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Pack rats store food
d in their tiny homes. In this way they survive the cooler seasons. So we chose the title, "Pack Rat Cleanup" for this web site. Some times the media refers to hoarders as "pack rats" for the same reason I chose the pack rat title.
I see the pack rat cleanup business as a bit more than a cleaning business. I see it as a "skin trade." By "skin trade" I mean something like barbering, hair styling, and any other trade in contact with people. Granted, I do not touch my clients like others in the skin trades. I get nearly as close by entering my clients' homes and touching their personal belongings.
What could be closer to a person than their personal belongings? What helps to define who we are than by our purchases? Many people keep their purchases for many years and never open their boxes. Some of us loose our energy and begin to leave utensils, papers, clothing, and other household property lying about. It becomes too easy to discard a shirt or blouse, and then say, "later."
We might drift off to sleep, or find something on television to avoid thinking about problems. Some of our problems have no solutions in sight. So the better we feel by thinking less about them. Sooner or latter this pattern of letting our clothing and other goods pile up becomes a problem in its own right.
Some pack rat dwellers move from their homes to their garage and later into their backyard. Even buckets with human waste begin to clutter the backyard as the pack rat attitude weighs down their physical energy reserves. It seems to the pack rat that they're living in a nightmare. They seem to experience one of those slow motion nightmares. Everything seems to move in slow motion and the harder one tries to run, the slower they move.
Clutter is physical, mental, emotional, and relational. `
This book is organized by season: winter; spring; summer and fall (autumn). Winter coincides with New Year in the northern hemisphere, so those of us in the southern
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At times pack rat conditions include physical health concerns for residents. Sanitary conditions no longer exist because piles of clutter serve as habitat for insects, mice, or rats. Sometimes cats, dogs, birds, and even reptiles live within the home's clutter. After years of nesting among the cluttered items biological issues become THE issue. Usually our client's in Irvine prefer anonymity.
Many times callers request our pack rat cleanup services while in the hospital. Perhaps a surgery lead to a need to return their home to a safe condition. Perhaps a medical condition related to the home's pack rat life-style lead to a hospital stay. Relatives call for telephone information and relate how their relation will soon return home in need of a cleaned home.
Pack rat cleanup duties reveal animal waste, including feces, hair, birthing tissues, and urine create a complex odor. At times animal caused odors permeate the entire home's contents. At times the home's odors reach neighbor's windows or the public sidewalk. For homes like these, we find removing the contents most beneficial. We find cleaning the walls, floors, kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms helps reduce animal odors. Pack rat cleanup often involves more than removing property, we find.
During summer months in Irvine we find our solutions drying out quickly and building heat remains in clutter. Such conditions cause us a little more time, but we have come to expect challenge from weather conditions in Irvine's heat.
By scrubbing and rinsing with powerful cleaning solutions and disinfectants, some odors vanish. Others linger, and still, some odors adhere tenaciously. In the end, when all else fails, we must seal walls with sealers designed to cover stains and odors. Ozone generators now become pack rat cleanup tools as biohazard waste cleanup techniques come into play.
When animal issues arise, they usually arise in corners where dogs and cats urinate and defecate. Over time piles of poop build and contaminate walls and floors. Some times we save soiled walls and soiled floors, but not always. Some times we sand walls and floors, and then seal them. Some times we must remove what we sealed because sealing failed.
How much do we remove?
As directed by responsible parties, we remove any inherited items without use-value. By use-value we mean items with a history of use. We mean items with a future for use. Good shoes, good clothing that fits, tools, canned food, hygiene products actually used still have use-value.
We store anything with use value. Keep use-value items in a "safe room" or under an awning until ready to decide its future.
The ourselves, the older pack rat cleanup clients become, the more inherited items we store. Eventually we forget where we keep so many of our inherited items. This loss of property tells us something wrong hampers our life-style. When mom or dad's china or drill motor has no use, but for memories, take pictures and send these inheritables to the Good Will or someone else. Orange County's landfills serve our needs in the regard very nicely and for a fair price.
Often times in Irvine pack rats grew up in a pack rat house. And when they inherit property from their family, they inherit clutter. Unless you know absolutely that something has use-value, get rid of it. TOP
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Keep what you need, not what you want.
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Remove everything heavily soiled by animal or human waste. If you must keep it, keep it outdoors until time allows for cleaning.
How much do I store?
"Simple in means, rich in ends," we say. Living this life-style in Irvine requires commitment and awareness. Irvine's many malls and strip-malls offer so many great buys. Plus, we have Home Depot, Sam's Club, Cosco, and so many other neat places to shop in Irvine.
It's hard to walk out of many stores without buying something. It seems that we have a great need for stuff while in the store. When we reach home we've lost interest.
