Hoarding, it can be quite a problem

[dirtlooter]

I am in process of helping my father move to his new home from the one that he and my mother had lived in for about 45 years. They had a two story log home, big two car garage plus a huge shop. As I have found out, my mother kept a lot of "trash" that she stashed everywhere and in everything. She kept every receipt, every bag, every tag from clothing including the tags with the sizes on them, every container that food products came in both glass and plastic, plastic ties, the packages that contain salt/pepper w/ fork and spoon, a million tins that various cookies and popcorn came in, paper products and a ton of other things. She was also a quilter and the sheer volume of material and pieces cut for use in quilts was mind boggling (we donated several truck loads to people that quilted.)

She kept every container washed no matter what it was before she hid them. She also had a trillion plastic lids from say butter dishes that she would cut to use for patterns for her quilt pieces. Every pill bottle ever obtained, and most fast food drink cups. I have burned who knows how many very large trash bags of pure trash to keep down the number of extra trash bags for the garbage men to pick up (still have about 15 left, I put out three of them every week.) Then we have the actual good stuff and a lot of it to be packed and moved yet. Now my parents grew up after the great depression years and were taught to salvage and save everything (including washing out ziplock bags for reuse.)

They still have nearly every appliance ever purchased (even the shot ones) and a zillion empty boxes that they came in. Manuals and instructions for who knows what and flower seeds in hundreds of containers. I am about 2/3rds of the way done now so there is light at the end of the tunnel...oh wait, did I mention tea pots and tea cups? hundreds of the pots and who knows how many tea cup sets, many very expensive ones. Of course I am leaving out a lot more stuff but you get the picture, my father was and is overwhelmed at how much stuff there really is or was (I kept telling myself that the thousand mile walk starts with the first step LOL.)

Now there was no foul trash, just clean trash or stuff that should have been thrown away years and years ago. there were no trails thru the house as you see in the super bad hoarders, every thing was just packed and crammed in every conceivable spot through out a very large house and garage (we aren't taking about the old shop, haven't started there yet.) My mother had kept every letter, card or whatever and we have to go through everything just in case she hid money or jewelry in something (which she did.) I think that if all goes well, we will have it done in two weeks then bug bomb the place and begin moving in. it is a wonderful house, just full of a lot of "stuff." Can any of you relate to this?

 

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[kingskid1611]

It is quite interesting the mindset of what some people have when they began to save things. I have cleaned and hauled off a lot of stuff from foreclosed homes that is mind boggling to say the least. I know how overwhelming that process can be. I recently cleaned out a families shed after their mother passed and there was at least 50 plus large totes of nothing but yard after yard of every material imaginable. All the way back from the mid to late 70's. I donated all of that but was always wondering why purchase if you don't use it. Good luck with the process.

 

[diggingthe1]

I know what your going through, I helped my father in law. It took all summer to go through 2 storage units. We would meet once a week and go through about 10 tubs. You never what you would run across. His parents saved everything also. It’s quite an undertaking!

 

[Rookster]

Hate to say it but I'm kinda of a scrap wood hoarder especially old barn wood. Any size or shape. Make tables and stuff.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

OMG Dirtlooter, I can TOTALLY relate...

My step-mom passed last year, end of May, she was in her late 80's, had a 4 bedroom house with closets & drawers packed with ALL THE SAME STUFF!
When my cousins came over (both in their 60's & 70's), they took out their planner calenders and blocked out 4 days of their life to help me!
We filled up 2 & 1/2 LARGE trash dumpsters, with stuff that may have been good, if someone had bothered to USE IT, 20, 30, or 40 YEARS AGO!

Oh, and THAT SMELL that comes off old Tupperware....
We made a game of, "who could find the oldest receipt".
I think my cousin won, with one from 1958...

