Do regular maid services deal with hoarder-type clutter?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Friend A is mildly OCD and is a compulsive hoarder. For various reasons, FA has decided that it’s time to do something about it, but due to physical and emotional issues, FA is unable to do it themselves.

Because of the shame attached to the whole situation, FA doesn’t want friends or family involved in the cleaning process, and is willing to pay somebody to come over and help for a couple of days a week for about a month.

FA has asked me to look around to find somebody to do it. I’ve agreed to help to the best of my physical and mental abilities.

I’m talking dozens of empty boxes piled to the ceiling in several different places. A room full of clothes that’ll never be worn. Another room full of appliances, clothes, and various other sundries still in their orignal shipping materials (FA has something of a shopping channel habit.) The world’s largest collection of empty two-liter bottles. Dressers sitting empty in the hall where they dropped during FA’s last move, covered in dust. Piles and piles of catalogs going back years. Cat toys. Rugs that have never been vacuumed. A half-dozen super-sized Rubbermaid bins full of vintage clothes. Several massage chairs that are covered in junk. A coffee table buried under a pile of dirty dishes, empty Kleenex boxes, and post-its with item numbers from HSN. Pens that don’t work. Socks with holes in the toe. At least a dozen vacuum cleaners of various sizes, most of which are still in the box. Et-frickin-cetera.

It’s not quite as bad as the houses of OCD sufferers you see on the Discovery channel, but it’s getting there.

So here’s my question: can a typical maid service handle this kind of thing, or should I look for somebody who specializes in clutter-killing? What can FA expect to pay for this kind of thing?

Any other advice, recommendations, or thoughts would be appreciated.

PS: Yes, FA is in therapy, but is currently feeling so overwhelmed by the mess that they don’t even know where to get started.

2

What does FA want to do with the stuff? Toss it? Donate it to charity? Sort it out?

I think if she just wants the stuff gone, she could phone Servepro (if they exist where you are) - they do disaster cleanup, so one really mess house should be ok.

I assume that there isn’t any excrement (of any type) anywhere or garbage, or anything that would cause the place to be condemed, right? Just a bunch of clutter?

3

I arranged service for an out-of-state friend who was in similar circumstances. I got the only maid service agency listed in her area from the Yellow Pages.

I warned the woman who took my call that this would be the home of an OCD person who also hoarded cats and who had knee surgery that prevented her from doing anything around the house.

The woman laughed and said they were called frequently for similar reasons; the most frequent was for elderly couples who were caring for one another and simply didn’t have the energy or health to clean or toss anything away.

I realize that this may have been a fluke and perhaps not all agencies perform such services, but it appeared to be a normal request from this particular woman.

4

Crap; forgot about this thread.

Thanks for the pointers, guys.

No, there aren’t any biohazards, to the best of my knowledge.

It looks like the going rate in these parts is about $20/hour for a normal maid service. There are also a few listings in the yellow pages for “clutter busters”-types. I’ll make some calls.

Thanks again.

5

If money is an issue and everything is going to charity (and assuming that there is some decent stuff, not just trash), is it possible that a local Goodwill would be willing to send people over to clean it all out in return for getting all the stuff + a cash donation?