Hoarders Top Episodes MARATHON - Binge Them w/ Dorothy the Organizer! Part 6 | A&E

hey hoarders fans i'm dorothy the organizer  from hoarders you know my gig on the show is   to encourage and lead our hoarders and their  families to clear out and organize their homes   well fingers crossed on that one right we've put  together some of my most memorable cleanups for   you to binge and i hope you enjoy so please stick  around for my personal take on each episode i want   you to understand i want it and i did not agree to  bring it out here what is it that you want i was   called here because you two are on the verge of a  divorce and you're shooting you have time for that   i've had it i said be careful they've locked their  house we can't do the work there might not be a   project here oh no it doesn't make sense i know  a lot of things don't make sense to you it seems   like he's right on the edge of losing control big  jobs i gotta go fast pat through all these items   hold on buddy you know i feel like what are you  doing what is the matter with you look at this i'm bg and i'm retired and i'm the wife  of ali i'm lee and i'm bg's husband   this house is over 100 years old it's elaborate  it's a beautiful house to begin with because   it's victorian it's queen anne's style people  on the outside don't know we have a long ways   to go on the inside i'm laura and bg and lee are  my parents their house is just things everywhere once you through the door it's just overwhelming  well i know that i didn't have things that i might   have wanted when i was growing up that set  me off on a pattern of trying to get those   things and trying to make sure my kids had those  things i'm not a person who's adverse to shopping   i like a good bargain i'm a good shopper when you  can get things for a quarter sometimes you'll get   a lot more than if you had to pay five dollars  christmas things well i can get this one and get   them all and even people will say stuff like take  the whole box for two dollars and of course i will i think everything is in there i think they  could have a store nothing like this happens   overnight over the years my mom didn't want to  get rid of things and he didn't feel like he   could get rid of things that she didn't want to  get rid of we've taken that and there was this   tension there we bought too much stuff i  would say that probably the last 10 years   is when the balance tipped pretty much everything  we do it's a problem i mean we get hurt around the   house i think i've got eight broken toes out of  ten the climbing over things is not helping me oh my current relationship with lee is  is is not good we are legally separated   it's an untenable situation yeah there's a lot of  friction i feel that he sabotages whatever i do   my wife has a certain number of axes to grind oh  that was a nice thing to say as usual and is very   good at grinding them lee has 99.99 control he's  a complete control freak can i hold this here no   he actually boarded up every doorway i think  that there is a long history of disagreements oh he goes crazy if you touch anything   he goes completely crazy i want to get  rid of this she wants to get rid of that   impasse that's a significant issue if you have two  strong personalities if i touch him he goes insane   as a matter of fact he he likes to actually blame  me for touching things that i don't even touch we had a big fight she did file for divorce i  intended to be married until i died a divorce   was never part of anything i would consider she  doesn't understand divorce she doesn't understand   community property she doesn't understand any  of that i'm not happy living in the situation   we are financially bound to the house and i  cannot leave and he cannot leave there's no   ability for one person to go somewhere and live  somewhere else because the person who's remaining   cannot pay for the house if we get a divorce  whatever financial planning i was able to do   it'll screw it up yes i would say there  is a crisis i think if we don't get this   mess cleaned up that it's going to  destroy me and or it will destroy lee my name is chris and i have a  full-time job driving a tow truck   people have told me that i'm not a regular  everyday guy because i'm a little excessive   in wanting to cling to what i find uh comforting  or pleasant so i tend to hoard a lot of things   i'm coming to the viewpoint  that my home is cluttered unusually cluttered it's unpleasantly cluttered i'm rochelle and chris is my  neighbor chris is very unusual   his mind just doesn't think the way normal people  think so there's no rhyme or reason to the house   and chris sleeps in a sleeping bag  on the floor right there between   the boxes most of the stuff he hoards  is stuff that he finds on the street oftentimes my eyes dart over to the garbage  can and there's something interesting   or something electrical or mechanical  sticking out of it i just want to go   home and take it apart and see how it  works and enjoy that process of discovery   he's spending probably between 15 and 19 000  a year on storage units my storage units are   somewhat problematic because the  expenditure exceeds my monthly income   chris is in serious financial difficulty  with his credit cards with owing the irs   i'm dimly aware that this spending pattern is  not sustainable he's on a path of destruction i'm caitlin and chris is my brother as kids  growing up chris was a little bit different   than everyone else he always struggled with  meeting people and interacting with people   he enjoyed electronics i remember his room  being full of whatever he was building gadgets i'm gail and chris is my brother i thought of him  as very smart but i certainly think that there's   some really big swiss cheese holes that he's got i have to admit i feel pretty worried within  the last few months he's let little hints out in   conversations about struggling with finance i get  worried about the money and then i try to cut down   on my out-of-pocket expenses in my daily life told  me that he pulled the plug from his refrigerator   and i said why he said well because it  costs electricity belong to a chain of   fitness gyms and sometimes i go to the gym and  use their shower to maintain my personal hygiene   i said chris this is crazy it costs more  to join the health club on a monthly basis   than to pay for electricity at your apartment i was trying to stay away from home for periods  of time and and experiencing that because if i   was not paying rent on the apartment then i  would be able to stay within my income level   but after an extended period of being out  on the street my experiment ended in failure   because i have this strong  wish to be safe and protected   something's not quite right in his mind  with the way he hoards and what he thinks   he hasn't fixed it he won't let me  help him i don't know what will happen the worlds are going to collide  if i don't do something about it   hello hi hi hi i'm bg nice to meet you  lee pleasure thank you for having me i'm dr robin zazio i'm a licensed clinical  psychologist and i specialize in ocd and   compulsive hoarding so what do you think i think  there's a lot of stuff here it's all sideways   from here on out yes ma'am my first impression  of lee and bg's house was complete overwhelmed this would be your dining room it is has not  been used for about three years well not us i've   been in a lot of houses i don't think i've ever  been in a house this tightly packed with stuff this house is not safe oh my gosh   it's clear that there are some pretty strong  issues in this marriage and relationship are you guys having financial problems  we're not having we have enough income   to cover living and regular stuff we do  not have enough to take on major projects the only reason why i ask is because you're  wanting to sell things to recoup some of the   money we know we can recoup a lot of money  from a lot of the things that we purchased i think where we're going to get into trouble  is if we go into this thinking that we're going   to categorize and sell we're not going to get  anywhere you're going to have to decide do you   want to take our help to get your house in order  in the moment and let stuff go in the moment or if   the plan is to sell them we're going to leave and  this house is going to be in the exact same state   i reached overload a while back just so you know  but i want my money back i'm worried i think   there's a possibility of world war three when  they see people in the home touching their stuff i'm dorothy brenninger i'm a professional  organizing expert and i specialize in hoarding   we're here we're ready to go  i've got 20 people go go go it's brand new and look at it now it's got a  thing on it because it was pushed and shoved we need to set some standards we've got the  house lock now we need to get something straight   because i'm not going to glue and replace  everything i own we haven't even started yet   and they're telling us that things are  broken well be careful this and the guys here   i come back and then this is destroyed  we've been working what 15 minutes maybe   and the whole process is stopped i've had  it i said be careful they've locked their   house we can't get in we can't do the  work there might not be a project here chris this is dr chabot hello yes  could you open the door oh hey   chris i'm dr susan chabot and i specialize in  compulsive hoarding hi hi i don't think i can   get through though oh you're pretty thin i could  barely get inside the house my first thought was   he really didn't want people to come inside his  house but there's a mixed message chris really   wants to be with people but he doesn't really  prepare himself for welcoming people into his life   do you have enough people in the house no  would you like to have people in the house   i like having you in the house just nice  having you here and smiling at me in a   friendly way it feels it feels good i think  it'd be nice for you to have some company yeah maybe under different circumstances that's  right yeah the truth is chris is a very lonely   person who really wants human contact  now he's letting people enter this world   the bottom line is here it's either  you chris or it's your objects my name is corey chalmers i'm an extreme  cleaner specializing in biohazard   and hoarding dr chabot and i have a lot  of work cut out for us because chris is   a very fragile sensitive man and if we  push him too hard he's going to break i wasn't prepared for what i saw in the house wow   it was pretty overwhelming i don't even know how  he can survive in a place like that this is a   different way of life than i ever imagined  that's my apartment this is your apartment i can't condone this kind of living  i don't feel like it's healthy   i mean frankly chris if you would die right  now who's going to pick up the caitlyn lives   away it's going to be me i'm going to  be the one that has to deal with it personally i feel like i've bent  over backwards to try to hold   myself in check and be kind and be gentle and  be understanding and it's really hard chris   it's really hard maybe that's what i'm sensing  because i'm something like something's boiling   but then it's being held back and and i'm worried  about it yeah well i feel like i could blow up i   feel like i want to strangle you you know i feel  like what the hell are you doing yeah you know what is the matter with you  damn it this is ridiculous hey i hope you're enjoying the marathon are you  don't forget to watch hoarders on sundays at 7 00   a.m eastern on a e oh and if you're interested  in becoming a professional organizer like me   just visit www.bossorganizer.com  and come to my free web class i'm not going to play that game  i've had it i've said be careful so here's the deal lee and bg have  locked the house completely solid do you want to keep this no bye-bye for that  excellent bye bye this this can go it's a small   but i don't think i'm gonna get rid of the  gigantic one yet concrete goes steel stays   unless they pull it out for trash we're just  moving most of this close to the patio as possible   because i want all this clear yeah i'm done with  this how about you i really not done with it if   i get forced into it it's going to go but there's  no other vehicle that does that without pedaling you ruined that one from the very  start that was a beautiful one   and you had to put a bunch of crap on it and  you'll never find a blue huge radio flyer again   how about one of the slides you've got  two slides how about one of the slides   no okay what's with the telephone booth  gone i don't think i can part with it yet   the plan was to get some room in the backyard as  a sorting station everything back to here goes   and yes we have filled up three  quarters of a truck which is great   but there is still so much stuff back there do  you want to get rid of it yes if we can find it i want to get clear on how difficult it is for  you to go through these what you're keeping what   you're not i don't know yet this i would either  keep because of the colors and the style for me   but i'd have to try it on if it's too  small it's going well what's the deal   you want to try it on can't give it up yet can't  it's me it's me i don't know what to tell you   bye bye bad purchase these are keeps they can  both go history is it i wish you wouldn't answer   for my clothes i really do what is that anyway  what is what he answers for you a lot yes and he   talks before i can talk a second yeah give  me a second he interrupts everything i say what is it that you want we're gonna clear this  space so that we can clear that upstairs area yes   am i making two living rooms and two kitchens  or am i making one living room in one kitchen   i don't know what we're doing here i was called  here because you two are on the verge of a divorce   whenever i try to talk about what's really going  on there's a diversion technique that comes in   first of all bg tries to answer it and  she's told to shut up okay then lee comes   in and says the rest you're wrong wrong you are  misinformed we are drowning in stuff and that's   what we need to work on the goal is to get  in the house we've this has all got to go   basically we got books videos dvds cds etc these  are categories of things we're going to keep   well that's pretty much everything that we just  took out and i i loaded it in here i know what   it is and where okay so lee but listen what  i'm saying how are we making room for stuff   if all we've done is take it out and then  tonight we've got to bring it back in again i can make space in there i can move it around   but we're not doing them the service of helping  them with their hoarding issues no and this is   probably the first time that i have really felt  strongly that all we're doing is making more room   for them to bring in more stuff they they've  got it back they've got it really really bad i feel like i could blow up i  feel like i want to strangle you   you know i feel like what the [ __ ]  are you doing yeah you know look at let's tune in to your sister right now and try  to really read where she's at are you sensing   just the judgment and the criticism and the  high demands what are you seeing in her face   i i think she's disappointed  that i haven't done better i want you to be happy i think you and gail have more in common  than you think i think both of y'all really   want safety and peace and happiness and protection   and it's really painful when other  people don't get it for themselves so you want to do one item at  a time it's either yes or no   that would work for me would that work for you   just picking it up once and making a decision  yeah that's that's intelligent way to do it chris are you getting upset well it's  it's just a process that has to be done i   i i don't know what to do no take take a  second we're just starting to go through   the beginning items in the kitchen and  chris is already showing extreme agitation   you seem like you're throwing things out of  anger now and i want to make sure that you're not   throwing away things that you really do want gail  my sister is upset and i i'm trying to alleviate   her suffering i'm trying to cooperate chris is  in a really intense state right now he has the   sense that if something is going to be done he  has to do it and he has to do it really fast if you disengage from this process and  just toss stuff without talking through   it and understanding why and all the emotion  involved you're not going to learn anything from it so how would you like  people to hand it to you yes   if we can do it non-verbally it'll be a lot  easier for me we can't do it non-verbally we   have to know what the answer is but then the  answer is right here in my fingers and i said let me just make one thing clear if you are going  to go through every single item every single box   every single envelope we won't get done i don't  know how i'm going to sort it unless i look   at it well you don't need to have something  you need to let your sisters make decisions   on your behalf yeah but they don't know what  i want that's the only problem chris is single   focused if the job needs to be done he's going  to do it he really doesn't trust other people to   handle his own stuff we're saving all your cds all  your computer stuff any piece of paper that has   something written on at all it's hard to be around  him he does not listen chris could just stop stop   the big jobs i got to go fast pat through all  these items wow this is what this is the thing i   was looking for what i'm saying you said hold on  buddy chris is so intense and so hyper so could   you just stop and come see what they have done  it seems like he's right on the edge of losing   control stop stop stop stop you can't focus if  you're touching stuff if you have a lot of stuff   in your yard your porch your patio there is one  super quick way to change it from looking like a   mound of clutter to a seemingly acceptable space  it's called precision placement simply take all   the items and group them together shovels  and brooms patio furniture potting plants   bikes and just group them together like with  like and with precision placement of course now   number one make sure everything is upright not  lying down so get those bikes pots and shovels   upright number two have all the bikes the  scooters everything lined up next to each   other and facing in the same direction number  three push all the chairs back in underneath   the patio table and pick up any trash it's all  the same stuff it's just placed with precision   people like your neighbors are willing to overlook  a cluttered backyard if it is at least organized dorsey are you in here all right i have  to lock that i have explicit instructions   well they can't we can't lock them out of the  house but they're not to be in here without him i'm i'm just telling you what i'm told i'm  not no i'm not going against it i understand   lee yes we can't get stuff out of  the house if the front door is locked   we can't have the front door lock  because we can't get in and out   we're trying to do a service for you  you've got to give us a little bit you want to sell stuff you've been  talking about doing a yard sale   well guess what if you choose to say yes  i have an entire team who's ready to post   signs right now can they sell  it and they can sell it for you mark's for me oh my god i don't believe it but at the end of the day we want  to know whether it's really selling   if it's not then you need to come clear  that yard sales aren't the way for you donate free what would you do it's free you think you can take the trampoline if i come   back go ahead take a spin  on it it'll be great okay for all these years lee's been talking about  having a yard sale and this is his long plan   that he's had forever and this was going to be  the reason why they've got the horde because   he's ready for the yard sale he's not at the yard  sale he's not even there and then every once in a   while he appears and takes something back out and  puts back in the yard not a very good yard sailor if it's on the sidewalk clearly you  guys don't want it if you