Hi love2cats,
Welcome to the forums. We are glad that you stopped by and wish you well in your cleaning and organizing endeavours.

Most of the regular posting happens in the Daily Chat; What are you Doing Today; thread. Stop by there anytime.

Please take notice too of the Sunday and Tuesday evening chat sessions. Those give one an opportunity to interact on a real time basis with other ordinary folks just like you who are dealing with "stuff" problems in their lives. We are all blessed by Cory's making these forums and chat sessions available.

Hi this is my first post. I too am in the Nashville area. Are any of you still active here?

NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE CANADIAN LOAN SPAM!

http://www.clutterhoardingcleanup.com/hoarding-clean-up/?ibp-adgroup=ppc&gclid=CKy52aClnLICFahAMgodvjAAQw

Please be very careful hiring people from Craigslist. I am not saying they are all bad, but there are some undesireables on Craigslist and those are the last people you want in your home or on your property. I highly recommend calling a licensed company that carries insurance, workers comp, and a business license. Protect yourself first.

I have seen a post on CL for Larry at 474-7448 who will help haul and clean up for hoarders.

Hi Cory,
Thank you for the reminder, I always forget the Sunday online. I will strive to remember next Sunday! Something to look forward to.

Hi Tillie, Thank you for the rec. Read through some threads. You're right-- extremely nice and generous folk on there, and great suggestions and help too.

Hi Ruth,
Thank you for your reply. There is a therapist name Helen Hatfield at Vanderbilt, a very kind and gentle soul, who specializes in hoarding therapy. She is recommended on this website. She was trying to start a group but couldn't get enough people. You may want to consider contacting her. I've being doing therapy, and it's ok, but in the long run you yourself have to deal with the situation-which I'm finding difficult to do at this time. I haven't had any luck finding someone locally to do clean up work, which I consider a specialized area.
I wish you the best and let me know how things are going for you in Nashville.

Hk FaithAnn,
Please remember we have our Hoarders Support Group on this HoardingCleanup.com website every Sunday night at 5:00pm PST and 8:00pm EST. Just click on the support group tab at the top of this page, or the red box to the right side of this page and it will take you there. We can certainly help you with these issues and discuss options in all aspects of managing this disorder. Hope to see you there each Sunday night!

Cory Chalmers
HoardingCleanup.com
1-800-HOARDERS.com

http://takeonestepatatime.proboards.com/index.cgi?

Here is a link to an online hoarder support group made up of hoarders & messies all helping each other every day to clean & clear their homes.
Very helpful and friendly people there.

FaithAnn, I am from Nashville as well and am a hoarder. I have just googled around and found this site looking for a place to turn for help. All I have found to do to help myself so far is to 1) go to a therapist to work out my issues and 2) find a cleaning company. I guess I will start with number 1. Apparently hoarder recovery groups don't exist. That's what I was looking for initially because a divorce recovery group I was in years ago helped me so much by being able to relate to others going through the same thing. Anyway good luck. We should start a group!

PS and thank you so much for the kind advice from everyone else who posted. Just your support on here has helped me.

Hi Cory,
Thank you so much for your informative reply. It is very frustrating trying to find info on companies. I've looked into the crime scene clean up companies but they all seem to say national. I've got some leads out and have written AAA. I have to say I can't imagine anyone volunteering for these jobs, and having unprofessional help makes me nervous.
I sincerely admire your dedication and giving spirit to helping others with this problem. You are an angel. Thanks again.

Hi All,
Sorry for the late response, but yes I have been out of town for a bit. Tillie is correct, we don't hvae any companies located in Tennessee, but from the chatter in the industry and on our other talkboards I think you have been referred to AAA Cleaning and Janitorial. The owners name is Michael and he is a really good guy. I don't know about his pricing, especially out of state, but I know he will do a good job. You can also try to call a local 1-800-GOT JUNK franchise to see if they can help. I know we have filmed episodes of Hoarders in Tennessee and they assist us so it is worth a shot. The other suggestions made previously are good too to try to find some volunteers. The only thing to watch for is just who the volunteers are. It is bad enough having a company come in that are strangers, but at least they have insurance coverage if something happens. You can also Google, crime scene cleanup companies as most of the hoarding companies are in fact biohazard or crime scene cleanup companies that also do this work. Just stay away from any company that says on their website, they are "National". Many of these companies will flat out take advantage of you and lie about the estimated cost, then charge you an amount of money you would never be able to pay and they will put a lien on your house. Get an esitmate in writing that has no loopholes!

I watched an interview during which Matt Paxton (a professional cleaning guy like Cory) stated that it took 80 hours of filming to make one episode. However, that does include a lot of people speaking into the camera for them to pull clips from.

Gah. I guess that wasn't so helpful. I don't have an answer. I would like to be helpful but until you talk to a company and they give you a quote, it's really difficult to guess.

Catherine

Hopefully Cory Chalmers will see this post.
He has done many many clean outs and could give you some really great answers.
But....
The A&E show "Hoarders" has started filming this next season of programs and Cory has been out of town doing a filming of a clean out this past week.
Hang in there 🙂
Sincerely, Tillie

Faithann,

any reputable company should give you an estimate, on time and on cost. You may also be able to reduce the time and cost by getting volunteers (church, family, friends ....???).

You may also be able to look at a company's web site to get information, an email to them can be very easy to do and you may get the information you need.

Remember that strength is not necessarily in facing one crisis, it's facing the little things, day after day after day. Keep up the good work.

Catherine

Thank you Tillie and Catherine for your replies. I have a friend who is going to call them for me.
I can't imagine the costs, because the work seems so overwhelming to me. I just don't want to leave this mess for my family to have to deal with one day.
Has anyone gone through a clear out? What was it like and how long did it take?
I'm not floor to ceiling except in one room, but lots of scattered stuff and things on surfaces, big piles of clothing and the condition of the house is not good. In case any companies are reading this.

If money is too prohibitive, you may want to consider your local church. They may be able to either help, or point you to resources to help you.

Hang in there and keep seeking help. That is one important first step.

Catherine

Hi 🙂

I just clicked on that map posted to the left here and saw that there are no companies listed for Tennessee but there are two companies in nearby states that do work in your state.
So, click on that United States map to the left side of this board and contact both companies and get estimates from them.
Best of luck!
Come back & check here again because somebody else may be more helpful and know more.