We believe that clutter has no place when bought many times, but well organized emergency supplies have use everyplace, everyday throughout Irvine.
Store Emergency Supplies
We cannot say enough about storing emergency supplies. Storing emergency supplies in more than one place makes sense, too. Water, canned food, packaged dried food (Meals Ready to Eat), medical supplies, flashlights, candles, fuel (store very safely), small radios, pen and paper, books related to survival, and other preferred emergency items should join your emergency supplies.
As it happens, only you have the answer to this question about how much to store. If you choose not to answer it and give us a "move out" order, this means we move everything out. We can move your property to a landfill. We can move your property to a landfill and the Good Will, or elsewhere. It's all up to you. TOP
Emotions
Another way to look at this question means questioning your emotional condition. Emotions, after all, lead to pack rat conditions. There's no way around this simple explanation for living like pack rats, storing more than you need for any one lifetime. We discussed how easy we find something to buy in Irvine's wonderful stores above. Now, it's time for something personal.
When's the last time you said something like this: I can't get anything done?
You can't get stuff done because you need to move something to get to something you need. Then you probably need to move something else to find a place to use what you've already dug out. Now you've moved 3 items. So you probably say something like this:
- I'll do it later.
- It's not really important anyway.
- I'm overwhelmed so why try?
- If only I wasn't so tired.
- I'm going out to eat.
- I'll hire someone later to clean for me.
Too often, most probably, you may not remember where you left what you really need. You do find what you want, or when you do not find what you want, you buy it again.
So the real question becomes, How much can I live without?
Once you know what you can live without, you know what you need to live. Some people make a list before we clean. Some people wait a while and see where their behavior leads. If they resume their previous unwanted behavior, we recommend a "need list." This list includes food, water, and shelter.
The first day of a "needs list" requires about an hour of work and imagination. Over time this list grows daily. Its importance goes to what the list keeper wants from their life. What goes on the list becomes part of their life. These listed items may enter the list keepers home, but nothing else. So don't buy anything not on the list.
Anything found in a store or elsewhere does not go on the list keeper's list after the fact. It goes on before buying it. Its price, size, and use should join the list too. Once a list becomes pages long, it's time to do some self-searching and begin weaning items from a list keeper's list.
List keeping mirrors the reality of life as lived in any Irvine home. It's not a wish list or a want list. It's a needs list.
Emotions turn your home into a storage shed. (return)
Beware of those items with an emotional hold over your life. Keep what you need, not what you want.
Needs
- Books
- Cleaning materials
- Clothing
- Cooking utensils
- Electronics
- Food
- Furniture
- Legal Papers
- Your guess
How much do we cut out?
We use 3 considerations when it comes to cutting out walls and floors:
- Cut the least to reduce costs.
- Cut soiled areas only.
- Cut large areas sized to fit replacement materials.
How much do we sand?
Our sanding task focuses on reducing odors and removing soiled material embedded into walls and floors. When soiling materials do not come out with scrubbing and easy sanding, then we begin vigorous sanding.
If the dweller desires, we will sand and entire floor for an agreed upon price. We also offer to seal these floors, but not to a professional finish.
How much do we seal?
We seal what we believe relieves the dwelling of odors. This may include small patches of soiled floors or walls, and it may include entire rooms, floor to ceiling.
How much do we chemically treat?
We usually strong solutions of detergents and bleach. Given time and conditions we use enzymes designed to digest urine, feces, and other biological materials.
Any time we use a strong bleach solution we must ventilate heavily. After treating with bleach and water we must neutralize the bleached area.
How much do we charge?
Prices depend on conditions found, estimated time for cleanup, and assets offered by responsible parties.
Conditions found means the number of rooms involved, the depth of clutter and soiling, and requests for move out services. Move out services include removing furniture to landfills and other locations.
Readers will soon see a strong relationship between prices and the amount of time required for pack rat cleanup.
How much time do we take?
Conditions plus labor equals time required for pack rat cleanup. So more labor in heavier soiling and clutter means higher prices. When 3 pack rat cleanup technicians work, their labor sometimes results in quick cleanup. When 1 pack rat cleanup technician works, her/his labor take at least 3 times longer and probably longer.
The advantage of more labor means quicker pack rat cleanup. The advantage of less labor means slower, but less expensive pack rat cleanup.
Critical Cleaning Point
Some clients prefer letting us clean until a critical point, and at this point they take over the cleaning. This approach helps those families unable to cope with enormity of their cleaning tasks, an overwhelming emotional response to conditions. Once we reach this critical point, the family takes over. With this in mind, we require full payment for work completed. We also ask for a minimum amount due whether or not a critical point becomes part of our agreement with responsible parties.
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We know from our biohazard cleanup services that our cleaning services for entire dwelling cleanup work. Prices, time required, and
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