were going   to sell it or give it away for free so  at this point can we put it on the truck   give it to someone who can use it rather  than re-pack it up and put it in a box again   before we do that we would both like to  glance because a number of things showed   up that we didn't know were there and i  just want to make sure that five minutes oh i was looking for this darn it what's  this that's our stuff this pink is yours yeah   oh okay and this yeah that's great it's  all right we have the same thing it's okay   you can keep your stuff you can't have ours i  don't want to have yours i have enough thank   you i'm not sure what these are i haven't looked  at them you're taking up some of my five minutes   hurry up i like it for the third time and i  want it and i did not agree to bring it out   here and i don't know why it's here do you want  to sell this he wants to sell everything you sell   you're struggling here let's stop struggling  and let's get rid of some stuff come on i never saw it come in and i didn't want it in  your daughter has a choice to come and get it   right is that right she wants to come and get  it and she will take it apart and carry it all   the way to her house which we all know you're  upset about the kids there's something with   the kids but this man won't let you talk about  it i'm not allowed to talk period well why the   hell aren't you allowed to talk about anything  are you not grown up i want you to understand   that any and everything you've said we'll be  on the internet good i don't care i don't care i feel for bg she's really unhappy she  truly feels her entire family hates her lee   works against me on each thing and he works  with them and now they all work against me   at the end of the day they have no interest  in living together well i can't do it anymore   i want to have some peace and quiet i want to  have a nice life at this point they are going   to need intensive therapy to salvage not only this  marriage but this family it is an extreme crisis so could you just stop and come see what they  have done stop stop stop stop you can't focus   if you're touching stuff just take a deep breath   can you please stop and focus please i want to  make sure we're on the same plan it's we're at the   end of day one and he's basically not giving up  any control he has to go through every single box we have to have a house that he can live  in that safe and functional but we also   have to clear storage units so he will have  that money to spend on rent and utilities   so we have the house and all these  storage units and one day to finish it off okay chris this is everything that was loaded up you have basically a whole another apartment  size worth of stuff in here and this is costing   you 7 200 a year how many years have you had  it yeah decades one decade that's 72 000 wow   and you have five more of these still to go if  you look think of 72 000 and how long it takes you   to make that much money would you give someone 72  000 for what you want to keep out of there i don't   know i don't know what's in there well that's  that's that's what it is let's see what it is yeah here chris come down here just go right on the  edge and then you can just drop it in the trash   if you don't want it okay i got plenty of help  cory it doesn't make sense everyone's having a   tough time i know a lot of things don't make sense  to you why can't you just slide down here chris   if chris lays out the program he's fine once we  take over and say this is how we want you to do it   he's going to put up a wall and  then anybody outside of that wall   is an enemy can you put the box at the end of the  table please chris please just so this guy can   just can we come we can get more boxes out here  and you can do it i need more boxes at a time i   need one box at a time and then i can do it most  efficiently but if i'm talking to you i can't work maybe but maybe what you can do is we can ask  if we can go in and you can just look real quick   and then just say call it out if we can get  rid of it you save 200 bucks the answer is no   we're at the end of the line  this is taking away his life   taking away his money  storage is like death for him okay welcome everybody good  morning good morning okay   first things first we're not here  to do garage sales or yard sales   that's the first time in history that we've ever  done that what we were trying to actually do was   to prove a point that most of your stop was  not stopped that people were gonna purchase it was a seven hour yard sale we had 93 customers  we sold virtually nothing going forward we want to   give you a living room today that you can host  your grandkids in trick-or-treating whatever is   coming i want to do that and i do know that and  i do appreciate that works for all of us perfect you're shooting you have time for that god i told you how many times a thousand  you need to deal with your stuff cause   you're gonna complain all night  and i'm gonna have to listen to it listen to me now yes these are  the ones you said you were keeping   do you have to keep those  you gotta deal with this okay we've had five fights in the last hour because he  won't help me first this has been a problem for 40   years it was in our son's room i wanted it to get  gone it takes something like this and puts it in   my hallway then he puts boxes on it then he puts  more boxes on and then furniture boxes furniture   and boxes nothing goes where it belongs so and  then nothing makes sense and you can't get to   any that's correct i want this out i want this out  and he knows i've just argued with him for an hour   he won't touch anything but he wants to keep  the stuff i can't get any help okay oh no i'm talking with her and she almost hauls  off and smacks in one i always tell people   this stuff in your home is covering up deeper  psychological issues once there's actual room   for the two of you to move and walk around  all of the issues are gonna come up i want   this out i want this out no i'm not gonna  sh i'm not gonna sh i'm getting sick of   saying it they're gonna box it okay nope  they're not they're gone they're not cg when my wife gets upset she's liable to say   anything these two items don't go out of this  house in one hour i'm gone when i ask my mate   for help he doesn't give it to me when i really  need it and want it he doesn't give it to me   i mean how much of that can one  person take my wife and i will be fine lee and bg should have gotten rid of at least  15 truckloads worth of stuff they got rid of   two we cleared the stairways we cleared the  hallway so if there's a fire they actually   can get the fire department in here that was  my mission anything beyond that was like woohoo   and just so happy we gave them a  living room back and it's beautiful   let's go into a living room where you  could have some holidays and family oh my gosh good job i'm i'm really concerned i think it's  great that we cleared a room but that's all we   did all we did was move all your stuff downstairs  we really didn't do anything for you i i feel you   did i appreciate that my concern is is that you  guys are still sticking to your stuff you're not   letting it go on top of that there is so much  tension in this relationship between the two   of you and even though we've cleared a space  it's also cleared a space for the two of you   to argue more to bicker more and to get  into the issues more so it's going to be   critical that you follow up with some therapy  because you guys aren't going to survive it   i hope that you guys can make a commitment to keep  this space off limits to any box well i do need   to put back in the living room whatever belongs  to the living room that's in the yard dr zazio   i call it a clutter-free zone yeah i'm certain  there's going to be a piece of a couple pieces   of furniture to go back in there yeah it's pretty  barren the hallway and the stairs must not have   a stitch on it the hallway looks very lonely and  you know just you know not happening you put one   thing down it great it's like it breeds another  and breeds another i am really worried about lee   and bg if they don't follow through with aftercare  services it's only a matter of time before they   bring in more stuff because they don't have any  insight i don't believe that they're going to be successful this is what we're stuck with uh-huh so your  landlord is not going to let this stay here   now i have to find the boxes that i haven't looked  at yet and that's effort i understand you're   frustrated but i'm not trying to sabotage you i'm  not trying to change the plan i'm just trying to   address what's left to do in the short amount of  time we have to do it chris seriously like please i really want you to think what will my  home say about me and more importantly   what will your home say about you to you to  you i've been very patient with chris trying   to find his language but now it's time to speak  my language to chris and my language to chris is   a deep part of me believes that you are worth  more than what you've been doing with your life   i just think that you're ready to to come  out you know ready to join life again   and to be a more alive current current person that just happened to be an easy box   maybe you just do make better choices you ever  thought of that maybe just getting good at this you got a good momentum going  chris chris you're in a zone   it's me and rachelle we're we got our thing going  here yeah we have these assembling lines see   it works out of all the stuff you've been  looking at you're letting go of about 95   of it oh that's great because you're looking  at it like i really don't need this stuff   i'm just enjoying this sensation it's a new  way of thinking it's almost like a intoxicant this is a major major turnaround for chris  herfe diem carpe diem right see's the moment i mean what a transition from chris fighting  everything to cleaning his entire house and   cleaning out all of his storage units  i mean what more could we ask for if you guys are ready i would  love for you to see your home   my your apartment your home  you ready yes let's go look oh my god wrong house that's beautiful wow that is beautiful i want to keep this process going i  want to keep it alive and i want to keep   moving forward into more dimensions of what  what makes me happy i'm very proud of you i have great hopes for chris he wants to be  with people who likes people now people can   come into his house would you like to  have people in here from time to time   you know yeah that choice is precious  yeah this is a place for living right i'm overjoyed it's just a remarkable  fluke of fate that i was able to   invite this wonderful bounty into my life i feel tremendous relief the fact that my  brother has been transformed he has embraced   the world he has really gone to me for a long time maybe i'll have my brother back when i first drove up to the house  i was so excited to finally see   one of san francisco's ornate victorian homes   which became super popular after the movie mrs  doubtfire you know omrenda with robin williams   oh that ornate paint and care on the outside  of the house didn't suggest that there were any   problems on the inside and that just goes to show  you we never really do know what goes on behind   closed doors my first impression entering the  house and seeing the stuff i thought yeah this is   a happy horde with nostalgic board games and toys  and colorful gadgets antique furniture yeah but   15 minutes into the gig it turned from happy to  hard-nosed and i thought we would need hard hats   not because of the horde but because of the  anger bg and lee had toward one another and with   those types of personalities we always catch the  blame for anything that is damaged or missing and   according to bg my organizing team was breaking  everything and it was time to shut us down okay   so we get locked out of the house and here we are  ready to dive into our first day's worth of work   which lee and bg wanted yet we are locked out  their need for control was paramount so we wait   and when we do finally get the blessing to go  back to work we're not allowed in the house only   outside and then little by little we're allowed in  the basement and maybe in the entryway and perhaps   the hallway and maybe the stairs often viewers ask  hey dorothy can't you just help the hoarders sell   their stuff well you know while we always try to  bring in an auction company or an estate dealer   the idea of putting together a yard sale is one of  the biggest time wasters for our hoarding clients   and naturally lee thinks it is the best course  of action he wants a yard sale these are always a   nightmare to pull off and here's why first of  all the focus goes away from clearing the house   to selling items for pennies on the dollar then i  lose my organizer to posting the sale online and   hosting the sale and watching that no one steals  the items which leaves only a few people to help   me with the clearing of the house and then at the  end of the sale there is usually disappointment   as to how little money was made stuff is left  over and our hoarders usually want to begin   shopping in their own yard sale again which means  they are bringing that stuff back into the house   this routine is almost always predictable  and we just not need to let lee see   how his idea works out for himself as it  turned out the yard sale was a complete   flop which gave us a little leverage to get  into the house and at least clear one room this is what's coming off of the floor  urine infested vomit oh my god oh wow we   can't even shovel it out this is insane i knew  it was bad but damn i didn't know it was just   bad wow there is nothing salvageable oh  wow you guys see this see all that stuff   you need to kind of chip it like ice you know what  that is what the hell is that this is a disaster   zone this is the same old behavior my grandma's  been displaying since i was young you could have   been buried and nobody would then it would get  to you this is nasty i'm not gonna sleep with   cockroaches and mice she's not in our reality  right now i let everything go i did not care good god horror of horrors i'm seeing  more and more dirt what maybe mud   no that's what is this oh god did you know any of this was going on oh my god i am linda i'm a homemaker i have one daughter  and the house is the disaster zone it's a mess i'm kristin and i'm linda's daughter my mom has  anything from trash from fast food restaurants   whatever she's brought home just thrown on the  floor she has a dog in the house there is poop   all over the floor the last five years i ended  up food on the floor cans on the floor drinks   it just accumulated time after  time and made a mess big mess she has no pathway there's no way you  can see the carpet of her house anymore   things are stuck to the ceiling literally yeah i walked over everything their feet i  got used to walking over plastic and cans and   orange juice bottles you know i just  i hold down the chair i hold down to   the boxes hold on to the plastic bins  i got to the so far i just collapsed   the bathroom stopped working and i've heard that  she was using a bucket the toilet doesn't work   no bathroom water everything's broke  it's hell it's hell living here i don't know why she wants to keep things in hoard   i just know my mom's been depressed  for as long as i can remember that awesome my mom's boarding works when i  was growing up the house was already showing   signs of her hoarding i'm samantha and i've been  friends with kristen since i was five years old   when we were kids i wasn't allowed into the house  at all one time kristin snuck me in while her mom   was shopping it's actually a memory burned into  my own brain because i'd never seen anything   like that so much stuff the  rooms upstairs there was two that   i believe was her hoarding rooms  that she tried to hide from everyone   nobody was allowed upstairs completely closed off  and her mom was never home she shopped she was a   shopaholic she went all out and she would spend i  don't know how much money on all these decorations   and whatnots i enjoyed buying knickknacks colorful  things thanks for inside thanks for the yard my dad would sometimes say things to her but  because she would snap off so quick i think he   just learned to deal with it i can remember maybe  two or three times a very young age that i would   help her clean i got yelled at i was like okay  this is it i'm not even gonna attempt anymore   i guess when i turned about 14 15 i started  getting in trouble her attitude towards her mom   began to change and she started fighting back then  all of a sudden she got hard and she wouldn't put   up with nothing her mouth really got nasty i was  acting out because of different things at home   the messiness the clutter i was seeing the bugs  i was hearing mice i just didn't want to be   there to deal with it so i would go and drink  and i'd stay wherever just to not be at home i couldn't take it anymore i left home when i  was 17. i had kids by the time i was 21 and i   stopped drinking traded one habit for  another and became hooked on painkillers i screwed up a lot because of my drug usage i'm shantae and i'm linda's granddaughter i was at  school and i got called onto the office they said   here to ride bus home i walked in and  like everybody's crying and sat down   and i was like what's going on like your  mom got arrested i just instantly broke   down i started freaking out banging my head off  walls everything and i was like what do i do i'm dallas and i'm windows grandson i didn't know   because i was young you know i didn't know  like what was going on i thought i'm gonna   be gone for like a week so then next thing you  know she's in prison for two and a half years the very thing that i hate it most  now my kids were going through   it was a big responsibility especially at my  age and my husband was so sick at the time   with the congested heart failure so i had full  responsibility by myself taking care of the kids back then the piles were about two  feet on the ground there was always   cans drinks wrappers from restaurants food dog  feces you know some days i'd sleep on the recliner   sometimes you sleep on the couch living there i  slept on the floor on like a hospital mattress   that my grandpa had i talked to my  kids on the phone while i was in prison   the things i would hear literally tore me up  you don't want your kids ever go through that i did the best i can and i feel like that  in my heart and i did the best i could   we couldn't get to the kitchen so i  never had like home cooked meals so   i always ate out like breakfast lunch and dinner always i'm haley and i'm shantae's  friend they ate a lot of junk food   they never ate any hot meals or anything  they had a tote with a lid on it for   rats not being able to get into  it and that's what they ate out of her mom died my dad died while i was still locked  up and that's probably was her breaking point   when it got to the extremes felt like i was  dimmed and pitched here and pitched there   was in my own private hell it was horrible  depression is horrible you can take over your   whole body and your mind i just didn't get a heck  i just let everything go because i felt so bad   she just gave up on the house because like she  feels like she lost everything that was close to   her she didn't take care of the kids for kristen  she never left her house she became very isolated   the shopping stopped and she just stayed inside  my grandma had cups of pee everywhere like   some mornings i'd wake up and i'd look and there'd  be like dead mice that like drowned in the peas   there was always bugs crying on me it sunk  ungodly then i go to sleep and i'd wake up   like and i'd just smell so bad and when i was in  school i got bullied a lot middle school's already   awkward enough you know and then throw that on  top of it it's really like messes with you like   my brother hated staying there i watched over him  even though i was younger than him i knew that um   he was gonna get in trouble and stuff i changed  a lot started doing bad stuff you know smoking   