Where we work, plainly
We want to be clear about this up front. Our coverage on this side of Lake Superior is Douglas County, Wisconsin, and the area right around it. That means Superior and towns like Poplar, Lake Nebagamon, Solon Springs, Hawthorne, Maple, Oliver, Gordon and the Town of Superior.
A lot of families think of the Twin Ports as one place, and in daily life it is. People cross the Blatnik or Bong bridge for work, groceries and doctor visits without thinking about it. If the home you are worried about is in Duluth or elsewhere on the Minnesota side, call us and ask. We will tell you honestly whether our project manager can take it on.
Inside Superior, we work in every part of town: Billings Park, the East End, the North End, South Superior and the neighborhoods around downtown and the UW-Superior campus.
A Superior winter and an empty house
Winters here are long, snowy and cold, with lake-effect weather that can drop more snow than the forecast promised. That shapes how a cleanout runs.
Many homes in Superior are older wood-frame houses with basements. In a hoarded home, the basement often holds the furnace and water heater behind stacks of boxes, and nobody has been able to get to them in years. That is a fire risk, and it means the furnace has probably not been serviced. We often clear a path to the mechanicals on the very first day.
Then there is the empty house. A parent moves into care or passes away in the fall, and the house sits through January. If the heat failed or got turned down, pipes can freeze and burst. By spring the family walks into a basement full of wet cardboard and a smell that goes all the way up the stairs. It is a common story in cold-weather towns, and it is fixable. We remove the soaked and ruined material, clean and sanitize and work on the odor. The plumbing itself is not our work, but your project manager can connect you with trusted local professionals.
In winter, we also plan for snow and ice on the steps and driveway, and for where a dumpster can sit without getting buried or blocking a plow.
If you are worried about someone's safety
In Wisconsin, adult protective services are run by the county. For an adult in Douglas County, the agency is the Douglas County Department of Health and Human Services, reachable at 715-395-1304 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For people 60 and older, you can also call the Wisconsin Elder Abuse Hotline at 833-586-0107, and the report gets routed to the county. The Wisconsin DHS reporting page lists both. Anyone can report, and you do not need to be certain something is wrong. If someone is in danger right now, call 911.
If the person lives on the Minnesota side, reports go to the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center at 1-844-880-1574 instead.
Self-neglect is part of what these programs look at. A report is not a punishment. It is a way to get a trained person to check in.
Hoarding disorder is recognized in the DSM-5, and the International OCD Foundation estimates it affects about 2 to 6 percent of adults. We are not counselors and we do not diagnose anything, but we can tell you that the families who call us are not alone, and neither is your mom or dad.
When the county or city is already involved
Douglas County's Environmental Health program handles public health nuisance complaints, including unsanitary conditions and solid waste. If a public health worker has already been to the house, you are not the first family in that spot, and a clear plan usually helps that conversation.
Inside the city, Superior's Building Inspection division has a code compliance officer who handles housing, property maintenance and nuisance issues. The office number is 715-395-7288.
If you have a notice or letter, take a photo of it and send it when you call. Your project manager will read what is required and when, then plan the first visit around that. Often the first goal is a clear entry, clear exits, a reachable furnace and garbage out of the house. That shows progress and gives your family breathing room for the rest.
How the work actually goes
We start with a conversation, not a dumpster. Your project manager walks the home with you and, if they are up to it, the person who lives there. They ask what matters: a coin collection, a late husband's letters, the kids' school photos. Those things get protected first.
On work days, crews set up three areas in each room: keep, donate and discard. Papers, photos, cash, jewelry and anything with a name or account number go into a box for the family. Old mail gets reviewed before anything is shredded.
Homes with pet waste, human waste, mouse droppings and strong odor are normal work for us. Crews do not comment and do not judge. After everything is out, the deep clean starts: kitchen, bathrooms, floors, walls and the basement.
More on how it works is on our hoarding cleanup page.
Trash, donations and the landfill change
Usable furniture and household goods go to local thrift stores, churches and charities when they are in good shape. Metal and cardboard get recycled.
Trash disposal around the Twin Ports has been changing. The Moccasin Mike Landfill in Superior closed in 2026, and much of the region's garbage now goes to the St. Louis County Regional Landfill in Virginia, Minnesota. Your project manager keeps track of where loads can go at the time of your job. You will never need to haul anything yourself.
Most jobs use a roll-off dumpster. A 30-yard dumpster is a steel box about 22 feet long, and a full house can fill more than one.
Probate in Douglas County
When a parent has passed, someone usually needs to be appointed before the home can be emptied or sold. In Douglas County, estates are handled through the Register in Probate at the courthouse on Belknap Street in Superior.
We are not lawyers, and you may want one for this part. What we do is work around the timeline your attorney or the court sets, and set aside deeds, titles, wills, insurance papers and bank statements for the personal representative.
Cost and financing
We do not publish prices. A small one-story house in South Superior and a two-story home in Billings Park with a full basement and garage are very different jobs. Cost depends on how much is in the home, how much sorting the family wants, how much cleaning and odor work is needed, and how hard it is to get things out, which in winter can matter a lot. Our cost page explains each factor. Financing is available.
If you are trying to figure out how to talk with a parent or sibling about this, start with our page on helping a family member.
Common questions
Do you cover Duluth?
Our coverage is Douglas County, Wisconsin, and the area right around it. If the home is in Duluth or elsewhere in Minnesota, call and ask, and we will tell you honestly whether our project manager can take the job.
Can you do a cleanout in the middle of winter?
Yes. We plan around snow, ice and cold, make sure steps and the driveway are safe, and find a spot for the dumpster where it will not be buried or block a plow.
The house sat empty and the pipes burst. Can you help?
Yes. We remove the wet and ruined belongings, clean and sanitize, and work on the musty odor. Your project manager can connect you with trusted local professionals for the plumbing and any repairs.
Who do I call if my dad is not safe at home in Superior?
Call the Douglas County Department of Health and Human Services at 715-395-1304 on weekdays. If he is 60 or older, you can also call the Wisconsin Elder Abuse Hotline at 833-586-0107. If he is in danger right now, call 911.
Will people in town hear about it?
Superior can feel like a small town, so that worry makes sense. We keep it low-key and private, crews do not discuss the job with neighbors and the details stay with your family.
Does the person who lives there get a say?
Yes. Your project manager will talk with them about what matters most, and nothing personal is thrown out without a plan they were part of. We work at a pace they can handle.