Water Damage Plus Hoarding? - We Can Help!

7/12/2022 (Permalink)

Water damage in a hoarded basement

This Farmington Hills, MI home experienced flooding in their basement with contaminated water, however, this was not your typical flood. The homeowners happened to be hoarders and their basement was filled to the ceiling - there was barely any space to walk and most areas were not accessible. 

Before going into the process of mitigating this loss, let's talk a little bit about what hoarding is. 

Hoarding is the persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value. The behavior usually has deleterious effects—emotional, physical, social, financial, and even legal—for a hoarder and family members.

For those who hoard, the quantity of their collected items sets them apart from other people. Commonly hoarded items may be newspapers, magazines, paper and plastic bags, cardboard boxes, photographs, household supplies, food, and clothing.

In a situation like this our SERVPRO of Farmington and Farmington Hills technicians had to begin by throwing away all the contaminated items due to the quality of the water. It was not until everything was 'trashed out' that we were actually able to mitigate the damage to the structure. 

To learn more about hoarding visit: https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/hoarding-basics