A full house with careful sorting and a deep clean can take a week or longer. If someone wants to go through every item, it takes more time, and that's okay. Your project manager will give you a realistic timeline with your estimate.
If you have a hard date (a closing, a court date, a city inspection), tell us early. We can plan the order of the work around it.
What affects the cost
We don't publish prices, because two homes that look alike from the street can be very different inside. Here's what changes the cost:
- How many rooms are affected, and how full they are
- How much sorting and saving the family wants
- How much has to be hauled, and how many dumpsters or truck loads that takes
- Waste, pests or heavy odor that need extra cleaning
- Stairs, basements, attics, garages and outbuildings
- Whether the work has to happen on a tight deadline
Your estimate is free, and you'll know the cost before any work starts. Our hoarding cleanup cost page goes into more detail, and financing is available if you need to spread out the payments.
Privacy and discretion
A lot of families are worried about the neighbors. That's understandable. Nobody wants the whole street watching their mom's things being carried out.
We keep it low-key and private. Crews are polite, quiet and focused on the job. We don't post photos of your home, and we don't talk about it with anyone outside the job. If timing or where the dumpster sits matters to you, tell your project manager and we'll work with you on it. You can read our privacy policy for how we handle your information.
Working with the person who lives there
This is the part we care about most.
If your dad lives in the home, it's still his home. He gets a say in what stays. He gets to take breaks. He gets talked to like an adult, not around like he isn't in the room.
That doesn't mean every single item gets a long conversation. It means we agree on some ground rules up front. Maybe he wants to see every photo before it's boxed. Maybe he's fine letting the crew toss food and old newspapers but wants to look at the tools. Your project manager will help everyone land on a plan that's honest about the time and budget and still respects him.
We also know that sometimes the person isn't on board, or isn't able to be involved, or has passed away. We'll work with whoever has the right to make decisions, and we'll still treat the home and everything in it with respect.
One thing to know: clearing a home doesn't fix hoarding disorder. If the person living with it wants support afterward, a therapist who works with hoarding can help. We're not counselors and we don't treat anything, but we can make the home safe again and give everyone a fresh place to start from.
Areas we serve
Fresh Start Hoarding Cleanup is a national network, with local project managers in each area. Abel Dominguez started the company after seven years running Temecula Valley Junk Pick Up in Southern California. Between Abel and our project managers, our team has worked in hundreds of hoarded homes. You can read more about us here.
We currently serve:
- Southern California, including Riverside County and the Temecula Valley
- Northern Virginia, including Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington and Alexandria
- Richmond and Henrico County
- Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach
- Cleveland and Akron
- Dayton and Montgomery County
- The Twin Cities
- Dallas
- Knoxville
- Denver
- Duluth–Superior
See the full list of counties on our service areas page.
When you're ready, reach out or send a few photos for a free estimate. You don't have to have it all figured out first.
Common questions
What is hoarding cleanup?
Hoarding cleanup is clearing a home that has filled up over time, sorting out what should be saved, hauling away the rest and deep cleaning the house. It's slower and more careful than a regular junk removal job, because valuables and papers are often buried in the clutter and the person who lives there deserves a say.
Is "hoarder cleanup" the same thing?
Yes. "Hoarder cleanup" is a common search term for the same service. We say "hoarding cleanup" because we'd rather talk about the situation than label the person living in it.
Do I need to be there during the cleanup?
No, but you're welcome to be. Many families come for the first day and the final walk-through and stay in touch by phone in between. Your project manager will keep you updated and call before anything uncertain goes out the door.
Will you throw away things we want to keep?
Our crews look before they toss and set aside anything that might matter, including cash, jewelry, papers and photos. Anything they aren't sure about goes in an "ask" pile for you or the person who lives there to decide.
My mom doesn't want the help. Can you still do it?
We'd much rather work with her than around her, so we usually start with a conversation and a plan she has a say in. Our page on helping a family member has ideas for that talk. If someone else legally makes the decisions for the home, we can work with them too.
Do you clean homes with pet waste or rodent droppings?
Yes. Pet waste, human waste, rodent droppings and strong odors are normal work for us. We clean and sanitize those areas without judgment. If the home has live animals that need rehoming, that's outside what we do, but your project manager can connect you with trusted local professionals.
How much does hoarding cleanup cost?
It depends on the size of the home, how full it is, how much sorting is needed and how much cleaning the house needs afterward. We don't publish prices because every home is different. Your estimate is free, and financing is available.
Can you do the estimate from photos?
Often, yes. Send us photos of each room and your project manager can usually give you an estimate from those. For larger or more complicated homes, they may ask to do a walk-through first.
Do you do repairs after the cleanup?
No. If we find damaged flooring, drywall or other problems once the home is clear, your project manager can connect you with trusted local professionals for the repairs.