Insanitary conditions and hoarding
Insanitary conditions and hoarding
This is not a house clearance. They are two trades, two methods and two prices — and confusing them is the first source of unpleasant surprise.
Clearance and decontamination are not the same thing
A clearance takes objects out. Decontamination deals with what they left behind: impregnated floors and walls, organic soiling, pests, odour settled into porous materials. Taking the volume out without treating the substrate gives you an empty property that still smells, and that cannot be relet.
At the survey we say what falls under each, and we price them separately. That is also what lets a landlord or a family decide what to have done and what to do themselves.
The order of decisions
Nothing starts without written authorisation from whoever holds the right to the property — occupant, owner, landlord, or court-appointed representative where a protective measure is in place. Where several parties are involved, it is that question that takes the time, not the work.
We throw away nothing that has not been decided. Papers, identity documents and objects that appear to hold value or personal significance are set aside and handed over, not removed. In a city-centre flat, removal goes down the stairwell: we allow for that in the quote rather than discovering it on the day.
What the work covers
Sorting and removal
Separate streams. Anything to be handed back is set aside.
Decontamination
Floors, walls, washrooms, contact points.
Porous materials
Treated or removed: they are what holds the odour.
Record
Written record of what was treated, handed over at completion.
What governs the lead time
No access lead time: this work happens in town, outside restricted areas. The calendar depends on the written authorisation and, where applicable, on the occupant’s administrative situation — which is almost always what fixes the date.
What we will not do
We do not enter without written authorisation from whoever holds the right, whatever urgency a third party claims. We destroy no document or object whose fate has not been decided. We give no legal advice on eviction, probate or protective measures, and we do not work on the fabric of the building.
Questions about this service
- Clearance or decontamination — how do we know?
- At the survey. If there is only a volume of objects to remove and the surfaces are sound, it is a clearance and we say so — including when that loses us the job. As soon as there is impregnation, organic soiling, pests or odour in the substrates, it is decontamination, and a clearance alone will settle nothing.
- Whose authorisation is needed?
- Whoever holds the right to the property: the occupant, the owner, the landlord, or the court-appointed representative where a protective measure is in place. A neighbour, a relative or a managing agent is not enough, and we do not start without it in writing.
Give us the window.