cigarettes drinking fighting breaking stuff just  did what he was wanting to and heck with you   just hateful didn't want to listen to me didn't  want to stay put out here at the house and   always running with his friends i'm caleb i'm dallas's best friend dallas and i  being out all night i think he like it was due   to like the house there i don't think he didn't  feel comfortable there i wish i could have helped   him though during that time i mean it was so bad  that a cps worker come down to the prison i was   at and talked to me about the home situation and  i did not want my kids to go into foster care so   i obeyed him i said i've already hired an attorney  just give me a little bit of time to get back home and everything went good i got home a month  later my kids were instantly back home with   me in my house we moved back in with her and the  cps case went away when i got my kids back home   their attitudes was totally different   it's like they've been through hell and back  like they was actually returning from hell when she went to prison i felt like i blamed her  obviously i i was mad at her my brother was so   mad at her he didn't want to talk to her for the  longest time and i was kind of like you know you   kind of just like abandoned us left us for this  kind that's kind of how i felt i had this like   anger where i just like really just wanted to hurt  something i mean so i just started hitting stuff still to this day if we get into it dallas  likes to blame me he's like mom you don't   know what we went through i hate it for him  if i could erase the other minds i would the beginning of march i woke up to a bunch  of text messages from my mom's neighbor   saying she was very confused a friend of  hers and i went to the house there was   a lot of police and the ambulance so they  stopped and my mom came out and i went in   i don't know how it got that bad i really oh and i just heard her say she's like kristen  i didn't want you to see my house this way i could not let her go back she  was buried alive living and filth it absolutely turned my life upside down because  i turned into the ocd person of i don't want my   house to look like her house so i'm not sleeping  i'm not eating i'm staying up cleaning non-stop   waiting on her picking up her mess  it's a lazy mentality she just wants to   play around throwers trash on the  ground and not pick it up ever you know   and i was having to take stuff away  from her the kids were having to take   trash away from her that she was not wanting  to get rid of she was like pee in cups   like cups like our cups and she would set them  on our table because she slept on the couch and   um she's like well why can't the dogs pee and poop  on the floor but i can't she was just so used to   doing it at her house like peeing and pooping  in cuffs that she just oh i'm gonna do it here my mom i think she just hit her breaking  point she's sick it's hard because all you   see is the behaviors of the sickness i don't  see my mom the sickness is taking over her that will kill her if she goes back  in there and lives in that condition   i have no doubt in my mind it will kill her hello hi you must be linda yes hello linda  dr zazia nice to meet you it's nice to meet you   i'm dr robin zazio i'm a licensed clinical  psychologist and i specialize in ocd and hoarding   disorder dallas yep and shantae yes and kristen  hi so linda let's start with why you brought me   here to be or get back in my house okay if i was  walking down the street and i was blindfolded   i would know exactly where linda's house is the  smell alone is pretty profound and of course i can   see everything on your porch which i'm assuming  is because there's not enough room in your house   right okay yeah okay how bad is it it's real  bad you guys are shaking your heads over here   what does it look like what  am i going to see a nightmare let's hope we can get her some help and get her  back home my house was in perfect order until   about six years ago from what i understand when  the two of you were living here cps was called out   i don't know who called them  because they were creating a   problem that wasn't there who was  creating a problem i don't know   shantae what's going on for you it's not the  truth and you know it wasn't come sit down chante tell grandma you know the house wasn't in  good condition when we lived here i got   bored in school and stuff because of it people  made fun of me my friends couldn't come over   why were you bullied because um i always  had like a smell to me and they knew like   the condition of the house i could just tell just  tell the truth i am telling this you are making us   look like no i'm not making you look like nothing  dallas how about for you you were never ever here   though he wasn't here because why because it's  nasty i'm not gonna sleep with cockroaches and   mice she wants to claim that it was all right  like we were in a okay living situation when we   were living there that's that's what really makes  me mad this is the same old behavior my grandma's   been displaying since i was young there's gonna  be a lot of family work that needs to happen over   the next couple of days kristin i can tell  you're starting to build here a little bit   what's going on for you i'm gonna  say that these kids went through it   it's not what i wanted for my kids  and it was my fault that they had to this is a therapeutic process to help heal you  and the family and get your home in order so   that this doesn't happen again right okay and  linda i understand that you have suffered some   medical conditions as a result of the home no i  had problems before this the clutter and trash let's back up the bus for a moment kristen you  have obtained guardianship over linda because   of the state of the home and you're concerned  about her not only living in there but going in   there yeah okay and you've been hospitalized  in the past week at least twice two or three   times two or three times i don't know what i'm  gonna see but what i do know is there's enough   information where i cannot let you go  into that home at this time at this point   i don't want linda coming in for the tour i think  it's too dangerous she's got respiratory problems   she's got a hernia that appears to be  recently activated she uses a walker   i can't in any good conscience put her at risk  let's go suit up and see what we've got inside we're putting on hazmat suits because i have no  idea what we're gonna find i've heard there's been   dogs mice rats all defecating all  over the place so i need to be prepared ah whoa i see what you guys are talking about  at this point this is much worse than i thought   you need to be extremely careful coming in the entire floor is covered with trash  wow the stairwell is completely barricaded   guys this is the way to the second floor yeah oh  wow you guys see this that is all rodent waste you   can see the urine there is feces everywhere from  the flies on the walls there's insects buzzing   past our ears this is a disaster zone that's  that's the level at which the rodents are this   high also running around look at all the shredded  stuff smelling everything seeing everything just   showing me right back to my childhood i just felt  like disgusted and i needed to take a second and   take everything in they ain't gonna jump on  us right you know what that's a great question   and honestly i can't guarantee that can we move  tripped me the hell out it's nasty there's cobwebs   everywhere there's feces everywhere stacked up  like four feet disgusting see all that stuff   going up the side of the wall there see the trim   that's all fly waste that is where they have  been pooping how has she been living like this the good news is with your mom's  permission we're going to get this   taken care of but it's gonna be critical that she  get treatment so that this doesn't happen again the way we were living and stuff i i just  don't think about it and just kind of   brought up some nasty bad memories really   where where did everybody sleep i slept on that  mattress right there on the floor that mattress   yep there was a mattress that she could see  in the far corner that she used to sleep on   covered in waist and it's completely unimaginable  how she could have possibly slept there what   gravely concerns me about this situation quite  frankly the majority of this is actually garbage   i know so what is going on why can't she let go  of trash what is wrong with her i don't get it let's keep her all in here all right guys  i i would absolutely love to say that   um watch your step but everywhere you  look there's dog feces everywhere like   you we're walking in it in my honest opinion  i would just torch it really it's disgusting do you know if this is where the dog lived that's  her chain yeah she was chained up to for so long   she was chained to this plant stand how many years  like almost a decade wasn't it um i don't know   that's where it lived and so it had one area  to eat drink and literally go to the bathroom sadly this is the kitchen the kitchen's gonna  have to be gutted there's there's not any   cleaning supply in the world that is going to get  rid of the the waste that has been here for years talking to me so sick she's got to be really really sick like i knew  it was bad but i could never imagine that it got   this bad what are your memories of this house  kristen no my dad worked his ass off for it   and it's worth nothing i'm surprised my mom is  not dead in those conditions this really breaks   my heart she's getting help she's mentally  ill she needs some serious help that's not normal hey i hope you're enjoying the marathon are you  don't forget to watch hoarders on sundays at 7   00 a.m eastern on a e oh and if you're interested  in becoming a professional organizer like me just   visit www.bossorganizer.com  and come to my free web class um you know what is is there an exit out this way   okay why don't you go this way and dallas  why don't you head out this way too kristen i think we should assess second  floor see if we can get up there all right okay your mom is is probably 85 90 pounds  how did she get all this stuff in here   chris please be extremely extremely i careful it's gonna be harder to try to  get out of here than it was to get up here   oh my god oh wow uh well kristen i mean i hate  to say it but this is as far as we can go uh you   know what that is where right in front of us what  the hell is that that's part of the ceiling oh so   we got bigger issues here the  walls are literally separating   i'm sure this isn't easy because  this is the house you grew up in oh and she let it go to she  won't leave it in her house   or in her mind she didn't figure  out what was going on with her there's no question about it  she's she's pretty guarded all right let's get out of here and  get some fresh air yeah i need it   as i was walking up the stairs hoping i could  see my room we wasn't able to get to it no way   not today everything is buried it seems like  there's no house at all it's just all her trash got it kristen okay it's in bad shape there isn't any place that we  can walk where there isn't rat mouse or dog waist   what else did you see the walls are  separating in the corner you're kidding no   i'm really scared that is not going to be  salvageable structurally i'm worried that   the ceiling is literally dropping onto the ground  where am i in your room the master bedroom yeah is   that because of the roof for what there's so much  stuff in the house that it's it's producing weight   on the structure of the house literally causing  it to separate even the stairwell is starting to   cave in i can't not believe that the good news is  the stuff is can be replaced you can't be replaced right you've buried yourself why didn't you tell me  any of this why don't you have me come help   you i didn't want to bother you we're having  problems of your own and that's not the point   it's you should've told me you need help with  your house and i wouldn't come over here and   helped you part of me just feels sorry for herme  questions why she uses all these excuses why she   doesn't ask me for help and part of me is  pissed that she let the house go to hell what was going on with you cause i just don't  believe that every day you came home and thought   to yourself wow i love this home i love coming  home i just more or less gave up i just said the   heck with him you're not supposed to give up i did  though i did i just didn't give a hell and i let   everything go i did not get it you're  supposed to fight and not give up we got to heal this family yeah it's  got to heal his family okay all right well welcome everybody thank you hello  hello are we ready to get started today   yes i'm dorothy brenninger i'm a professional  organizing expert and i specialize in hoarding   we've got friends we've got relatives  we've got daughters we've got grandkids   this is wonderful everything on the downstairs  floor seems to be deteriorated or soiled or   broken it's in bad shape when we get  this house clean i'm just worried   well i don't even know that we can get it clean  i'm thinking power washer to do the floors and   the doors and the walls it's nasty and then  plumbing issues electrical issues i can't even get   in to see if i can flush a toilet or turn on the  water i just don't know what's going on in there so basically if it's broken throw it away  yes if it's soiled thrown away if it has   dog do all over it throw it away yes  got it so it sounds like you're in a   pretty good space and you know what to do  oh yes all right okay so i'm proud of you   everybody are we proud of linda yes yes so  you're gonna be sitting over there we're   going to parade right on by okay are we clear  everybody yeah all right i want you wearing   masks i want you in gloves everybody that  way let's go linda and i'll help you up we're gonna start handing things out as you go by  linda show her items and then put it on the truck   but basically everything should be tossed clear yeah go great yeah go go uh keep  yeah all of it uh-huh okay over there   is this something that you think you'll clean  yes definitely uh-huh i will yeah have we given   approval to that over there that's stuff she  wants to yeah i want to keep that but there's   going to be further discussion about that gate  yeah the gate should go i'm gonna come back with   the gate well i thought i'd keep it for uh when  i leave i could put the gate up for the dogs but let's okay let's just take a quick moment  to talk about these dogs how are you gonna in   either a wheelchair with a walker care for two  dogs that are gonna need to go out half a dozen   times a day to go to the bathroom how are you  gonna do that like i did before the fact that   she had them chained up is very concerning because  she truly believes that she was providing adequate   care for these dogs and i do want to tell you  something my dog's really keeping it going   you know i can't wait to get them back in the  house i love my dogs they're like children to me   and her hope her desire is that she's gonna get  these dogs back again the dog was living in its   own urine and poop it was eating in the place he  slept in not when you were gone and he was chained   to the to the the plant stand yeah and  not all the time he was running around   like linda you can't be chaining them up oh no  they're not harley wasn't chained definitely   you chained up a dog and you left that dog in  its own urine and feces and that's where it ate   it's a rusted chain he ate sometimes in the  living room and i gotta tell you one other piece   that collar was embedded in your dog's neck   it was embedded kristen had to cut it out of  the dog's neck she never told me that not only   is linda incapable of taking care of herself she's  not capable of taking care of any animals either   you have to be at a an emotional in a physical  capacity to care for these animals and you've   got to have a heart-to-heart with yourself to make  sure you can do that cause that that was not okay now this is the house you wanted to see can  you see all of the uh these pads wouldn't help   think about this animals have been pooping  and peeing on this and you want to clean it   to give it to a child who's going to touch it  potentially put their fingers in their mouth   you can never you can never give a child something  that is covered get rid of it okay can someone   take this and put it on the truck please thank  you everything in that house has in fact been   contaminated see this is all poop yeah and that's  urine from the the rodents and everything there   isn't anything that could possibly be in there  unless you think there's jewelry or something of   value in which they can go through it but i don't  want to go through it here because all the the   the feces is going to come flying at us  with the wind all right so permission to go   i don't need it okay the reality is the  percentage of stuff that she can hold on to   is gonna be not even close to being proportional  to what has to go i want you to take a whiff   of this for a second okay mildew isn't it urine  i'd like to put that one in the washing machine okay this is one of those things you're gonna  have to let go up uh those were nice christmas   gifts and they can be washed and laundered  not then we'll clean this yes they will i've   been to the laundromat many times you don't need  that it's contaminated you've got to let it go   it's replaceable okay i love my blankets i  know and they can be replaced too and they're   beautiful but but look you can't get that out  linda and kristen do not communicate well in   fact they don't even make eye contact when they're  talking to one another i don't want to argue i'm   getting tired i want everything to you want it all  to go can you just tell that to your mother please   if it can be replaced get rid of it get  out something that's us we are doing that   i know that i've heard it in your mouth i've heard  it yes we're getting rid of the stuff look at the   truck okay linda's doing a lot of hiding behind  her sunglasses so that she doesn't really have to   share her feelings and deal with some of  the painful emotions that she's pushed down dallas can you take off your mask for me  because i want to talk to the two of you   my question to both of you is i'm looking at all of this  feces and all sorts of nasty   yeah and i'm seeing all sorts of  clothes probably from when you were kids   was this the stuff that you were sleeping in and  walking on and living in when you were living here was your clothing soiled like this i mean  how did you pick out clothes to go to school   you had bins you had bins like those totes  like those like have our clothes on them   come on in kristen i'm asking the question   if this is the kind of stuff that they were  here you had clean clothes every day both every week down here and shantae knows i spent  about 40 dollars a week doing the laundry each   week my opinion of what she was saying about the  past i think she was lying because i mean i was   there i witnessed it she's just got something  wrong in her head really she had clean clothes   you can ask the teacher and dallas had clean  clothes linda is rewriting her own narrative   about what exactly happened she's saying you had  clean clothes i went to the laundromat every week   linda is telling shantae and dallas you  went to school with clean clothes and   they're coming back saying yeah we went to the  laundromat the problem is is we were living with   mice and cockroaches and poop we were going to  school in clothes that smelled like urine cps got   called because how we smelled and how we looked  i'm seeing this come out and this was your life   for how many years two it was not two years  like three three your mom it was 25 months   okay too sorry i thought it probably felt like  a lot longer than that yeah i'm sorry it's cool   kind of dirty but no i'm just glad  we're not living in it anymore we're not this is the last note that you wrote  before you got looked up and i put it   in my binder and taped it there what it was to say read it i hope you have an awesome