Storm, sewage & biohazard
Hoarding and heavy clutter cleanup
Worked room by room, at the householder's pace, with decisions about what stays made by the person who lives there — never by us, and never on a deadline we set.
Heavy clutter accumulates for reasons that are the householder's business, not ours, and the work goes better when everybody treats it that way. We sort, lift, remove and clean; we do not decide what a thing is worth to the person who kept it.
That shapes how the job runs: slower than a straightforward clear-out, priced differently, and dependent on somebody being present to decide rather than a crew clearing a room unwatched.
Whose decision this is, throughout
The person who lives in the space decides what is kept, and we work to that decision rather than around it — even when it slows the job down, even when a family member watching would sort faster alone. The pace is set by the person making the calls.
We will not describe anybody's belongings as junk, clutter to be dumped, or filth, on this page or on site. We are not doctors or counsellors, and we will not describe what we see as a diagnosis of anything — that belongs with a physician or a mental health professional, not a cleaning crew.
How the work is actually paced
Room by room, often item by item where it is needed. We separate straightforward areas — a garage full of boxes nobody has opened in years — from areas that need somebody present for every decision, and price and schedule those differently.
Larger jobs run over several visits rather than one long day, because decision-making cannot be rushed. A single day suits a garage or a mostly-sorted basement; a full house gone through by hand is measured in visits, not hours.
What it costs
Most jobs land between $3,500 and $22,000, and volume alone does not decide where — how much needs sorting rather than simple removal moves the number more than the size of the space.
A mostly-boxed garage is priced near the bottom. A house gone through decision by decision, with somebody present throughout, is priced nearer the top, because of the time the decisions take, not because we charge more to be patient.
Included as standard
What the job actually includes
A conversation before anything is touched
What the space is, who decides, how visits are paced.
Room-by-room sorting
At the householder's pace, present for every decision that needs them.
Safe lifting and removal
Heavy or awkward items moved properly, including stairs most crews avoid.
Donation and disposal handled separately
What is kept goes back; the rest is routed, not skipped as one load.
A cleaned space at the end
Swept, wiped down and usable, once everything is sorted out.
No commentary, during or after
What was in the home is not discussed once the job is done.
When to call us
Signs this is the job you need
- Rooms or exits that have become difficult to move through safely
- A kitchen or bathroom that has become hard to use for its purpose
- A family member or neighbour raising a concern about safety or access
- A visit from a landlord, code enforcement, or a fire inspector
- An accumulation building for years rather than months
- A household that wants to deal with it but does not know where to start
Hoarding and heavy clutter cleanup — what it costs
- By volume and by how much of it needs sorting rather than clearing.$3,500 – $22,000
This is the range this job actually lands in, not a headline figure. The low end is a straightforward version of the work; the high end is one with a hard access problem, an old service, or something that has to be opened up before anybody can be certain. We tell you which one you have after we have looked, and the written quote says where the price could still move and why.
Questions we are actually asked
Hoarding cleanup — frequently asked
Who decides what gets thrown away?
The person who lives there does, item by item, and we work to that decision. It is slower than a straightforward clear-out and priced accordingly, but it is not negotiable on our side — we do not remove anything the householder has not agreed to.
How long does a job like this take?
It depends far more on how much needs sorting than on how much space there is, and we give an honest estimate after the first visit rather than a number before we have seen it. A mostly-boxed garage can be a day; a full house usually runs several visits, and we would rather say that than promise a timeline we will miss.
Is this because of a mental health condition?
We are not going to answer that — we are not qualified to. Nobody on this crew is a doctor or a mental health professional, and we will not turn what we see into a diagnosis. That conversation belongs with a physician or a counsellor.
Related work
Often needed alongside this
Pack-out & inventory
Everything photographed, listed and boxed before it leaves, so that what comes back is what went out.
$1,800 – $9,000
Textiles & rugs
Off-site washing for the pieces worth washing, and a straight answer about the ones that are not.
$180 – $2,400
Documents & electronics
Wet paper and soaked equipment are both time-critical and both often recoverable — for a while.
$600 – $7,500
Antimicrobial treatment
Applied to cleaned surfaces as a final step — not sprayed over a dirty one instead of cleaning it.
$450 – $1,800Somebody who does the work will come and look
Book a visit
Telephone and you will get somebody on this crew rather than a call centre, at any hour. The emergency assessment is free inside our service area and you keep the written findings whether or not you use us. If what you describe will keep until the morning, we will tell you that instead of sending a van.