An Oakville family called us the week after their father’s funeral. He had been living alone in a bungalow near Lakeshore and Kerr for 40 years and had declined visits for the last three. The home was in Level 3 condition. The three adult children - one in Toronto, one in Burlington, one in Calgary - wanted every family photo, letter, document and keepsake found and returned. They were not in a rush.
The Situation
The family wanted a crew who understood that a cleanup is not a disposal exercise when a parent has lived in a home for 40 years. They wanted the pace to allow for finding things. They wanted a single crew lead who stayed with the job start to finish. They wanted the home ready to list by the end of the following month.
We dispatched a three-person crew Monday morning in unmarked white vans. The Toronto-based adult child was on site for the day-one walkthrough and the day-five handoff. The Burlington child joined for days three and four. The Calgary child was briefed by phone each evening with that day’s photos and finds.
The Scope
Scope landed at $5,500 to $10,500 for an Oakville bungalow with 40 years of accumulated contents. Final invoice came in at $8,800. ICD Level 3. Service type: senior hoarding cleanup, family-coordinated keep inventory, HEPA decontamination, estate preparation.
Timeline: 5 days. Day one for walkthrough and documentation. Days two through four for sorted sweep and keep inventory. Day five for deep clean, verification and family handoff.
The Process
- Day 1 - Walkthrough and documentation. Keep list agreed with the family. Dated photos of every room, four angles. Three labelled boxes staged for keep items.
- Days 2 and 3 - Sorted sweep. Every drawer, closet and bookshelf opened and sorted. Photos, letters, documents, jewellery, military items, ID documents catalogued as found. First disposal container filled with non-salvageable contents only after keep-item review.
- Day 4 - Keep review and inventory handoff. Family on site for the second review. Items from the “possible keep” tray added to the formal keep boxes. Everything else disposed.
- Day 5 - Deep clean, verification, listing prep. HEPA negative-air cycled overnight. Hospital-grade disinfection on hard surfaces. Walls spot-washed. Floors restored. Walkthrough with the Toronto-based child. Listing agent’s photographer booked for the following Monday.
Written workmanship warranty, WSIB registered, $2M CGL, IICRC S540 certified.
The Outcome
Family received three labelled boxes with every photo they expected to find and several they did not know existed. The home listed the following month and sold inside 18 days at the family’s asking price. The adult children held the funeral reception at a relative’s home and used our photos - the before and after of the father’s reading chair, cleaned and still in place - as the opening slide of the memorial.
A senior hoarding cleanup is not a disposal job. It is the last chance a family has to find a parent in their belongings. The pace matters. The keep boxes matter. The crew lead who stays start to finish matters.
