St Just sits at the far western tip of the peninsula, a former mining town of granite cottages and a strong community. The property we cleared there looked, from the street, like any other house on the row.
Inside, years of severe hoarding had left every room in a state of significant neglect. Heavy mould growth, decades of accumulated debris, and a bathroom, kitchen and staircase that had stopped being usable some time ago.
How we work a job like this
Room by room, and without judgement. That second part matters more than any technique. People who call us about a hoarded property have usually been putting off the call for a long time, sometimes years, and often it is a family member calling rather than the person who lives there. Nobody needs an opinion from the clearance company.
The practical approach is to work through the build-up in layers rather than trying to empty a room in one go, clearing, then cleaning, then assessing what is underneath. You often cannot see the floor, the walls or the fittings until you are well into it.
The bathroom was the most striking change on this job. Caked in grime, with a heavily soiled bath, toilet and sink, it had been unusable. It is clean and functional now. A bedroom coated floor to ceiling in black mould, a kitchen buried under rubbish, a damp and decaying staircase, all cleared and brought back to a habitable standard.
What was salvaged
More than anyone expected, and not only in the obvious sense. Salvageable items were separated out for donation or reuse, and waste went to a licensed facility rather than being lumped into one skip.
But the real salvage on this job was the house itself. Underneath it all were original floorboards, granite stone walls, timber joinery and a beautiful arched window that had been hidden for years. That character was still there the whole time. It just needed uncovering.
If you are dealing with a hoarded property in St Just, Penzance or anywhere in West Cornwall, call us. We will visit, look at it properly and give you a written price, and we have seen worse than yours.
See the full set of before and after photographs from this job.