Two front bedroom closests were so packed, when you opened the door, you'd have to hold your hands up, for all the crap that was falling out on your head.
I still haven't totally got in the attic, yet, uggghhh
And there's 2 sheds out back, I can spot my bicycles from the late 60's early 70's, and my Dad's old hunting outfits, way in the back.
Can't even get IN the sheds, paint buckets, old used oil cans, 2 broken riding lawnmowers, junk, seems to be all just junk....
I'm lucky I can slide the 2 ladders I use, in there, but it's almost like a puzzle, trying to thread them over stuff!

I had to throw out home made canned (jarred) goods from the early 1990's! Whatever was canned had dissolved to the point, you couldn't even ID the veggies or fruit in the jars! Cans & cans of food stacked in the cupboard, bloated... One had a hole in it, & there was nothing in the can! The label came off decades ago, no CLUE what it could have been.

I'm almost done now, but still have paperbags of taxes to go through, going back to the 1980's.
Such a shame, so many things.... Little knick knacks, chotchkies, useless "free gifts" from mail order catalogs, etc, etc, etc....

I partly blame basic cable tv, in her area....
Nothing to watch but msm, religion, or shopping channel.
They fill you with fear that the sky is falling & the world is burning, but you can feel better if you buy a bunch of stuff, and when the guilt sets in on spending money on stupid stuff, the tv preachers can save your soul & make it all okay!

PEOPLE, PLEASE use what you got! Enjoy it, play with it, show it off, use it up, give it away or throw it away!
If it truly is worth anything, then pls store it properly, and leave a note SOMEWHERE, to let folks know there's some things that meant something to you & where to find it, lol.

Yep, been there, done & doing that....

Any more, compadre sympaticos?

 

[releventchair]

Not only depression era mentality causes collecting/saving potential "resources".
Folks had to make do with what they had ,or do without. That gets ingrained...

A co-worker was from a country where anything was of value if you could hold it following it's that country's take over.
Many decades later he could not stop.
I hauled several flat cart loads of "stuff" to the dumpster at work from our storage area. Rags ,bags,partially eaten food items ,broken rubber gloves ect..
My boss told me if I caught this guy looking in a trash can to kick him hard in the @&#!.

I knew his plight though. Having gone too hungry and without resources too long it became embedded in him that nothing could be "wasted" or left if it had any potential. And potential to some one who once had nothing was a thing of the imagination. Creative or not.
It did not matter that he was "safe" . There was no "safe".

His patient wife would catch him trying to enter the house she kept immaculate when he came home from work with his usual fistfull of coathangers ,(and who knows what hidden in his car) and she would point him to the garage. That was where he was allowed to put anything. Period.

Not looking forward to the day all of Dad's "stuff" gets sorted.
My sisters have an informal rule that when you visit the fridge gets sorted for dated food ,and you also take a bag of "stuff" with you when you leave.
No matter if it has any value to you. Get rid of it...

 

[SusanMN]

Yup. In order for my 89 year old mom to be released from the hospital we had to make room in her house for her to get a walker from room to room. Not a big deal in a non hoarder’s home but like literally moving a mountain for us. Got it done, got her home and for two months have gotten daily phone calls from her demanding to know where this or that went to. Not because she needed it but just because she couldn’t see it. Have dragged things from the basement or attic (we have learned not to throw anything out) that she has never used and will never use and watched her fill back the narrow pathways we created. Takes a whole lot of patience.

 

[dirtdigginfool]

I have a close friend who does clean outs for banks, realty companies, etc...and a little over 5 years ago he cleaned out a place that had been heavily "hoarded". One outbuilding was nothing but cans-paint cans, thinner cans..cans cans cans. At the transfer station (fancy name for city dump), he and his boy are emptying the truck and trailer when one of the operators starts screaming bloody murder, my friend turns around to see literally hundreds of bills raining down into the trash pit. I'm not going to disclose how much was thrown into the pit (subsequently retrieved by the workers) and how much was still left in the paint cans, but it was a life changing day for my friend. I did not question if he attempted to find the past owners or if he reported it...not my business. But a great story nonetheless. Ddf.

