Start with the basement and the furnace
In most Twin Cities homes, the basement is where things pile up first and get looked at last. A rambler in Richfield, a story-and-a-half in Longfellow, a split-level in Coon Rapids: almost all of them have a basement, and that basement usually holds the furnace, the water heater and the electrical panel.
When boxes and bags fill that space, two things worry us. The first is fire. Paper stacked against a gas furnace or water heater is a real danger, and it is the reason we often clear a path to the mechanicals on day one, even before the kitchen. The second is water. A basement that floods in spring or after a pipe freezes turns cardboard and clothing into mold, and the smell climbs up through the whole house.
You do not need a plan before you call. Your project manager will walk the home and tell you plainly what has to happen first and why.
What winter changes
We work year round, but winter changes how a job runs.
- Snow and ice. Crews need a safe path from the door to the truck or dumpster. Steps and driveways get shoveled and salted before anything heavy moves.
- Frozen pipes. If a house has been sitting empty, or the heat has been off because the furnace was hard to reach, pipes may have burst. We clean up the mess that leaves. The plumbing repair is not our work, but your project manager can connect you with trusted local professionals.
- Dumpster placement. A 30-yard dumpster is a steel box about 22 feet long and 6 feet tall, and a packed house can fill more than one. In winter it needs a spot where plows will not bury it and where it will not block a city street during a snow emergency. Your project manager handles the placement and any permit the city requires.
If you are worried about safety
Sometimes the clutter is only part of the picture. Your mom may not be eating well, may have fallen, or may not be able to get to the bathroom or the bed. That is called self-neglect, and Minnesota has one place to report it.
The Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC) takes reports about vulnerable adults anywhere in the state, 24 hours a day, at 1-844-880-1574. Reports go to the county where the person lives. You can read more on the Minnesota Department of Human Services adult protection page. If someone is in danger right now, call 911 first.
Making a report is not a betrayal. A social worker can help with the parts of life we do not handle, and we can help with the home.
There is also the Minnesota Hoarding Task Force, an all-volunteer nonprofit that educates families about hoarding disorder, holds public meetings and keeps resource lists. It is a good place to find support for yourself. Hoarding disorder is a recognized condition in the DSM-5, and the International OCD Foundation estimates it affects about 2 to 6 percent of adults. Your family is not alone in this.
When the city has already stepped in
Some families call us after an inspector has been to the house. In Minneapolis, housing and nuisance complaints go through 311 and the city's Regulatory Services inspections team. In St. Paul, the Department of Safety and Inspections takes property complaints at 651-266-8989 or through the city's report an incident page. Suburbs like Bloomington, Brooklyn Park and Eagan handle this through their own city housing or code staff.
If you have a letter with a deadline on it, send us a photo of it when you call. Your project manager will look at what the notice actually asks for and build the plan around that date. Often the city wants to see clear exits, working smoke detectors, a path to the furnace and garbage removed. That is a smaller, faster first step than clearing the whole house, and it buys time for the rest.
Where your dad's things end up
Nothing gets tossed in a hurry. On the first day, crews set up three areas: keep, donate and discard. Mail, photos, cash, jewelry, papers and anything that looks personal go into a separate box for the family to review. Cash often turns up in books and coat pockets, and all of it goes back to you.
Usable furniture and household goods can go to donation. In the metro, many families use thrift stores and nonprofits such as Bridging, a furniture bank with warehouses in Bloomington and Roseville that passes donated furniture and household goods to families referred by social service agencies. What can be recycled gets recycled.
What remains goes to a permitted landfill or processing facility. Hennepin County runs drop-off facilities in Bloomington and Brooklyn Park for hazardous household waste like old paint and chemicals, which turn up in most basements and garages. In Ramsey and Washington counties, trash goes to the Recycling and Energy Center in Newport. Your project manager handles the hauling, so you never have to load a car.
You can read more about how sorting works on our hoarding cleanup page.
Estate cleanouts and probate court
When a parent has passed, the house often cannot be sold or emptied until someone is officially in charge of the estate. In Minnesota that runs through the district court in the county where your parent lived. In Hennepin County, it is the Probate/Mental Health division of the Fourth Judicial District at the Government Center in downtown Minneapolis. Ramsey County probate is part of the Second Judicial District in St. Paul.
We do not give legal advice, and you may want an attorney for this part. What we can do is work around the timeline the court and your attorney set, keep a record of what we find, and set aside papers like deeds, bank statements, titles and wills.
Cities and neighborhoods we serve
A local project manager covers the seven-county metro, including:
- Hennepin: Minneapolis (Nokomis, Northeast, Longfellow, North Minneapolis), Bloomington, Richfield, Edina, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Maple Grove, Minnetonka
- Ramsey: St. Paul (Highland Park, Como, Payne-Phalen, Frogtown), Roseville, Maplewood, Shoreview, White Bear Lake
- Anoka: Coon Rapids, Blaine, Anoka, Fridley, Andover
- Dakota: Eagan, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Lakeville, Hastings, West St. Paul
- Washington: Woodbury, Stillwater, Cottage Grove, Forest Lake, Oakdale
- Scott: Shakopee, Prior Lake, Savage
- Carver: Chaska, Chanhassen, Waconia
If you do not see your town, call anyway.
What it costs and how families pay
We do not publish prices, because no two homes are alike. A packed basement with water damage is a very different job from a two-bedroom condo where the clutter stops at the kitchen. 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. Our cost page explains each of those. Financing is available.
If you are the son or daughter trying to figure out how to even bring this up, start with our guide to helping a family member.
Common questions
Do you clean homes with pet waste, rodents or a strong smell?
Yes. Homes with pet or human waste, mouse droppings and heavy odor are normal work for us and nobody on the crew will comment. We remove the soiled material, clean and sanitize the surfaces and work on the odor until the home is livable. If there are live animals still in the home, your project manager can connect you with trusted local professionals for that part.
Will the neighbors know what is going on?
We keep it low-key and private. Crews do not talk about the job on the street, and we stage work so the house does not look like a spectacle. In a tight neighborhood like Northeast or Highland Park, people may notice a dumpster, but they will not hear the details from us.
Who do I call if my mom is not safe living there?
Call the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center at 1-844-880-1574, any time of day. They take reports about self-neglect and send them to the right county. If she is in danger right now, call 911.
Does my dad get a say in what stays?
Yes. Nothing that belongs to him gets thrown away without a plan he has been part of. Your project manager will talk with him about what matters most, and we move at a pace he can handle, even when that is slower than the family would like.
Do you help with a parent's house after they pass?
Yes. We do estate and probate cleanouts across the metro, and we work around the timeline your attorney and the county court set. We set aside wills, titles, bank papers and photos for the family before anything is removed.