day love mom  study hard i found my journal and i taped like   the note that she left me before i left for school  and the day that she left for prison i taped it on   the inside of my agenda so i could look at it  every day i totally forgot about it what's that   one say i love my mommy like i had it everywhere  like right here right here it was really emotional   finding all these things from the past it breaks  my heart like i really screwed up and wasn't there   for him for two years so i mean i love her she's  my baby girl and your all your letters that you   wrote me are somewhere in there i'm just happy  that she really does love me and she forgives me let me give you a few tips for organizing  staircases in your own home first of all beginning   today teach everyone that this is not a storage  space never store anything on the stairs because   gosh there are over a million injuries that occur  every year as a result of stairway falls plus   staircase and stairway accidents constitute the  second leading cause of accidental injury only to   i guess second to motor vehicle accidents and next  when you're clearing your stairs always start on   that bottom stair and avoid going upstairs with  anything until you've cleared all the stairs   third every year check for defects in the stairs  or the stairwell or the stairway and look for   something as simple as a hole in the carpet which  can cause tripping right be sure to check for poor   lighting or defective railings or handrails and  then make those repairs and remember once you've   implemented the no storage on the staircase  rule communicate it to everybody in the house   yesterday we brought out tons and  tons from the house to be thrown away   we cleared the entire entryway so today the  weather is very bleak bad rainy terrible we   have tents set up everywhere one for the family  one for us we're going to have a great attitude   we are going to get this place as clean as we  can possibly do it in the time that we have let's go come on in pick a location come on in gather around  and then we'll have a quick conversation i put down a big tarp in the middle  rake it into the middle of the tarp   take the tarp out dump the tarp out onto  the truck this is what we're calling   dump and dig all right let's go and  don't worry about mice they'll be here four of us are going out  somebody else put the tarp in i am feeling today it's a little tired just yeah  do you remember how gorgeous about that yeah she's   having a pretty rough time she understands  the rationale as to why she needed to let go   of the stuff but it's still pretty emotional it  was worse than a broken love affair yesterday   it was overwhelming having to throw away stuff  it really bothered me right now i know when i   got to the room i just thought about it and i  just passed down i had sort of warned you about   that do you remember like you know you've got all  this stuff here there it goes i mean i would kind   of liken it to like getting in a car accident and  getting out and you have all the stuff to do and   then you get home and you're like wow i know  what just happened right it was overwhelming   yeah yeah she's feeling pretty exhausted pretty  tired and unsure about how she's gonna do today this is what's coming off of the  floor okay yes everything is wet   oh god you're an infested vomit yeah there is  nothing salvageable no we can't even go through it   enough no to save it you're all the one it's all  going to be shoveled this right now yes uh-huh and   put right on the truck do you understand yes i do  you give me permission to do that oh yes yes okay we're cleaning out the living room and there's so  much of it it's really really concerning we can't   even shovel it out it's nasty don't go so deep  here's what i want to do you need to you need   to kind of chip it like ice chip it like ice okay  and pull it toward you then you can shovel it up okay we're cleaning out the living room i'm  seeing more and more dirt maybe mud   no that's human waste kristen i want  you to come over here for a second shantae come on over can you lift up your mask so i can  just talk to both of you for a second   if you can tolerate it thanks my question to  you is is this something that you saw when   you were here or is this worse than  when you lived here definitely worse   it's definitely worse there was like cups of poop  everywhere and pee and stuff cups of poop yeah your grandmother was pooping in a cup yeah so  what we're coming into is human yeah probably   all the feces probably all of it yeah i'm just  asked that did you know any of this was going on   no and i know this is really fragile   shantae when your grandmother would need to use  a cup to either urinate or go to the bathroom   did she do that privately or publicly how  how do you publicly yeah in front of you are you kidding me so is there any way that  you could have imagined that your daughter was   experiencing your mom no going to the bathroom  in a cup in the living room in front of her   there's no excuse for that does  that make you feel sad angry   or you just want to run away and say i  don't want to deal with it i'll be both i'm really pissed off right now what  would you say if your mom were right here   go for it what would you say what the  what are you doing she's clearly sick   anybody that would do that has got some serious  problems this is insane i've never i'm mindful that's human waste are you kidding  me there's no excuse for that so i think we should ask maybe linda to come in so  you can talk to your mom about this i don't even   want to talk to her right now i like how could  she do this seriously well this is what i want   you to stay here for a moment because she needs  to understand what this is and you need to have   a communication about it someone get asked linda  to come in carry her in carry linda on in here   she is sicker than i imagined i was not expecting  this when i first called to get her help this has   blown my mind the reason that i want  you here dr zazio and linda here   is because as the girls were working they're  coming against all of this stuff that has now   deteriorated and when i'm asking what is this  stuff and remember i said i'd tell you when i   was gonna say something really difficult okay  but it's human feces i don't know what to say like why have you not why why you been doing this why haven't you tried to get help  way before i got to this point   i didn't know i knew humans in here i never had  no control over my bowels i did tell the doctor   i went three to five times a day why don't  you go to the toilet why in here well i   never walked i never i walked on the cane and  you could drive though you can walk on a cane   you could have got a porta potty and  i didn't get uh this is going into the   freaking carpet this is insane i knew it  was bad but damn i didn't know it says bad   the biggest thing for me was that she wasn't  concerned about it she wasn't disturbed she wasn't   feeling embarrassed she wasn't feeling called  out she had no emotion or reaction whatsoever   shantae would publicly see her her  grandmother use a a cup or something to   go to the bathroom or and this was just like  a normal day for shantae and dallas was the   bathroom working yeah but it was still working  during the times when you saw her using a cup   to urinate was there running water in a bathroom  yeah i never used to cup hair why are you lying   her lying is like it's making me feel like   she didn't see an issue in her actions my blood  started to boil i was like getting really agitated   but you don't remember me like you handing me  cups of pea to throw out by the bush no but you   definitely did it in the cups and i i personally  had to throw them out there right by that bush   so i have a question for you linda at that  point when there was that first moment where   you said that you lost control and there  was the human waste in this living room   why would you continue doing that  the deep depression and then i was   you know disoriented i'm asking her linda what  happened and she really has no explanation   other than she was really depressed and she was  a little confused that cannot in any way explain   how somebody for years could defecate on the  floor and have no emotional reaction whatsoever can i get this off i don't feel very good don't  you dare take that off you can't breathe this   is extremely dangerous can i get out i don't feel  better good i bet you don't no i don't get her out   we gotta get this done i will not do this again   why don't you take off your mask and tell your  mom i don't want to nobody should have to do this she's in denial she clearly has a  problem i can't how can somebody do that i'd like for us to now clear  the dining room and the kitchen   there's no debating it it's  just going on the truck let's go i'm really excited to get into  the dining room because i'm sure   that the worst of this is over how much worse  can it get than having human excrement all over   the living room and as we start cleaning it  out horror of horrors i'm seeing a a hook   screwed into the wall and  i'm seeing chains and a leash this is what is disturbing yeah now  tell me tell me what i'm seeing please   dog that she had the most hurt from losing she  kept the dog chained up right here and there's   another whole chain that's where i took i rescued  one from over there i mean it's skin and bones   and it was like learning how to walk again  basically from being on what that much chain and like every dog she gets she ties  up every dog she gets she chains up   linda's dogs were chained they were urinating  and defecating all in the same spot the fact   that she had them chained up is very concerning  because she truly believes she was providing   adequate care for these dogs good dog lord knows  how long that dog was there was eating pooping   and you know living in a six six inch line of  rusted chain this is the one that was trained   here is the one she was most attached to the one  that she was you're hearing that right doctor   the one that she was most attached  to she chained here based on the   response she had to all that waste that was in  there which was no response she had no reaction   at all to what we were all seeing i think that  she needs a psychological evaluation because i   do believe the more time i spend with her that  she has the early stages of dementia i truly   think she's a danger to herself quite frankly  hey i hope you're enjoying the marathon are you   don't forget to watch hoarders on sundays at 7  00 a.m eastern on a e oh and if you're interested   in becoming a professional organizer  like me just visit www.bossorganizer.com   and come to my free web class i think  that she needs a psychological evaluation   i i truly think she's a danger to herself quite  frankly she's not in our reality right now   shantae tell her what she did at our bathroom  she would like literally poop on the floor this is i'm having to deal with now that i've  taken her into my home well the fact that she   was continuing to engage in the same behavior  at your house yeah when she had a perfectly   clean accessible bathroom yeah i mean  it's almost primitive what she's doing   and and i think quite honestly she's been doing  this for so long that it it doesn't cross her   mind that she has a bathroom right she just does  what she's been doing i felt like i was retraining   her for what i believe about 10 years yeah i don't  think that she truly sees anything wrong she don't   with the way she's been living so honestly this is  why i think she needs a psychological evaluation   you know yeah this is i have never been in  a situation where someone once they have had   access to a working bathroom have chosen not to  use it my concern is that this could be dementia   or some other deep psychological issue going  on either way i don't think she is capable   living on her own i don't think that she  is capable of moving back into her home   and i don't think that she is going to be  in a place to move back to kristin's house i wasn't my plan my plan is get my mom back home  get her healthy i can help the environment i know there's a reason we say one day at a time right  there's no way you could have done this when you   weren't healthy now you're in recovery you're  healthy it's the only way you can manage this   you get that yeah you know it  i know i know i know look at me   you didn't do anything too late you're doing it  and it's on the right time you look at the house   it's a metaphor for what's really going on  for everybody you're doing all of this i   know you're doing all of this and it's thankless  completely thankless i'm so sorry i'm so sorry   it's time for me to just put the organizer  aside and step into being a human being it's raining again today and i don't know how it  happens but when the odds are against us the odds   are against us all the way but we are committed  to doing what we can for linda and the family   today it's it's pretty simple the bottom  floor of the whole house has been cleared out oh my goodness okay so what  we're going to do today   is go upstairs and we're going to start bringing  down all the bins that you have up there   you want to take a guess at  how many there are probably 32. okay i'm going to guess it's  more toward a hundred a hundred   dollars let me ask you this when was the last time  you were actually upstairs yeah 10 or 12 years   so 12 years that stuff has been sitting up  there which makes me question based on what   was downstairs what upstairs looks like it's not  that bad upstairs it's not no clutter or trash   everything's put away a lot of new clean stuff put  away or it's stored instead yeah storage fans yeah   two different things no clutter or anything to  break up off the floor but what we're going to   do linda we're going to start any minute  we're going to be bringing all those bins   down i'm going to have uh the junk team and the  organizers do a chain they're just going to hand   it all the way off down here we're going to line  it up down through um to the sidewalk here so   let's see what we've got to deal with okay you're  in position i want you to go up a couple of stairs   up a couple of stairs you're perfect  everybody stand here we're gonna just   pass it all down are you all ready everybody  up there ready okay let's go start passing there's this toy box that says kristen's  toys yeah is that something that you're   going to want to keep i don't want to keep  anything i'm so glad to hear you say it i said to my team this was going to be a much  easier day because all of the human waste   and all of the deterioration of  the house was really downstairs   but as we went upstairs we were finding  feces everywhere holes in the stairs in the   master bedroom you could see through to the attic  upstairs there was just cracks everywhere and the   house is settling the structure is gone i have to  explain the bad news to linda unlike what we all   predicted it's full of mouse poop and everything  up there too linda i'm i'm sorry honey but you know things are just as bad upstairs maybe  there's no human waste maybe there isn't any   dog waste but it's all mouse infested  everything is urinated on pooped on   you thought you maybe had 30 bins at this  count right now we've got um 202 out here 202. we've probably got about a thousand boxes in  there in addition to more bins every other   bin that i open is just full of mouse poop i'm  just going to lay down what i see as a fact   this house is not safe there is no way you can  move back into this house this house is probably   going to have to be condemned that's my hopes and  dreams of getting back in the house that was my   hope and plan to get you back in yeah i know you  worked hard to get this done chris and i know that   i mean back into the house i didn't know it was  that bad i was trying to get you back in it i know   that's my main concern i went through all this  stuff and i can't get back in my house oh my god   after i went through all this i got rid of all the  stuff so i could get back in my house my god i've   been here since then sent me sex my god i went  through all this and i can't get back in my house this house is probably going  to have to be condemned   my god i went through all this and  i can't get him back in my house linda listen there's a few things that are  important to know our ethical job is to tell you   what we know okay and the fact that there was  about a foot of human waste okay in your living   room that has saturated into the floor and  is continuing to emit contaminants into the   air makes that home not safe just for those  reasons add in the dog waste that still remains   the rodent waste that still remains  that has saturated into the walls okay   the foundation is not safe the floors are  bowed it is unsafe at every level that's what   we're trying to explain to you the whole goal  has been for linda to move back in the house   and we've discovered that that's not going  to happen and she's not taking it well in order to live in this house  structurally the building could fall on you   the ceilings linda truly had no idea how  bad things were she couldn't understand it   she couldn't comprehend it that's  shocking because she lived there   it's bad is it kristen the rip the  floors i didn't know this went close i could have fell on you while he was in there  you could have been buried and nobody would have   been able to get to you you could have been  buried underneath the ceiling i didn't know   i'm sorry i know but do you hear what we're saying  do you hear why we're saying what we're saying yes   everybody wanted a happy ending to get  the house cleared i think dorothy you had   arranged for a cleaning company to come in move  ever all your furniture back in like that was   the plan but none of us knew  what was buried below the stuff   is there some way i can keep my house and and move  back in if i get feeling kind of funny i'll just   leave for a while i want to keep my house i've  been here since 76. you know i'm stronger now   it'll never get this way again i'm going to keep  my house i want to move back in i understand i   feel like you're not hearing what we're saying  oh i know what you're saying and you're saying   if you feel funny that you will leave well  where will you go do you see well i think i'll   and and this isn't meant to offend you linda  but your judgment is is somewhat impaired   she kept questioning us i'm a psychologist i'm not  a contractor dorothy's an organizer so i thought   to help her better understand the unlivable  conditions that we needed to bring in an expert   so we called in extreme cleaner specialist  in biohazard corey chalmers to concur with   our impression that the house was not salvageable  we're going to call him right now and see what he   has to say about the pictures he has seen in the  information we've given him okay there's gonna   be maybe some hope then i i can't answer that  question so we're gonna get him on the phone corey chalmers welcome you guys hey corey thanks  for joining us today we need you all you got it   dorothy how can i help you guys um as you know  i've given you a little bit of information in   addition to some pictures and you know we're not  biohazard experts we have a good sense of what we   think is going on but we wanted to hear from you  so the photos that were sent to me um obviously   show some pretty serious conditions there so from  my experience a house like that honestly if i were   in there cleaning that i would be recommending  that it get completely demoed down to the studs   and rebuild because there's really nothing that a  cleaner can do at this point we can't clean apply   it disinfectant to really do what it's supposed  to do and that's make the house safe functional we   just can't do that you know there's too much going  on there it's saturated into the wood flooring so   all that wood is porous so it has to be removed  and a lot of the drywall to trim and things like   that are absolutely saturated and there's things  growing on the floor i can see which is very odd   so to make that house safe there's no way to