 

[tinpan]

Hi, A box of matches and a good insurance policy. TP

 

[Rustynailsandscrews]

Hi, A box of matches and a good insurance policy. TP

Yeppers

 

[Kantuckkeean]

Hi dirtlooter,

I can relate. My father passed away last year so cleaning and organizing his garage and some of his things has become my task. He was a bit of a hoarder and not the most organized when it came to tools and such, but most of the stuff is useful at least, so a large amount will go to new owners, recycled, repurposed, donated, and some of it sold. My mother doesn’t know what most of the tools are used for or how to use them, and I’ve already got most of the tools that I need, and access to any others that I might need one day, since my father-in-law farms. So far I’ve found countless hand tools of all sorts (manual and power; mechanical and carpentry; machinist tools), 5 Dremel tools and attachments, 3 bandsaws, 3 soldering kits, pipe fitting tools, drills, hand and power saws, pneumatic tools... it’s pretty ridiculous. Then there’s hoses and wire of every gauge imaginable, electric motors, and dozens and dozens of metal coffee cans and plastic cashew containers of every type of nut, bolt washer, nail, screw, and fitting that you can imagine. I’ve put in two full weekends and a partial. One more weekend and it should be whipped into shape. Then it will be time to open the barn. Sigh. It’s sad but kind of nice too, because I’ll get to finish some of the projects that he didn’t take the time to complete, plus I get to help my mom out because she wouldn’t know what to do with pipe flaring tools and she’s too busy reorganizing the house. I’m glad that I’m the one doing it because a lot of people would probably trash some valuable stuff. On a workbench, I found a box of pistol grips that I’d been looking for, including spare grips for a Hammerli and a LH original wood grip for one of his Colt .45 M1911A1s (or maybe it was one of the .38 Super Match’s) that I knew had to be somewhere. Apparently he was replacing the studs but hadn’t finished, so I completed the job. I sure do miss him.

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

 

[Johnnybravo300]

My mom is that way and she's 67. Her dad (my gpa) grew up during the depression in Lyndon KS during the dustbowls. He used to tell me they were so poor he never even got a toy. When he died a couple years ago he still had pickles in the basement from the 70's that he had canned and they were perfect and crisp.
My mom's basement is so full of crap.

Foods canned in Mason jars can last for many generations or longer.

 

[Nitric]

Yes, I can relate, and it gets worse when money is tight. When there is money in the bank? the hoarding goes less. That's for me.

My wife and I started out in a small apartment, it had a Bedroom, bathroom, very small kitchen and small bedroom, the whole place was smaller than the size of a one car garage. We started auctions and antiques, this is back when that stuff was booming, late 90's. We packed it!!! I had about 8 victrolas, and whatever other antiques we drug home. PACKED IT!! little isle ways.

In 2000 we moved out of there, we filled about a 10 by 20 storage garage, maybe a little bigger. Skip some years...in 2007 we moved into a 3 bedroom house, old house in the city, huge rooms! Dining room huge kitchen, etc.... with a one car garage and basement, and still kept storage. By 2014, we had that house packed. Our bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, were the only fairly empty rooms, but probably had more stuff in them than most people. We Packed that house, garage, basement, AND still shoving stuff in the storage garage that we had since 2000. PACKED!! Antiques, gun safes, antique furniture, glass, coins and supplies from the small shop we tried to run, etc......

Anyhow, we moved out of that house around 2014 and moved to GA, Have been selling stuff off, giving it away ever since. Last summer!!!! 2017, I finally cleared out the storage garage we kept 3 states away and had since 2000!!!!!!

After moving that stuff? I WILL NEVER HOARD TO THAT EXTENT AGAIN!!!! Never!!!! ......I'm still dealing with it...a lot of stuff isn't worth a bunch but it has some value and we can't just throw it out and start over, there is too much money tied up in it.

