Looking for help in cleaning up a cat hoarders house

[needhelpinny]

I am trying to find a general contractor or someone similar who can help me get a house cleaned up due to a cat hoarding situation.

There were approximately 32 cats in this house for at least 10 years.
Obvious work that needs to be done would be carpet removal, electrical work, plumbing work, wall and door repair, fumigation, etc.

I have no idea where to start or who to call. I realize this is an extremely unusual and obnoxious job for anyone to do. Are there cleaning companies that specialize in this?

The work would be in the Watkins Glen area of NY.

[mamabear]

are you going to be living in this house? what happen to the person who had all the cats?

What happen to all the cats?

Has the house been inspected to make sure it is sound?

[needhelpinny]

She (the woman who has the cats) just got "caught" 2 weeks ago. She has been told that she can keep 3 cats, the rest will be taken to the Humane Society in the area. She's going to move out of the house while the work is being done. No one has inspected the house as we are just starting to try to figure out what needs to be done. We're facing a time crunch as we want to try to have the house repaired before winter.

[mamabear]

Also I dont think you find someone proffesionally who will do the carpeting. You will have to pay someone out of pocket, maybe a friend or someone who refers someone. There are many spanish men looking for work, like the guys who do landscaping, they work really hard and as long as you are there and tell them what to do and how you want it done they do it right and dont fool around. They bring lunch and take a break to eat and that is it.

You might want after everything is ripped out ofthe house to get a cleaning service like merry maids or something like that in your area and have them do a good cleaning. Look under switchboard.com and search for merry maids and it will show you who is in your area. Remember tho they dont do many things and on their websites they show what they do and you can call them as well.

[needhelpinny]

Thanks for the suggestions but do you really think someone who hasn't been exposed to extreme amount of ammonia and other conditions would be interested in doing this type of job?

The other problem is, those of us who need to help this lady live out of state so we need to be able to coordinate this long distance.

[Cleo]

Try looking up people/companies in the hazmat (hazardous materials) industry. They've got the suits, respirators and equipment to stay guarded against odors and other liquids, solids, etc. that is harmful or in this case, annoying. I realize a cat hoarder's house is probably not up there on their priorities list, but it's worth a phone call to at least find out or get a recommendation. They may be able to refer you to cleanup companies that do work after floods, fires, etc.

You could try and hire a day laboror and provide masks, protective overgarments, etc. but I'd honesty get someone who is trained and licensed, especially for the electrical and plumbing work.

In a case like this, where the drywall, floorboards, doors have probably been soaked with urine, no amount of paint is going to seal and cover that. Gutting the house would be the best bet.

Not sure if the woman has a place or the means to stay elsewhere during the work, but that will probably help speed things along without someone in the way or to have to work around.

[MJ]

I think it's very possible professional cleaning companies would do this... But I can't specifically help you find one.

I can suggest trying to look for services using the terms HEAVY cleaning or maybe even industrial cleaning though... There are a lot of nasty things that need to be cleaned up sometimes... Much, much nastier things than a cat lady's home... So SOMEONE has to be out there to do it. Hahaha.

In my opinion, you should never ever ever just hire friends or friends of friends or "just some guy" to do work for you. Never. Of course, I've just personally witnessed far too many times where this can go badly... Shabby work, unfinished jobs, people doing more damage to the house that makes it more costly to fix than it would have been to go to professionals to begin with... It's ridiculous.

If it does come down to using random unskilled labor though, there's a somewhat better alternative... Find a local temporary labor company. An example of this is Labor Ready, though there are a lot of different companies. These places at least have contracts with both you and the workers, so that if work is done badly or there are issues with payment, you have a contract and a company to work with, not just random people you paid in cash.

They deal in a little bit of everything that requires unskilled labor, so... They may accept something like this. I can't guarantee it, but I'd strongly suggest trying them before hiring random people. :P

Edit: Cleo beat me by just a little bit! I was still typing when she responded, hahaha.

I also like her suggestion of calling someone in the hazmat field... If they don't do things like this themselves, they may indeed at least have some idea who you should call.

[Marty]

Would a fire restoration company do it? They do odor control and sanitizing, but I don't know if their expertise would extend to this.

[Traci]

She (the woman who has the cats) just got "caught" 2 weeks ago. She has been told that she can keep 3 cats, the rest will be taken to the Humane Society in the area. She's going to move out of the house while the work is being done. No one has inspected the house as we are just starting to try to figure out what needs to be done. We're facing a time crunch as we want to try to have the house repaired before winter.

What is the time frame of this? You said she was "caught" and instructed she can only keep 3 cats, and "the rest will be taken to the Humane Society". When did the charges take place? Are the cats in custody of the Humane Society TODAY?

Um, if she was caught by a humane society inspector, charged and fined by a judge, then this is a state-appointed issue between the woman and the judge etc. If she owns the house, it's her responsibility, not yours nor anyone else's, to clean up and make the house habitable. If the authorities determined the house was not fit for animals, then it is most certainly not fit for human habitation, and this is an issue between them and her. A public health inspector is most often the one appointed by a judge to determine extent of damage and what needs to be done. A process here, the inspector can then recommend people to help her get the house back to habitable condition.

Personally, whether the hoarding was intentional or not, it very well might be a vital lesson to this woman to have to come up with the solutions herself, it is actually soley her responsibility.

Not knowing what is going on exactly, while I can understand you're wanting to help, I think it would be somewhat risky to offer help from "out-of-state", particularly in this situation.

[needhelpinny]

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful suggestions. We will probably investigate all of them.

This lady is my significant other's Mother. I don't know all the specifics except that the phone company came to fix something, 2 guys, and one of them refused to come into the house. He reported her.

I know someone from the Humane Society was there as well as others but I don't believe she was criminally charged. I'm assuming if she wasn't willing to voluntarily give up the cats and get the house fixed, than she may be.

She is retired. I honestly don't believe she is capable of handing this by herself. I believe she knew it was inevitable that she would get caught.

It has all happened so quickly and as you can imagine is a sensitive as well as stressful situation.