do  so without removing everything that's been exposed   to this environment for the last several years i  would imagine and completely rebuilt so i'm sorry   to have to tell you guys that there's a ton of  bacteria in there if you were going to get that   house tested they would do air sampling surface  sampling and it would be off the charts with stuff   that you would not want to live with okay so just  don't want to take any chances and risks with your   health it's just not worth it i understand  your house is your home it's very important   but your health and the three generations help  that i see you there should be the priority you know corey uh all you have done   is just reinforce everything that  dorothy and i have been telling her   especially that last piece that this has been  entirely about safety 100 it's heartbreaking   it's very sad i know and unfortunately this  is just a side effect of severe hoarding   it really is we see it a lot and it is very sad  you guys made the best decision about what to do   with the house but please don't move back into  it okay thank you thanks corey you're the best bye yeah i understand it's bad health  hazard it's best that i don't go back in   so what we have wanted to reinforce to you through  outside experts is the gravity of the situation   yeah i mean it's heartbreaking i had planned and  prayed and had all hopes getting her back home   i tried i really i tried to get her back in oh it's too far gone i tried to do what i could i know you did i knew  it wondering i'll see him there but yeah i thought   i knew you tried to do your best you run  here and um you know i thought for sure   that get back in the house you did  everything you ought to be proud of yourself   i rather fix it i know you did my god  i know that i'm proud of you my god i thought for sure that things would  happen the plan would go through and   get back in the house you did everything  you ought to be proud of yourself i'd rather thinks that my god i know  that i'm proud of you my god not for sure i don't know what to say i  don't know what to say either   the plan didn't work i love my house i really do kristen was crying linda certainly was crying   i think today even though there's a lot of despair  for the family there's also a lot of opportunity   for freedom because we have the facts and  everybody can start to make sense of what to do we have a contractor coming  over to give us an idea   of the salvageability of the house we're asking  you to come in and take a look and check the   structural integrity of the house what you can  observe and consider what it might cost to repair   i'm going to actually walk him through from room  to room upstairs downstairs to get his feedback   see what he thinks about the whole thing so  that the family knows what they're up against floor was saturated with human waste it's  gone into the wood we've had a lot of   tree growth coming through in here we pulled out  all the branches already ceiling is coming in here   we move into the dining room and he sees the  floor is just completely warped floor joist   is gone they're rotted totally this is where the  dogs lived and unfortunately they were not taken   out to walk so they urinated and defecated in here  oh yeah it's kind of shocking to see it that bad   we are all walking through the house james the  contractor he's never seen anything like it at all   there's still stuff in the house is it  safe for her crew to be coming up here   actually no not really i don't i feel that  everything should be left behind try to get   just the personal belongings pictures and stuff  like that other than that i would just let it all go what's a birdie if my mother lived here no exceptions i would  have did whatever i had to to get you out of here   the structural integrity of your building  is really in bad shape nobody should even   be walking around in there it would cost you too  much money to try to repair this place it's not   worth it it'd be cheaper just to take and build  another house here ontario i wasn't afraid of that james doesn't think anyone would really come in  and be able to repair this and if so it would be   upward of a hundred and sixty thousand dollars  and that's even without plumbing and new siding   and paint and appliances you know you're looking  at well over two hundred thousands just to fix it my team can't go in anymore there's  nothing really to get out except for   some things in the sun room but we can't  go in anymore we're supposed to stay out   no one should actually go in that house  ever again it should be left alone boarded   up and tore down given that we can't get  back in the house to access anything more   we have to leave what's upstairs we're not  going inside ever again neither are they   so the junk team they're leaving completely empty  now we know for sure that this house should be   condemned and completely bulldozed i think it's  time to find out what the value is of at least   the plot of land so i called a real estate agent  to see if he or she can come over and take a look a gentleman by the name of tyler  is here he's our real estate agent he's looked at comps in the area   to see what this property is worth and by  property i mean just the lot not the house hey tyler hey okay all right so what have you  got for us um i think as is if you know that   you need to tear the property down uh lot value  i think uh anywhere from about 12 to 15 000.   and what do you know if anything about the  cost to demolish a home this size um usually it   can range anywhere from about six thousand  dollars to ten thousand dollars what about   demolishing the house and i keep the  log where i could build a prefab or   mobile home on it yeah you could you could  demolish demolish the house yourself okay   all right thank you tyler appreciate it hey thanks  so much thank you for being pleasure meeting you   thanks for coming on such short notice all right  so linda feeling disappointed you are hoping for   a little more money right uh-huh absolutely yeah  i think maybe if we could just sit together as   the two of you and and you dr zazio to go over  the organizational plan for moving forward okay it's now time for us to actually board up the  windows of the house and put caution tape around   the front of the house to give everybody  the clear understanding that this house   is uninhabitable and it's really a sad day it's  a sad sad thing to have to do and it's even worse   to have the person who owns that house and who  loves that house watch me doing it hey i hope   you're enjoying the marathon are you don't forget  to watch hoarders on sundays at 7 00 a.m eastern   on a e oh and if you're interested in becoming  a professional organizer like me just visit www.bossorganizer.com and  come to my free web class it's now time for us to actually board up the  windows of the house and put caution tape around   the front of the house to give everybody  the clear understanding that this house   is uninhabitable and it's really a sad day it's  a sad sad thing to have to do and it's even worse   to have the person who owns that house  and who loves that house watch me doing it this is the one opportunity i have to get shantae  dallas linda and kristen to start talking about   the events that have led to this house being  condemned what i want to do is is open the door   to helping this family heal a little bit one  of the things that that i've observed is that   emotions and issues are not dealt with and what's  also interesting everybody's got a different story   about what happened so kristin can i start with  you and just open the door to whatever it is   you want to process in this moment i want somebody  else i'm i'm a camp right now okay shantae no one has anything to say dallas how about for  you take us back to that time were you able to   tell your grandma how upsetting the environment  was for you i just didn't want to sleep while   this cockroach is crawling all over you and  mice it's nasty she claimed that it was clean you never mentioned it to me we always  did we always tried to clean up and she   would always just say that it was it was  fine that we were in an okay environment   when we all know that it wasn't bad then  or the services would have had you removed   linda is still nasty dallas is saying  there was mice and cockroaches and you're   invalidating him you couldn't even shower sure  enough as soon as shantae and dallas started   to talk about what it was like living in the  home linda invalidated their experience linda   you're still sort of defending the house was  clean it was at the time when they were there   or they would have had them removed the kids  removed them if it was clean just came visiting   me and told me how bad it was i said please  try to hold off on doing anything so i can   get out and get them back home with me she's not  understanding that cps came out for a reason they   didn't do anything because they went and talked  to kristen while she was incarcerated and she   begged and pleaded not to do anything until she  came out cps came and i like freaked out because   i didn't want to get taken away and we like  cleaned up the living room as much as we could   i remember sitting on the porch talking to him  a couple times actually i should not let him men i wonder why these are not kids that make things  up because they've got nothing better to do   they are the real deal it was a pretty  painful time for them and i hope someday   that you can come to shantae and hug her and  say i am so sorry you had to live like that   and dallas i am so sorry because i hear a lot  of dallas was out running the streets as if he   was a bad kid he's not a bad kid his friends  really persuaded him no no no no no no he was   running the streets because he could not live in  this environment he was a kid trying to survive   linda has to really start feeling  the impact of what has happened   she's got to work through this and not just  push it aside there is an opportunity for a new   beginning and a beginning that is emotionally  healthy for you and physically safe for you   and that i think is probably the final message  it is critical linda that you ask for help when   you need it i've never actually like confronted  my grandma about like our living conditions now   that i've let everything out i've been healing but  like this is the ending like my wound is closing you know you know normally we like to take the family  through the house to show what we've done   and in this case we have to stay  outside there's caution tape   we're not crossing it and we're having our  meeting outside it's the final piece of the day   it looks like we're at the final chapter of  this particular project of our work together   dr zazio and i have put together an organizing  plan specifically for you kristin to move forward   so i'm going to hand this out and i want all of us  to just run through it because we have resources   ready for you dr zazio and i put together an  entire list getting the family in place with   the proper steps in order on how to go forward  one of the things that we are going to offer you   is therapy because that's a big missing piece  that's that's one of the biggest things that led   to this problem is not getting help and not being  able to ask for help i've started to research a   therapist that linda can access so that she can  continue this dialogue about what has led to this   horrific horde and this house being condemned  appreciate every one of us god bless every one   of us and may good things come to everyone well  and you as well yes and you kristen and satay i   wanted some change here and i don't think i could  down without help everyone done a wonderful job   i love that house a lot of memories in it  you're gonna be okay so heartbreaking i know   just for the best though i just have  to you know move on and start fresh you're beginning yes when i first walked into linda's house my  intuition said that this was an open and shut case   tree branches were coming in from  the outside into the dining room   and the inside of the house was just pure squalor  and the stairs going up to the second floor   had actually become separated from the rest  of the house there was just danger everywhere   you know i think initially i was secretly angry  because i knew linda's daughter kristen grew   up in that house linda although  mentally unwell was actually kind to me   and she did take on the oversight of her grandkids  because her daughter kristen went to prison for   a really long period of time the good intentions  were there for linda but she just wasn't healthy   enough to follow through with her responsibilities  when linda's two grandkids explained to me what   they saw while living there up comes this mama  bear hurting me who wants to protect those kids   yeah as an organizer my job is to clear the horde  but as a loving human it is always with the family   who's been impacted and kristin wasn't aware any  of this had happened to her kids and i could just   see kristen begin to just seethe with anger  and at that point she needed a mom to hug her   and tell her it would be okay and you know that is  something i can do and it's something i want to do   whenever we have to put on a full hazmat suit you  know it's bad inside and let me just take a moment   to talk about those lovely stylish and slimming  suits they are a pain to get into first you take   your shoes off then you put your suit on then the  shoes come back on gloves come on masks come on   and then there's a technical problem with audio  or camera okay so we stop and we wait and then   the family says okay since we're waiting i might  as well have a cigarette or i'm gonna go to the   restroom suit comes off gloves come off masks  come off oh but the cameras are ready where's   the family no they're not back yet okay we're  still waiting and then finally gloves on masks on   zip the suit up and we're ready to go but you know  what all of that takes an extra 12 minutes per   person every time we have to suit up and usually  that's twice a day so if you take something as   simple as 30 minutes of time lost per day times  10 people you're looking at five hours loss   per day and my commitment to time management is  always on overdrive when it comes to handling our   time on these hoarding projects during the clear  out we shovel tons of trash and poo from that   first floor and by the way i think it's really  sad when we have to clean living room floors   with a shovel i mean what does that say about our  society and obviously i had concerns about that   and also as we made our way up to the second  floor because there were holes in the stairs and   the staircase was separating from the rest of the  house as i mentioned before and it was our hope   that we could clear all of the heavy heavy bins  and boxes from that second floor and bring it down   and provide relief to the floor up above and  the ceiling below my organizing crew created   a chain to pass down the bins in the boxes down  those stairs yet i kept seeing the stairs give   way with each of the passing boxes so i thought  at one point i was actually leaning against you   know a wall in the upstairs bedroom and the whole  wall bent away from the house and this confirmed   what i thought from the very beginning of the  project that this house would need to be condemned   this is not news i like to deliver by nature  i'm a happy forward thinking person but   our jobs are to protect the hoarders and  their families and tell them the truth   so we filed out of that house immediately and  i called my colleague on the show you know him   corey chalmers to verify our findings i remember  watching her from a distance as she sat there with   her granddaughter and linda was in her wheelchair  they were just staring at the house it was first   hoarded and now it's boarded and was just  enveloped with caution tape not at all what   we wanted for an outcome yet in the end the  frightening severity of this case spurred linda   and her whole family to go to any length to make  the home habitable and organized for linda and by   the way speaking of getting it organized if you're  interested in my free class on how to become a   professional organizer visit www.wasorganizer.com  now let's watch the next episode   the trash is literally three feet high and i'm not  talking about clutter i'm talking about garbage   what the hell happened here this is  disgusting we came across a scene in   there in that bathroom that we just had to walk  away from i think we got a creature over here   do you think that's a common event that  people have dead cats in their houses   how could i have grown up been a teenager  living in this it's nasty it's not sanitary   if you clean it it'll be okay oh my  god i don't see it all live like this i'm augustine i'm 68. i used to be  neat and orderly but not anymore i'm jason i'm 28 years old i'm augustine's son   i'm very open about the fact that my mother is a  hoarder and then i grew up in squalor my mother   chose garbage over being able to raise her son my  name is susan and i am augustine's daughter when   i was growing up the house was cluttered but it  wasn't filthy it was nothing like it is now at all there are rooms where the trash is literally  probably three feet high and i'm not talking about   clutter i'm talking about garbage   i mean there is dog mess dried into the carpet  and stuff and it's just absolutely disgusting it smells horrible i don't know how to  describe it but you don't want to go in there at this point she has no gas and  for that reason she has no hot water   her stove is not hooked up  she can't wash and dry clothes   like i said it was nothing like this i mean i was  able to have friends over it was nothing like this when i was growing up you never saw my mom  without her hair done without her makeup on and you look at her now she don't even have  teeth then she doesn't care and it's just like   two different people the person i knew growing  up and i guess the person really jason knows i don't have any memories of  my mother's house being clean sometimes when i was when i would be sleeping  there i would be awoken in the middle of the night   by roaches crawling on me i had to sleep with a  fan art because if i if i didn't have the fan on   i could hear them crawling around in the in the  trash and they would kind of frighten me and keep   me up the inside of the house stank and so i stank  my clothes tank and i got picked on a lot for that   in elementary school and i always knew it's not  like i grew up thinking that this was normal   i was used to it but i knew that other  people's houses weren't like that i think he was in um towards the end of the school  year when he was in eighth grade i believe it was and they did come to remove him from the house they had about six police cars here they had  the police come up in here and take all kinds of   pictures the parish decided that it was too filthy  for her dogs to live there and they took the dogs   away and then i guess if it was too filthy for the  dogs and it's definitely too filthy for a child   it hurt they took him away i just felt  like they took everything away from me   just like when they took all my dogs away so my  mom came to me one day and asked if jason could   stay with me for a few days and he lived with  me for 10 years my sister was a 20-something   single person with a career and everything  and suddenly she has to raise a teenager all that time every now and then she  would say she bought something for   jason's room which i thought she meant at my house  which she meant at her house for when he came home   but she didn't clean up anything  in order to get her son back   i mean how hard can it be just to  not fill your house with garbage because that was her child and she should  have cared more about him than anything else   my mom didn't set out to to ruin my life it's just something that happened to her  it's something that's going on in her brain   that is not even necessarily her fault  i could only speculate as to what that   is i know she didn't have a good  relationship with her own mother i was raised by mother who