LOR in action

One moment life encompasses the mundane like laundry, vacuuming and grocery shopping, but in the next all that can change. That was the case for one of Load of Rubbish’s clients recently. An older gentleman was going about his day when he was hit by a massive stroke. He survived, but the reality was that he would never be able to function on his own again. The house, which he had lived in since 1968, would never be home again; he moved to a nursing home from hospital.

Estate Cleanup From the 60s

dated decor

The decor hadn’t changed much since the owner moved in almost 50 years ago

Load of Rubbish got a phone call from the man’s sister-in-law. Her and her son were in charge of dismantling the contents of the home and putting the house up for sale. And they needed a lot of help.

It was obvious the house couldn’t be sold as is. Everything was exactly as it had been left the day the owner went to hospital. The fridge was full of food. Clothes were in closets. Personal effects were everywhere. As much as the sister-in-law lived down the street, it was still a massive undertaking to go through everything to make the house presentable. Hence the phone call to Load of Rubbish.

Kelvin and Chris Rouse arrived in August to assist with the estate cleanup and began to purge.

“The size of their truck was a huge advantage,” the sister-in-law said. “They took three loads out of the house.”

Filling the truck can seem like a game of tetris, but we do our best to maximize space to save time and money

Filling the truck can seem like a game of tetris, but we do our best to maximize space to save time and money

And that was just to stage the house for sale.

No other junk removal company in London can match Load of Rubbish’s 600-cubic-foot capacity truck. And our commitment to recycling and repurposing as much of the items we come across as we can means less waste sent to landfill.

“They are doing a grand job for us”

The job wasn’t done there though. Once the house sold, Load of Rubbish returned to clean out the last of the items. In this case, many items weren’t able to be saved. Donation centres do not accept beds (bed bugs are a huge problem), so all mattresses were garbage. Some of the furniture was so old that the cushions crunched when squeezed. No saving that foam! Other items, like ripped or soiled furniture, are also a no-go.

These lamps will get the chance to brighten someone else's home

These lamps will get the chance to brighten someone else’s home

A truck load of rubbish later, the garage was still full. Many of the remaining items will see life again though. Lamps, clocks, cabinets, and artwork can all be donated. A lifetime worth of stuff was whittled down to garage full of excess debris. And that would be dispersed before the week was done.

The memories of the man who lived in the home will live on in his family’s minds, along with the few items salvaged by them. Knowing that the hassle of dismantling a whole estate was made easy via the helping hands at Load of Rubbish is priceless. When there are so many other things to worry about—lawyers, doctors, real estate dealings, nursing homes, etc—the price of hiring an estate cleanout company is well worth it.