Yes, I understand the hobby well!!!! To some I think it's a disease and to others it's a hobby, a collection. And like you were saying, no nasty stuff like you see on TV, we just filled every space we could with stuff. You name it I've probably owned one or something similar. We just enjoyed antiques,REAL furniture, pocket watches and anything related, any small antique mechanical stuff like the steam engines, etc etc... and just cool stuff!(to us)

I'm down to a little more than a 2 car garage of everything we own...It needs chopped way down yet, but I've been working on it.

Our original dream was to redo and fill a victorian era house with stuff from that time period. That's a lot of the reasons we collected what we did. But at this point we realize that isn't reality.

 

[against the wind]

We have on line County Garage Sales. You can get people to haul away your metal for free. They take the big stuff and sell it as scrap. Stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. You might want to try that rather than hurt yourself by moving all this stuff by yourself.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Oh, and did I say a 6-7 yr old compacted burn pile,
the size of a SMALL BUS!

Pine tree limbs, pinecones, packed so tight, condensed, wet,
took almost $100 bucks of diesel, and 4 days to NOT, get it all burned.
I'm down to a golf cart size burn pile now. I'm happy.

Johnnybravo300, not the canned goods I threw out, lol.
I think they were peaches, pears, maybe some plums, some kinda soft fruit,
I think I dunno….
I was scared to death of the stuff....

The Mr, (who is hazmet & environmental remediation guy), he said I should be wearing a mask, the whole time I'm cleaning in there. They house has not had the windows open in about 10-15 yrs (until last month, we had to air it a little).
Think of every cleaner, cleanser, spray, chemical, EVER sprayed in there, all collected in the dust & duct works, for 2 decades, at least. She spread so much "carpet fresh" throughout the house, the carpet cleaner men 20 yrs ago, told her it would NEVER all come out of those carpets, NEVER!
The dresser & china cabinet had not been vacuumed behind for at least 25 yrs!

I'm waiting for the weather to cool down, so I can open them windows a few days!
I've already tore up one vacuum cleaner.
Maybe use the yard blower, inside, next time...

 

[A2coins]

Any one who hoards coins Im here to help I will pay shipping you are out of control and dangerous thats right to yourself and others around you your greed is beyond repair relinwuish your sins I will help A2coins

 

[Nitric]

Any one who hoards coins Im here to help I will pay shipping you are out of control and dangerous thats right to yourself and others around you your greed is beyond repair relinwuish your sins I will help A2coins

I use too....Had gun safes full, buckets, plastic tubs, supplies,,etc...It even sounds unreal to me today. but ya.....We had electric coin counters in our dinning room. Fun times and my "High light reel" in life. I know this is going to sound like BS, but we went on vacation for a week so I moved boxes of silver to families houses. We forgot a 3ft by 3ft, about 2ft deep, full of stuff at my Dad's in a closet......Like I said, it even sounds unreal to me right now, and almost like those times were a dream....

I would love to get back into it, so if it becomes a problem you will be the first person I PM.

 

[kingskid1611]

Any one who hoards coins Im here to help I will pay shipping you are out of control and dangerous thats right to yourself and others around you your greed is beyond repair relinwuish your sins I will help A2coins

I am right there with ya....give me all your coins foreign and domestic. Relieve yourself of these burdens......

 

[A2coins]

I use too....Had gun safes full, buckets, plastic tubs, supplies,,etc...It even sounds unreal to me today. but ya.....We had electric coin counters in our dinning room. Fun times and my "High light reel" in life. I know this is going to sound like BS, but we went on vacation for a week so I moved boxes of silver to families houses. We forgot a 3ft by 3ft, about 2ft deep, full of stuff at my Dad's in a closet......Like I said, it even sounds unreal to me right now, and almost like those times were a dream....

I would love to get back into it, so if it becomes a problem you will be the first person I PM.

I will hold you to your word lol

 

[A2coins]

I am right there with ya....give me all your coins foreign and domestic. Relieve yourself of these burdens......

Yes the sinful display of greed on this site is disgusting makes me sick lol Im deplorable also and proud of it!!!!!!!!