hated me because she  had me out of wedlock in the 40s that was a big   disgrace and she never let me forget it all i  ever heard when i was growing up if you ruined   my life by being born i hate you i should  have given you away when you with the baby   sometimes i feel like nobody  loves me except my animals susan makes me feel like that a lot she doesn't think she does anything  wrong susan throws everything away   she threw away all my tupperware some of my pots   every problem she has is somebody else's fault  with everything she blames jason's father on   disease i guess you want to call it getting  worse when she got pregnant for jason   and told jason's father she never saw him again  jason is 28 years old it's time to get over this there's the nosy neighbors he's like oh   they're trying to make me lose my house  you know code enforcement's on her back   because somebody called well somebody called  because there's a problem and you need to take   care of the problem they hate me so much they  made them take my dogs away cut my plants down that's terrible to hate your neighbor that  much her next door neighbors are not bad people   i think they're just tired because the  yard is a mess too they give you a warning   clean it up everything's okay but she doesn't   then they take her to court and they'll  threaten her with putting a lien on her house i don't know what's gonna happen my  aunt can't help anymore she has cancer   and it's a job i cannot do by myself i don't know i don't i have no idea   i know that with our personalities  we certainly can't live together now her health is failing and she's having more  trouble getting around one day she's going to   die if the house is like this when she dies  we're going to be the ones stuck with the mess i don't want to have to deal  with this at the end of her life i am packing my clothes to  get ready to go to new orleans   i don't know i really don't know what to expect  i think i've been inside since 2005. i imagine   that it's only accumulated since the last time  i've been there i'm a little stressed actually just kind of can't wait for it all to be over see you later kiddo i'm hopeful but i'm not not overly  optimistic skeptical optimist i anticipate a lot of a  lot of drama from my mother   as cooperative as she says she's gonna  be i don't think it's gonna be that easy somebody seeing the home for the first time i  don't think they could they could say anything   if they weren't prepared  whatever somebody imagines   it's it's much worse than that and the  only reaction is is shock and silence i don't like seeing my mother  live in a situation like that it would just make me feel better  if i know she was living better hi augustine hi good morning it's susan  are you ready for me i'm susan chabot   i'm a clinical psychologist and i specialize in  obsessive-compulsive disorders i thought maybe it   would be good for you to show me around a little  bit and uh tell me what you have here my chest the   drawer which belongs in my bedroom susan borrowed  it and when she brought it back that's where she   left it oh boy augustine does blame people  and when you have a person who externalizes   responsibility for there being a problem um then  she's not going to really see why she really has   to do anything about it tell me about this room  augustine well this used to be my master bedroom   uh-huh is the bed under all of this how would you  like to get rid of some of these clothes augustine   i wouldn't want to get rid of them none of their  summer and winter clothes put together good ones   there's no sense in me picking them up  now because they've been there so long   that they smell i see something they're going  to wash them again you wouldn't need to wash but   do you have a washing machine it's sitting  on the porch uh-huh it needs to be hooked   up right all right now i want you to tell  me some about your bathroom now what's you   told me there's a problem with the toilet no  i didn't have any water no water for how long   six years six years i didn't  have no money for the plumber   and when it rains the water still comes down into  the bathrooms yeah especially if it rains hard   i'm dorothy brenninger and i'm a hoarding expert  this is definitely a level five hoarding situation   the floorboards are going the ceiling is caving  in exposed wires are out plumbing isn't there   it's just really really tough stuff your life  is in this room mainly huh i'm outside of that   i live in this room yes do you ever wish  you could go in the rest of the house yeah maybe we can help you with that huh augustine's  hoarding impacts so many people obviously   it impacts her the most because she's living  there but it also impacts all the family members   the neighbors the city anyone who has anything to  do with augustine is receiving the impact of it well hallelujah hello mother look how tall you're getting i think i've been  the same height since last time you saw me   well i shrunk i want two inches i don't really  feel a very close connection with my mother   we don't talk that much so she  doesn't really even know who i am   well i miss you i miss you too i wish you'd  come home to stay that's not gonna happen   why because i have a life in seattle  you could have one down here too no not the life i want it's too cold up there  for me well it's too hot down here for me mm-hmm   well we got a cool front you  feel it coming sort of sort of i have actually sat on that  sofa one point in my life this is my mother i don't know the story behind  this picture but it's been here my entire life   that's me produces no emotional reaction   all i remember is walking out of my room  a million times and walking past here that's it just a sequence of  events things that have happened in this family there are two children  and there are two different reactions   jason is is more contained and emotionally removed   augustine gave me the impression that she feels  that he can handle it more than her daughter it   seems to me that out of the whole house this  is the last livable portion that's kind of sad   wow i've slept in this bed i wonder  how old this pile is probably at least   10 years old this is like a an alluvial flood  plain and with layers and layers of deposits and   geez if you could just peel back  the layers you would go back in time well this is worse than i remember what the hell happened here this is disgusting  i wonder if she uses this toilet this i have   i have no idea where this is from i don't  know what's going on here it looks like it's   mildew and rotting geez louise how many  years must it have taken for that to happen how could a person let it get this bad  guess i guess i can kind of understand it   you just get you get used to something and then  little by little you keep getting used to it until   they look around and you live in  this and you don't really care i really don't know what the solution that this is i mean i hate to say it like this there  was a time in my life when my mother   had emotions and there was a human being inside   and now i just i don't i don't get my  mother i just don't know what's in there if you have odors in your home that you're trying  to eliminate i usually recommend the following   free do-it-yourself tips number one open all  the doors and windows yes even in the winter   just turn off the heat make sure everyone  is dressed properly and air the space out   for 30 minutes number two if you have  animals be sure to change the litter box   more than you've been doing and make a cleaning  commitment to react faster to dogs and cats   who accidentally go on the floor and if you're  not able to do this yourself or you don't want to   enlist a neighborhood kid to help you out number  three take out your trash every two to three days   four cut lemons and leave them in a bowl in  the kitchen for freshness five sprinkle some   cinnamon on pine cones and place them decoratively  throughout the house and six dab a little almond   or vanilla extract on a light bulb and the heat  will spread a friendly scent throughout the house dealing with my mother is going to be the hardest  thing we're not that close we don't get along   so having to spend a couple days  in her house is going to be hard my greatest fear about this cleanup is that  she'll get mad and tell everybody to leave   i don't know what'll happen to her  if she doesn't allow this cleanup well we're ready to start this morning look  at all these people back here take a look   you were worried about doing this because  other people would have judgments about   you right so instead of all that who do you  want people to see you as a nice person okay   clean okay how do you handle trash you throw it  away got it that doesn't necessarily mean that   we have permission yet to throw it away we just  know that you are saying that that's probably what   we're going to encounter right my bottles and  my crochet she threw away my crocheted booties   what you need booties for i sell them for  ten dollars a piece my mother and my sister   i don't think they like each other very  much anything that means something to me   it don't mean nothing to you you throw it away  you know it's it's more of an obligation than   an emotional attachment why does it mean so much  because i'm tired of seeing him live like this all right so this is the family room jason   you used to live in here huh yes okay it looks  a lot different than when you lived here or not   not too much no it was like this  when you lived here yeah oh gosh okay   augustine's teeth there are actually two sets  of teeth in here but one of them she knows of   for sure and it's by the reclining chair and she  really really wants them her teeth are somewhere   okay and you know i know people are gonna say  hey you're not really going to ask her to put her   teeth back in are you but the fact of the matter  is she's dropped them in here many times and   has put them in we're going to disinfect  them but we want to find them that's it i can't even imagine how they would begin this this is overwhelming so i mean if it were up  to me i would just bulldoze it all and start   over this is hell you're very courageous thank  you i don't feel courageous looking at this augustine is allowing lots of trash to be thrown  away she knows that people are taking things   out so there's a part of her that's giving  permission she believes that people are not   here to hurt her okay all right so come on in  and sit down what you stepping on right here what is that a turn cable it's disgusting how much it's nasty it's not sanitary if you clean it  it'll be okay you have children who become   codependent and are constantly trying to help  the person who has the compulsive behavior   should susan care about this anymore i  think that that's probably been a concern   for a very long time about what's safe don't  pick something up out of this trash why don't   you buy all the things that i had that you threw  away okay this woman gets blamed for everything   i wonder why oh cause then let's do it all  i must do it all the big picture here is   that for many many years susan has tried to help  but you'd never often you didn't view it as help   and from susan's perspective she spent a lot of  her life trying to help trying to care about you   is there something you want to say at this point  to your mom about being blamed for everything   it won't matter okay you've got to pour it  i mean look at this when i'm breathing like   this you yell at me stop making that  noise i can't help it i have asthma   whatever your excuse is yeah okay no i do it  cause you make that noise all the time because   i can't because you're a drama queen yeah okay  wait a second tell me this is it mark grab them oh there you go okay i honestly  didn't think i would find them but   if i could find the other half that would be  great so this is one step okay well i think   what i'm going to do is go get augustine so  nobody move obviously over there you clowned   your teeth yeah don't put those in but what  good would they do without the bottom well   it's a start this is the man who found  your teeth oh i hope you find the bottoms okay one more time don't forget that part  about thank you thank you mom should at   least be acknowledging the the things that  these people are here doing for her it's all   my sister and i doing the acknowledging and the  thinking and my mom just kind of acts entitled there you go hey you know what they  just found in there what a cat a chat so howdy jason what would be  your uh thought of how this died   oh good god how would this couldn't hazard a  guess how did it let it go unnoticed is a question   we found a cat how do you think if your house had  not been so cluttered do you think you would have   been aware of the cat in your house yeah i didn't  know the cat was in there no of course you didn't   do you think that's a common event that  people have dead cats in their houses no   and why do you think it happened in your house  other than that i wasn't here no no why do you   think that a dead cat existed in your house for  so long my mom does not seem to have any reaction   to this uh no more than she reacts to anything  else i do not understand her so can i just ask   you that if you're going to have animals that we  keep a home where you know whether they're living   or not living okay okay because you love animals  right right and if you love animals and you   want the world to know you as a woman who loves  animals this isn't what's gonna prove that no okay   so this is the last of the dead cats okay all  right you keep a living from here on out okay okay i can't believe anybody could live  this way this is not a basement   this is not somebody's shed  this is somebody's house i just can't believe this this is the the story of the  last 16 years of this house   i mean i bet you could if you could just  peel back the layers and you would know   what was going on in the world at the time  what was going on in my mom's life it's   just this is like an archaeological  record of the past decade and a half my earliest memories are is this  this is just what i've always known see jason when he was eight years old i remember when i was a kid i had some some toys  in here and i used to have access to this and uh   it got covered with stuff when i was very young  and i could never get into it and i wanted to see   if it was what i remembered in there this probably  hasn't been opened in 20 years more than 20 years i do actually vaguely remember this which is  weird i wouldn't be surprised that if we spent   a long enough time with jason that would find out  that his emotions are pretty intense but that is   probably one way that he took care of himself was  to to take a deep breath and try to develop a life   for himself people seem to be impressed that a  guy like me can come out of this yeah i mean i this isn't exactly how you how you create  normal human beings you know what i mean oh i think we got a creature over  here oh yeah let me see another cat   and i'm kind of i'm curious susan how old is  this cat i mean this was at the bottom again   is it 10 years very easily could be 10 years old   i need another glove or i would do it but i'd like  you to see if you can scoop the cat up and out   oh god one thing i could've got to say about is  she loves animals my little calico and i know she   wouldn't deliberately hurt an animal but of course  she said some of them disappeared she can't find   them she don't know where they went well they got  lost in the junk and died yeah oh my god oh god this is the only mom i've known my 28 years of  memory this is how she's been i'll put a plant   in here i think it's very likely that my mother  will end up dying here in a pile of trash you   know probably be chewed on by critters before  she's discovered it's not going to be pretty this is worth something today i mean if it was up to me you know  we could just raise the whole thing   and be done with it and just  put a completely new house here if the parish comes in and condemns the  house i don't know what's going to happen   to her i think this is my mother's  last chance i hope she realizes that you won't let them make you feel better you  won't let things become the pain you feel better   it's okay don't understand do  you still feel love for her   she always says things hurt my feelings so  it's nothing new if you could say thank you   i've told her thank you a few times you say  it today thank you for what for helping me that's not what i want thanks for i want  to thank you just for taking care of your   son which you have never done they would have  given him back to me if i had the money in your   dreams no that's the law um i don't know if if  if the law would have allowed it if i would have   chosen to come back and live with you into the law  but the right thing happened it was better for me no that's not the only reason how could i  have grown up been a teenager living in this and had any kind of normal life and development so i know where it seems like we're off to a  tough start but actually this is the good clearing   that we all need with one another to get the work  and the clearing done inside so let's go do that it was so hard for me to see the pain in  susan's face i think she just so desperately   wants her mother to say i did something  wrong and it hurt my children and i'm sorry let's make an aisle here and i'd like that chair  to come on out you you're not gonna throw my   chair out huh no honey what did i say we're  taking the furniture out fly augustine okay   why am i taking the furniture out fred i can  clean yes do you trust me yes okay thank you take the barrel everything these i know they're  her dishes but let's get them in a bag or a box   she can have them later because she is  using them okay just throw everything   and whatever no that's garbage in the cans  that's stuff to save how do i differentiate use your own discretion you know  what she don't deserve this i want   this picture oh if unless you want it no  you can do it this is my granny her mom your mama wants a baby doll on the bed i ain't  seen a baby though it was on the bed in a box   i threw it away it wasn't it wasn't on the bed  it was over here and it's all disgusting and   dirty oh god until i'll buy another one i got good  things off the side of the road you'd be surprised   what people throw away susan i want you to use  a shovel not your hands i got gloves i know but   it'll go faster you think well i'm gonna be  happy when it's clean but i know i'm gonna   miss a lot of things like all my crochet books  in my gardening booth they threw all that away   we got some toddler diapers jason how old are  you 28. you don't need these anymore do you well   sometimes i get nervous i do not  understand why she saves what she saves   or how she reaches those decisions your mother just said that the mattress  and box spring can be thrown away   hallelujah all right all right so let the guys  know they can haul it out all right thank you oh my god as my grandmother her mother would have  said she made her bed she's got to lie in it   i mean it sounds callous  but our family has done more   than their fair share she's had her chance  and there really is nothing else to be done this is horrible how long has this bit  look at this this is wire wire look at this   i mean i don't know what to think but  yet i'm sure she'd want to keep it i don't know when's the last time she  was even able to sleep in this room   you can't sleep in your own bed how  sad is that i had some feeds in here   i don't i don't know what to call  it i don't know what kind of a word   you could put on this i think it's way beyond  hoarding when people hard they lose a sense of   what their environment's like it could be hideous  to someone else and they don't even smell it   they don't even sense that it's disgusting and  so she doesn't smell a rotting cat she doesn't   smell the reek of feces and urine from animals her  senses are different than ours than other people   i will not be back here to clean  this up i can promise you that   there's no reason in the world anybody should live  this way i don't need it i had enough she's a pig   and she doesn't care at all about anything hey  i hope you're enjoying the marathon are you   don't forget to watch hoarders on  sundays at 7 00 a.m eastern on a e   oh and if you're interested in becoming  a professional organizer like me just   visit www.bossorganizer.com  and come to my free web class dear god we thank you for this day and  we thank you for putting us this lady   in our way just to help her clean her house thank you god for this day what chemical are you using  on that the neutral cleaner   that disinfects and gets rid  of fungus bacteria you name it   you pulled it right off amazing i always  had a tablecloth on there somebody who   helped clean before in the past they took it off  listen it was pretty disgusting you know that nobody would eat on that table  no matter what tablecloth or not so if you can kind of peek in be over i'll scooch  down don't worry about the toilet again you don't   have to do any of the cleaning but everything  that's in this bathroom i want into two boxes   written bathroom master bathroom okay okay  because this is look at it is current stuff here we came across a scene in there in that bathroom  that we just had to walk away from it's hazardous   it's biowaste there's human excrement all over  the bathroom i'm told they're soiled underwear   and the toilet bowl is full of feces it's foul i  mean it's like it's like we're in another planet we're not equipped to handle that  it's just something that i'm not real   happy about the idea getting  there and i'm not going to it it's the second time an outside crew has come  to clean up the house when i tried to go in   and start cleaning up i didn't know where to  start i'm glad other people knew what to do   it's very important i have my house  clean my family won't get on me as much this one was a lot more emotional for me than  all the others you know i care for my own mom   so i can see these adult children jason and  susan so desperately want to care for their mom   i have more of a moral obligation to my mother  than any kind of emotional attachment i help   her because it's the right thing to do  not because i get anything out of it oh my gosh what is going on here we felt bad about your other  chair coming apart when we   i have a recliner in the bedroom well we  wanted to replace the chair that broke   uh my my understanding is that you all put  pooled your money together yes and uh bought   it for her they bought that for you out of  their own pocket money we chipped in for you   thank you we hope you like it yeah that is  so great is that an amazing group of guys   all right miss artisan come try this thing  out see if it works ah how about that good i'm afraid i'm a cry it's nice to have somebody to care  for you to help you when you need help   because i sure couldn't do it by myself i want to say to allah thank y'all so  much y'all went above and beyond anything   that you needed to do you didn't need to do  anything thank you guys really really good people they've cleaned out just about every room it  actually smells good in there right now it's   amazing to think that you would relinquish control  for people to go in and take out as much as they   did really surprises me greatly tomorrow i'm not  sure i'm going to answer my phone if she calls   i'm sure she's going to be looking for things that  she won't be able to find and she'll probably be   upset this positive feeling this excitement about  what has been done is going to turn into something   negative she will find one thing that someone  threw away that was not supposed to be thrown away realistically the only thing that i know  would keep my mother from reverting back   to her state of squalor would be regular visits  from cleaning crews i'd say the fact that we've   got some aftercare going on does raise the odds  but i still think the odds are probably against us   i don't think anybody's going to come and  help her clean up anymore i mean there's not   a whole lot that i can do being in seattle my  sister says she's done i think she's on her own when it comes to a clear out there is a  certain order of tasks we must consider   that's before we ever get into the house i have to  consider can we even get in and out of the doors   in augustine's case we need to have the overgrown  trees and landscaping removed so we could access   the house and move safely around the property  and many viewers don't really know how anxious   we are to get started yet sometimes there's  just no electricity for our production team   you know they need to light the inside of the home  and change camera batteries and for my organizing   team i have to make sure that we can walk into  the house safely and easily without falling   through rotted floorboards on the patio or have  to fight major overgrowth when bringing out boxes   and bins and appliances i remember walking through  this home and thinking this seems like chernobyl   like a blast went off in the home and it stayed  this way for years furniture clothing magazines   and food mixed with the humidity of louisiana  had all made it so it disintegrated back to soil   inside augustine's house raccoons rodents and  cats lived and died in that house and the walls   were covered with roach feces i walked around  worrying about augustine's respiratory health   as she was already using an inhaler daily to  manage her asthma and i actually worried about our   team's health too speaking of health i'm seeing  i'm about 75 pounds heavier back in this episode   i had often wondered how i was any different than  augustine or any other hoarder that i had worked   with because i was hoarding sugar and flour on my  body the same way augustine was hoarding stuff in   her home and it was just as destructive i knew  i had to change and i was sad that augustine   was unlikely to ever change you know this show  taught me more about life than i ever realized   as we dug down through a three-foot layer of  disintegration in augustine's living room yeah   while we were searching for her missing dentures  we unearthed an entire dead flattened cat later   we found a second one dr chabot and i were totally  horrified jason was perplexed susan was disgusted   and augustine wasn't phased at all 95 of what was  in augustine's house needed to be thrown out it   was nothing more than a shuck and chuck into the  dumpsters you know i feel like every part of my   job on the show is difficult one of those aspects  is when i'm asking my team members to clean up   those bathrooms which are hazardous sometimes they  simply say no we can't do it the visuals the odors   the sting in their eyes can be unbearable i get  it and yet we want to clear the space so it can   be repaired this episode really reveals how adult  children of hoarders make the incredible effort to   care for their parents and the boundaries they  must set for themselves to stay healthy even   if it means disengaging with their adult parent  organizing is never really about the stuff   it's always about what's underneath it whether  it's a huge horde or a cluttered filled kitchen   but just like in any family home and speaking of  organizing i'm often approached by people who want   to go into the field of organizing and if you're  interested in becoming a professional organizer   i invite you to attend my free  web class at www.bossorganizer.com   now let's jump into the next episode we gotta make  sense of this nonsense becky's the first tenant   that has occupied 16 years you like to manipulate  everyone oh shut up we're running out of time and   you're going through trash they're valuable about  as valuable as roadkill i am so tired so am i   basically just looks kind of a hurricane  came through the house if i don't get the   house cleaned up next time you take me to  jail i'm gonna go down to the courthouse   and have her declared incompetent claire  come back claire she was getting nervous my name is becky and right  now i have too much stuff i have all kinds of old pictures and plates a lot  of small things that are family things a lot of   chairs tables with different designs some of which  are very ornate the thing is i have also 500 boxes everything i have is in the storage units my name is walter i own the storage  facility where becky stores her belongings becky's the first tenant that has  occupied 16 units at one given time i was behind way behind in my in my mortgage  and the bank actually took took the house my name is ken and becky is my mom we were  kind of like her last resort of a place to live   i love my mom but i don't love all  those problems that come with it   my name is michelle and i am becky's son's fiance  ken and i have worked really hard to buy our town   home and make it nice when becky moved in  the process kind of stopped because her her   stuff just overwhelmed everything i'm diving  them crazy because i brought too many things in   i have been going nuts over the way she has  treated my house she's been given an ultimatum   already michelle has told her uh you're gonna  have to find a place to live and i don't know   what she's gonna do because she's basically  in debt for uh twenty thousand dollars for uh   her storage units i feel sorry for becky but  in the near future if she's uh still occupying   units and not paying for him then i would have  to take a legal process and have her evicted i'm totally fed up with this hoarding bull  i i hate it it's a constant memory for me   of of growing up in a house that was just to me  filthy ken has too many bad memories of the house   i felt very at peace there my father didn't  like me he didn't want me i was sick one day   i had pneumonia and he told me to get off  the sofa and my grandmother was there and   so my grandmother took me back to her home  i never went back to live with my mother it was five thousand square feet 15 rooms  three-story brick built in 1837. the house had   so many interesting things in it and so many of  the things were family history when i was growing   up you go in the attic and you find different  things and like lots of old children's books   and you know fairy tale books i felt  like i was a princess in the castle the house i grew up in was always a problem with  things being cluttered and having little paths and   trails throughout the entire place and not wanting  friends to come over but it was not as messy as   it became i had two sons the older one was  bill it was halloween about 22 years ago   and bill got angry with his girlfriend about  something and he went out and got in his car and   drove off it was like one or two in the morning  he didn't get maybe a half a mile up the street we   was with my cousins and we heard the car crash  up the street he was dead i i knew he was dead i didn't just lose my son i lost my future  from the point of my brother's death to now   it was a downhill spiral for my mom just she  just quit fighting you know she kind of detached   herself from people and always pushed people  away and the hoarding became out of control   she'll hold on to tons of different things for  a feeling of a connection to a past a lot of   my my things their family things it filled a  gap it became my family basically and then um   i don't know it just got out of hand got out of  control i love my mom but i still don't know where   she's gonna go or what she's gonna do but she's  probably gonna lose everything and be homeless my name is claire and i'm a retired millwright  now as we approach the house i've let things go it's not very nice it's cluttered with magazines  and books and i need to retrieve those things i'm dean and i'm claire's son police responded  came out and he figured he had the legal right to   debate her actor and he blamed me he said  how can you let your mother live like this he put me in the back of the squad car and took  me to columbia hospital he told me at the hospital   it was for alcoholics and drug addicts and i  did not fit that class and they released me   i'm allowed to return to my home  each day to clean and feed my animals   once i am done cleaning i must leave for my mom  to get back inside the house the whole inside   has to be cleaned up bushes have to be  cut down the pool needs to be cleaned out yesterday i picked up a certified letter that  stated i have 10 days to clean up everything   if i don't get the house cleaned up  the next time you would take me to jail i'm denise and i'm dean's girlfriend one of the neighbors has a nickname  for they call her slumdog millionaire   because she has a beautiful home with the  pool and lives like she's in the slums in 2008 we were laid off due to the recession  dean is living with his girlfriend in the back   of my home in a [ __ ] it's hard living  or doing laundry hard keeping yourself   clean we have electricity back there so we  have a tv we have a hot pot in the bathroom   i use a bucket it's kind of like a chamber  pot i'm sick of living outside hitting back   with those conditions dean gets very upset when  i do not clean the house we end up to the point   sometimes where we stand and cross at each other  she's not some little old lady that you can push   around she's the one who does the pushing around  i do get angry when people throw away my things   i i truly need them my plan for the  cleanup is to move back into the house   if my mom decides not to proceed i'm going  to go down to the courthouse and have her   declared incompetent to take care of herself so  one way or another it's going to get cleaned up my mom's storage units are full of all  the possessions that came out of her house i don't really make it a habit to go down  there i can't deal with it it's overwhelming hi i'm dr cutz and i'm becky i'm dr david cutz  and i specialize in obsessive compulsive disorder   and specifically hoarding i was  evicted from my home a year ago   and all my possessions are in these storage  units i don't know where anything is and it's   just it's something i can't manage on my own i'm  overwhelmed becky has a very complicated history   neither of her parents really appreciated  her or wanted her in the first place   psychologically she's stuck with  the things that make her feel   whole and yet these very things that she's  holding on to are the very things that will   create a much worse situation where she may  find herself homeless and without anybody wow so now tell me what specifically is in this  well this has my bedroom suit in it you can   see it there's like five pieces and um you can  see the ornate top to that there's the cradle   that i use with both of my sons this was a cherry  bureau that came from the mitchner side that was   my grandmother's family and you grew up with these  things oh yeah uh-huh okay this is my great great   grandparents i can understand why becky  would want to hold on to those things it's   really her only link to her family  now in in terms of things that you   want to keep versus things you'd like to not  keep if something's broken it all depends like   this is just a piece of scrap wood i think  it's oh trash throw it out it's like people   just because something is broken you  don't always throw it away but that's what   people do with people for becky not having the  opportunity to to feel loved and wanted early on   eventually led becky to feel much more comfortable  with inanimate objects rather than other human   beings this is an example of the way these  movers pack things with boxes things are like   broken and just things were just totally thrown  in total disrespect for any of my things anytime   we've tried to speak with becky about her hoarding  she very quickly diverts attention to other issues   for example the fact that the movers broke some of  her things or may have stolen some of her things   so you're now in a position where you  have these 15 units 16 units but the   person who owns the facility is going to need  to vacate those units i understand yeah because   i haven't been i haven't paid him i mean he  had all the storage's units that weren't even   being used so it isn't that i took business away  from him in order for her to resolve this crisis   she's going to have to get rid of things  that virtually any of us would actually   not give away like family pictures and  heirlooms and things like that and that is   incredibly daunting especially for someone who has  a problem with hoarding it's scary it's very scary it seems like i've approached  things so many different ways   with kid gloves with loving with kindness i guess  it's just not within my knowledge to get her to be   able to move past whatever it is that's hanging  her up hi i'm dr chabot hi dr chabot how are you   so nice to meet you i'm dr suzanne chabot and i  specialize in obsessive-compulsive disorder and   hoarding syndrome okay so you're not supposed to  be in the house but is it okay if we go through   the house to take a look yes on a temporary  situation claire could not go into the house   it's the objects in her house like a monster  that's taken over her life please be careful   i had to watch my balance everywhere that i  walked and yet my leader was someone who had to   walk with a cane you strike me as a very refined  person so i can imagine you in a lovely home   i believe that claire had a life in which people  viewed her as lovely things changed for her it's like i was in another place in space and time  if you go through repeated losses people begin   to numb wow what a beautiful pool that must have  been then she gets struck with an illness the   young beret and this illness attacks the sheathing  on the nerve cells it's extremely painful when i   was in the hospital i was in the tunnel of light  for the second time in my life but something   pulled me back i had too much to do so who else  is living here my son and his girlfriend do you   think he would be okay with us going over there  i don't know about that well let's just go see   dean yes they would like you to come  out hi when i went to the shed to meet   dean and denise i was really surprised it would  seem to be a commitment to really help to make   the house better you would like her back home  in a safe clean comfortable house who wouldn't   want their mother there would you visit her  oh i'm gonna be closer than that what do you   think he'll move in that's my intention okay  let's see if she wants it there did you ask her hoarding in this case is a symptom and whenever  there's a symptom you look at it and say what   purpose does it serve does she want to love deeply  again and be close to people when they'll just go   away maybe it's just too much let's take a  moment to go over a few organizing tips for   your storage unit if you have one first of all  don't overload it if you can't roll up that door   easily or get inside to access the boxes or see  your furniture you probably have too much in it   number two store your items in a u-shape around  the outer walls of the storage unit which allows   you to kind of step inside and easily see all  your bins and your boxes and your furniture   number three label your bins with general  contents don't get too detailed and always label   on the sides of the boxes or bins not on the  top because you have boxes on top number four   use letter size boxes with lids to store your  items if the boxes are too big they're just   too difficult to move and too heavy to lift and  finally always have a light and a step stool with   you when organizing your storage unit and speaking  of organizing if you have a talent for it i invite   you to attend my free web class on how to become a  professional organizer visit www.bossorganizer.com becky is at a point where she's essentially  hit bottom and she needs to see that her   life and her future outweighs the  importance of these inanimate objects well good morning i'm dorothy brenninger i'm a  professional organizing expert and i specialize   in hoarding we have a crisis here we have two  days and we've got 16 storage units so that means   we can do about eight a day or approximately one  storage unit an hour if we're lucky we've got so   much to do we have to work quickly and make strong  decisions everybody ready are you okay so let's go let's look at this keep the nuts you want to keep  these soaps yes look how small of a world this is   are we going to really be talking about soaps  when we've got 16 units to go containers what are you doing with that one this  is a great cookie sheet for whom me   wait come back up here talk to talk to a  person rather than the stuff for a second   the most frustrating thing with with becky is her  inability to recognize what's needed to be done to   take care of the problem if you pan down at what  we have here yes this is more this is what we need   you for yeah she's focused on little dolls and  clothes all these dog clothes i keep them even   though they're completely stained up and soiled  some are and some aren't and what are you planning   on doing with the doll clothes i can get good  money for some of them and she's not focusing on   larger things like the antiques and the  garden equipment and the larger things   that'll actually help her out spending a lot of  time talking about this instead of letting me   go through some of the stuff that's spending  a lot of time on trash when we need to focus   on things that are worth money okay so you can  live a great life you're pissing me off just   let me at least do this one box right now and  see how long it takes me to do a couple boxes   my mom and michelle they don't really see  eye to eye they argue on a day-to-day basis becky we have three minutes okay well  we cannot come back to this area well   i have to give up well then i guess you're  gonna have to give up okay and then you will   have to leave my house i'm not going to be  able to handle this so this is all trash   but i haven't even looked through the rest of  this but it doesn't matter we're running out of   time in your trash how are we no this is what  you say is trash so here's an ice cream scoop   that goes with my dragons what dragons i have my  wooden dragons you do realize nothing is coming   home that is going to okay i get it okay accept  that yes i get it that goes with my brother get it   okay don't try amazing well listen to  me how can i help but listen to you   i said i heard you no actually you didn't  because i couldn't finish my sentence   i'm going home i can't get through to her this  is just the same game she's been playing forever   we can do this in five minutes you sit there and  you say yes no yes no this come on put it in the   big box there learn greek no put it down there  you're not keeping a car put it in there no no   why because when you're keeping this can i  throw it in the trash i don't give it okay   yeah hi dorothy hi sorry to interrupt walter watch  it becky is only going through the trash but let's   see what's in here that's all pulling stuff off  the truck i want to look at these plastic bags   and see what's in them is not allowing us to put  anything into trash oh no they're they're valuable   that was valuable as roadkill 20 people rendered  powerless look at everyone sitting there waiting   right i know i want to try to get down there but  you're spending all this time you haven't made   any i'm waiting for you could i impose on you  to come over and um lay down the law with us   because you're the man with the power let me  head over there now about a half an hour away this is real quick trash well as quick  as i'm making it okay i'm making it quick   well do you want that yes i  want that why it's broken look   i can see i'm not blind there's not i'm  gonna stick it someplace where bend over okay   i'm out of here i'm done yep well  you're so pushy about it michelle i have a poem written about my experiences with  claire old newspapers as far as the eye can see   claire's cafe is a makeshift outdoor kitchen with  a warm refrigerator that smells like a dead cat   this fridge i have heard some of her  poetry i'm really not a big poetry fan   good morning everybody hello we have a huge  crew here my name is matt paxton i'm an extreme   cleaning specialist we have a lot to do this  is a unique situation where if you get into   the government system and you don't comply with  local code then something that was a molehill   does really become a mound we're gonna get rid  of a bunch of these trees we gotta get rid of   a bunch of junk we gotta move some cars and then  we gotta go inside the house basically just looks   kind of a hurricane came through the house and  they just never really got the ambition to fix it   we are gonna say yes ma'am the entire day to you  okay there's a reason for that we're gonna get you   back in the habit of being respected everyone's  going to say yes ma'am it's not because you're old   you are old but it's not because you're old  all right because we we appreciate you and   respect you all right you ready to get going  yep all right tell these guys let's go guys we had a backhoe we had a couple repo  guys came in and took cars real quick   man this is a big one we had to  bring in the squad for this one pool is pretty gross all right so here it  is this is the pool ah that's not a pool   that's a that's a pond keep those please  they're not right man that can go out   yes ma'am before lunch claire was able  to really think about her decisions   you're doing fabulous unfortunately when she  thinks too much it slows her down but that's   the way her brain works please don't  let them take down too much i mean the here's what they're doing is what brings the  house to code he's let this house go over   25 years and we're seeing that today i don't  like that well that's how it's supposed to be we lost claire at lunchtime i don't know where  she is it's been about an hour and a half now   i got almost 30 people here ready to work and i  need to be respectful to claire and let her have   say in what's going on but i'm paying 30 people  by the hour to sit here and wait for claire   the important things that claire needs to manage  her pain and discomfort and she also has to   stay aware so she can own her own decisions  now she did come back and looked more tired   she looked less aware she was dozy we found out  about halfway through the day that her medication   keeps her going till around two and we lost her  i mean middle of a sentence she just dropped   walmart or macy's or jc penny if her state is too  altered tomorrow might be a big shock for her is   she gonna really own that she made those decisions  or will she feel tricked clear clear come back all right she's going to want to keep this  so i don't know what we're going to want   to put michelle has had to take on a lot of  responsibilities that she's never asked for   so she's completely fed up and letting becky have  it that's completely understandable you like to   manipulate everyone you like to take advantage  of everyone you never say sorry or thank you   to anyone i don't i'm trying to make things fast  because i can pick things out of a bag really fast   what are you gonna do with this besides sticking  out my as you already told me you're gonna do   it's just an expression cause you pissed  me off that's all well you can get out of   my house because you pissed me off oh all  right look i am so tired so am i oh i have   a conference call you know why because i have to  make money for everyone to live to pay your bills   becky i've lost my patience with you and i'll  tell you how it's going to work if it's not done   by tomorrow all right i'm going to serve legal  papers against you sure it's going to take 30 days   in 30 days i'm going to come cut your locks  off the trucks are going to pull up here   all right and everything's going to go on the  top and in the trucks and out to the landfill   i'm not going to source through one item and  that's what's going to happen okay i'm serious   i mean hey i've been i've been very patient  with you i i tell you you've been wonderful   i'm happy that walter's um doing what he  needs to do i mean that's the bottom line   it's basically junk you can't knock the guys  let her pretty much squat here for a year here let me say it please what oh that's a crush  take that out i want that whole thing you're   really going against everything you uh intended to  do today no i'm not i just thought i had the right   i don't know what's in these other big plastic  bags well we have the right that you determined   you wanted the stuff to go into the trash now  you're taking stuff back i never determined it   they put it here and they said quote i could go  through it before it went on the truck to decide   if you keep going through the trash you're not  getting anywhere becky made her home right in   front of the trash truck there wasn't a way that  we could get anything on the truck whatsoever   look instead of being a pain in the  ass would you just take an opinion   will you please pick up this box for me and  what if i say no it's going on the track   no then i'll carry it down myself sure you  would it's getting to be she was protecting   her no value items while everything else was  sitting out what we did was organize around her the marbles really probably about twelve to  eighteen hundred dollars in there in total   that whole bin is in pretty rough shape if there's  fifty to a hundred bucks in there i'd probably be   surprised you could have another 50 75 bucks in  here depends on what you find inside some of these   boxes it's all saleable at a low level as long as  one's expectations are equal parts money and gone mom we don't have time to go through the  trash twice okay well let's somebody's   gone through the trash twice they've  gone through it once to get it here   and then you're going through  it again uh one-on-one makes two   we gotta make sense of this nonsense it's not  coming to our place one way okay yeah let's at least he didn't say i could walk out  in the street and try to get hit by a bus i have a concern about this family when i'm  around them it's if everybody's floating   i know that for claire it's  a illness it's the level of   medication she has to take to deal with  her pain clear clear come back clear claire is out of it man she took that medicine at  lunch and boom i mean it was a switch we can't go   in and clean the house and remove items  with someone that is medically not aware denise can we invade our privacy a  little bit denise was very instrumental   in trying to have two agendas met i won't take  much of your time one was to have the house   cleared so she would have a place to live  and the other was to bring health to claire   i believe once she got it kicked in motion  she pulled back why are you staying away today a friend of mine called up and i did  receive this job from her several weeks ago   to do a portrait she's bringing over the money and   we need the money mill today she came out  she goes i've got an art job to do today   what the hell does that mean are you gonna be able  to help out absolutely absolutely okay absolutely   i'm just gonna chill out get my head together you  know do a little meditation and tomorrow i should   be back on track i put that out into the universe  this whole family has just gotten into this   lazy sunday syndrome and they just  they've been coasting for 12 years   the broom i must keep yeah what about this tarp  here take it don't bring any cockroaches here get rid of it all right so real quick i want  to check in to make sure our goal is still to   empty the garage to get the delorean in is the  delorean more important than 80 of that stuff   sure hey junk let's go let's get the guys  let's get everybody in here let's get going claire saw a lot of things put  into the truck and she was getting   anxious nervous it was so important for her to  say wait there's a few things that i want to keep   she's looking in the truck peeking in she snuck  a few items while i was coming up to talk to her   for insurance purposes you're not allowed  to go in that truck well i wasn't in the   truck okay you know what i mean now like once  like i'm not even allowed to cross this one i'm okay i'm out i gotta tell you  man she is a tough woman she popped   right up she brushed it off i tripped over a roof we've done a ton of work everybody's  exhausted everybody's frustrated we're   not even close to being on the outside  more or less getting into the inside with the amount of work we got to  do tomorrow i'm not very hopeful hey i hope you're enjoying the marathon are you  don't forget to watch hoarders on sundays at 7   a.m eastern on a e oh and if you're interested  in becoming a professional organizer like me   just visit www.bossorganizer.com  and come to my free web class you need to do about 86 boxes an hour today  in order to finish i'm looking to leave the   country what's more important sanity or stuff if  we don't do this then you won't have that i feel   like i'm getting raped right now i'll tell you  well i bet that's how it feels to you actually   when i begged you not to bring this up and you did  it it totally stinks i know exactly how you feel we got to get going match up puzzle pieces  we got to get going to move in to to get this   everything's organized where does this go all  right you can take it about this okay that's   we will you can take that whole set antique yep  all right keep this white okay what about this   that can go antique people they go with the  antiques yeah everything under it is in antique this is not going what is it what are you  going to do after 30 days with all this stuff we don't have time for this just get out we don't  have time for this get off now we don't have time   for this we have 500 boxes no you're wasting  everybody's time oh hey michelle i'm pulling all   the boxes out and they're they're going somewhere  oh shut up i'm not gonna waste my time anymore   what becky's doing right now is completely  deflecting making decisions you're worried   about the most piddly that's great  she is not addressing the need at hand i just feel very exhausted right now it's a  faster clip than i'm able to keep up with you   see what they're doing down here you've got to  go through 500 boxes and do it fast i'm being   treated like i'm stupid set all that [ __ ]  down i'm going to right over here all right   becky we have all these boxes of sort so come on  and i'm not used to that because i'm not stupid she shouldn't even be allowed  to have a say what in the world   a box within a box why would  anybody keep stuff like this becky i have walter here rebecca hello  there's a pile of trash next to the   office right yes that has to go that  entire pile cannot be left here no no   at the end of the day right there  we're all on the same page here yep okay here's what we accomplished today we  went from 16 storage units down to four everybody did their best but you know what oh good  there was a big roadblock and her name was becky   i don't know that i'm necessarily trying to keep  too much because some things i'm keeping the boxes   and stuff because i haven't gone through them  yet at the end of the day there's still many   problems my house is still being hoarded  she still owes walter a lot of money and   it's a shame i don't think it'll ever change i  didn't get out of what i thought we would i'll   never be back at these units i'm done i'm  totally done i'm incredibly concerned about   becky's relationship with her son friend michelle  the very thing that's at the heart of their   conflict is still there nothing's been resolved  becky didn't learn anything from this at all because of time we're really gonna have to push   pretty quick through here and  make more sweeping decisions we're gonna focus straight ahead and to the left and remember we're always looking  for items to show her what we've got but my bra here thank you now the stuff's coming out  of the house she's getting   about everything nervous thrown away yeah i would  because a lot is getting thrown away this is a   very real real situation we lose all these guys  today we have a half a day really we have six hours i picked up the one thing i knew that dean  wanted these five weed whackers and i let   claire know i said look you let dean know i'm  throwing these away right now dean yo dean what do you want to do with those weed whackers  they're ready to throw them away what do you want   not in five minutes not in 10 minutes these are  going to the traction list lessee wants them   immediately dean shows up where are  the weed whackers at mom he's pissed him we're happy to save them if you  want them you just need to tell us here they are dean here they are if that's what you're going to get every day every  hour by hour you don't know what's going to happen   why would we want the house to be totally clean so  that they both could move into the house with you   if they're going to yell and scream at  you that's not going to happen for you   am i going to move in there i don't know my mom  will have me yeah i'd like to stay close with it   i don't think it would be good  for you whether you feel like   you should or shouldn't do it i just  don't think it would be good for you what do you think oh boy a lot of stuff is  missing you're right we have put a band-aid   on a broken leg this is not going to go away  right now i feel like you'd probably rather   go stay at a friend's house than stay here  you're right even with all the trash out   it still may be condemned we don't know i believe  i will have the property in order by the time they   plan the inspections what do you think wow what  do you think so far i'm disappointed that my mom   couldn't move back in i'm really excited because  i just sold a portrait so unfortunately i wasn't   able to be as involved as i would have liked  to have been claire and dean both made it clear   that we love each other we say that to each other  every day but what is love love requires work that   love that takes courage and hard work to get in  there deal with the problem clean up the house   that's where you see love manifested in real life the storage unit industry is a 38 billion dollar  business people like becky keep these places in   business now it's one thing to have a storage unit  or two and access what you need when you need it   but it's totally different ball game when you are  facing homelessness and no longer have the money   to pay for your 16 storage units in which you're  renting yeah it's my job to help becky clear these   storage units and encourage her to sell her stuff  so she can have enough money to get an apartment i   remember reviewing each storage unit and creating  a timeline for achieving the goal of organizing   sorting and selling becky's stuff most hoarders  and their family members fail to realize how long   it really takes to manage a project like this and  it's my job to help make that clear for them i do   this by doubling or tripling the length of time  they think it will take to do the work in this   episode it's hard to watch ken's struggle between  these two overpowering women he has this fiery   fiancee michelle on one side and his sarcastic mom  becky on the other and both are so strong-willed   and they both did exactly what they wanted to do  separate from one another now neither one of them   like the other's plan and they simply worked at  odds for the entire project for people who hoard   renting storage units can be dangerous the  items stored are usually never easily retrieved   and sometimes never retrieved and thousands  and thousands of dollars are lost over time   look to rent 16 storage units at 150 bucks a  month for a year you would be spending almost   thirty thousand dollars a year times ten  years which is often the case with hoarders   that's well over a quarter of a million dollars  in storage unit payments well that's it for right   now i hope you enjoyed the marathon and don't  forget to watch hoarders on sundays at 7 00 a.m   eastern on a e oh and if you're interested  in becoming a professional organizer like me   visit www.bossorganizer.com to join my free web  class see you next time hi thanks for being a   fan of hoarders and subscribe to a e for more  videos and click the links around me to watch more

Channel: A&E

Views: 1,450,835

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Id: Emqp3O6BmTg

Length: 238min 33sec (14313 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 29 2020