Hoarding - Springing Ahead

JustAboutThere

Got two loads of washing done, so that's good.

Bad - neighbour wants his builder to come over to work on some party wall 'thing'. Am now firmly in 'spin cycle'. Takes deep breath and tries not to panic (fails).

Will tell him he has to wait until I can get time off work - delaying tactic.

Keep hearing about soda crystals. If I want to use on my bathroom sink which is slow to clear and very yucky - do I just pour some (amount?) down drain and then hot water or is there some method.

Are there any hazards I need to be aware of - inhaling, eyes, etc.?

Sorry to sound stupid, but if I'm not sure of something, I let it wait.

Its time this was tackled.

Thanks.

whitewing

JAT,

Why don't you just let the builder come over and get on with it? They'll only be interested in the actual job. In my experience, delaying and worrying about it doesn't make it any better.

JustAboutThere

whitewing wrote: »

JAT,

Why don't you just let the builder come over and get on with it? They'll only be interested in the actual job. In my experience, delaying and worrying about it doesn't make it any better.

Trouble is - I can barely get in front room 'cos of all the paper and stuff on the floor. Other rooms are not any better.

Typical - just when I start to think I can begin to tackle this at my own pace. When I get pressured, I panic, stress and want to burrow.

I'm a disgrace.

pigpen

JAT!!... you are absolutely not a disgrace.. you are making progress and it may seem slow but how long did it take to get cluttered? It won't disappear overnight and every step forward makes it better!!. Take a deep breath and carry on.. a builder wants to get their work done and get paid, they are not interested in your home!.. paper is easy.. get a box, chuck it all in and burn it!! .. if it is on the floor you don't need it.. burn it and start again with it all in a file!

My kitchen is just about habitable so I had my range cooker professionally cleaned.. my treat to me for getting this far.. my next treat to me is going to be laminate in the back room.. I need to get a quote and empty it of gibble, trash, toys and junk so I can get it done but it will be beautiful if it kills me!

JustAboutThere

Pigpen,

Thank you.

This problem is of my making. It didn't happen overnight and it won't disappear overnight. There are places in my one bed flat I haven't been able to reach in about a decade.

I always beat myself up and one of my most used phrases is 'my mother didn't bring me up to keep house like this'. But then again, my mother was a SAHM and didn't work outside the house from when she married in the early 1960's. She hasn't a clue of what its like to leave home early in the morning, commute on public transport, work all day, get home and repeat.

I've had some minor health worries for the last year - some of which results in lack of memory, which didn't go down too well at work. So, that job finished. I spent five months at home where I should have been working on fixing the house and pretty much never left the sofa (my 'nest'), where I feel warm and 'safe'.

Due to severe anemia, getting dressed has me breathless and walking to the tube, gets me dizzy. I then have to do a day's work. I'm permanently shattered. I spend my weekend on the sofa recuperating.

I've also got mice. Although, I suspect they've taken a summer vacation as I haven't seen or heard them for a few weeks. One of the reasons I thought I'd start to tackle the problem. Trouble is, even though I've got latex gloves, when I get to a pile with mouse droppings, I get squeamish, feel overwhelmed and do the traditional (for me) "I'll deal with it tomorrow".

This place has been a mess much longer than I've had mice. I think they arrived when my garden fence was being replaced and I suspect the workmen had the backdoor open. Mind you, how'd they go on vacation unless there's an entrance/exit somewhere?

I'll ring the chap and try and ascertain what exactly he needs to see and/or work on. He may have to wait until I can get time off work as I'm not prepared to give him the keys to the flat.

One of the places he'll need to see is my bathroom along the party wall. I suppose I'd better find that light bulb I bought and actually put it in. I did try a couple of times, but kept thinking I was going to fall off the ladder and the bulb seemed too large for the fitting, although the vendor at the shop down the road assured me they were 'standard fittings'.

My bathroom is so small I can't unfurl the ladder properly - just have to lean it against one wall and prop myself against the other wall with my foot. Whilst reaching up to change bulbs (and hope its not 'on' when its connected 'cos I always want to jump back if that occurs). Not the safest manoeuvre in the book when you're up a ladder . . . I admit I tried twice, couldn't get it fitted, gave up and have continued not having a working light in the bathroom.

As I said, I daresay the builder will want illumination - talk about picky !!!

My whole place feels like one of those board games - the one with a space missing that you can't move a piece until another moves.

whitewing

let the workman put the bulb in for you/them.

I have anaemia too (came out in blood tests). I get the ferrous sulphate tablets from the chemist. 99p. I assume yours is being treated via your GP?
JAT, are you getting support with your decluttering? May be worth a trip to the GP for that? I know it is difficult to fit appointments in if you are working. Or, if you have funds, how about getting one of those specialist decluttering companies to quote you for a clean up. There are more around these days who know about hoarded houses. I think Jasmine's dehoarding website links to one company they used for her mum.

silvasava

JustAboutThere wrote: »

delaying tactic.

Keep hearing about soda crystals. If I want to use on my bathroom sink which is slow to clear and very yucky - do I just pour some (amount?) down drain and then hot water or is there some method.

Are there any hazards I need to be aware of - inhaling, eyes, etc.?


Thanks.

JAT - soda Crystals are BRILL for lots of things & cheap! If you put a bit of boiling water down the 'plugole' to warm things up & when its gone down put a cop of soda crystals down with another lot of boiling water. If the plug has been slow for some time you may need a couple or three goes to clear it properly. If you've got one of those rubber plunger thingies you can use that to help,or put some rubber gloves on & create a pumping suction with your hand.
Soda crystals dont give off any fumes so they're non hazardous as far as I know & I've been using them for years they soften the water and are a degreaser. I add a scoopful to the washing machine as it softens the water so cuts down on the amount of powder/liquid you need. I add it to hot soapy water to clean my windows & I also have some made up in a spray bottle for dirty collars & cuffs & greasy marks before they go in the wash.
Hope this helps

ps: Mice can get in through a hole no bigger than a Biro as they can compress their bodies. Keep decluttering/dehoarding as they've probably found a lovely warm place to nest & make sure you never leave any food out uncovered

anirtak191

afternoon all,
ive tried to catch up but i think im still half asleep, some bits not making sense so will re read later on.

softpad, i really hope you will be feeling better soon, i get problems with my back that i thought i had mainly sorted until i had a slip on the ice couple of years ago where i ended up back at sqaure 1 again with it. (think of a cartoon charecter slipping on a banana peel and you get a good idea of how i fell, both feet off the ground kinda laying vertically in the air then down straight on my back, actually getting a bit of a twinge thinking about it lol)

yellow dots, i have a photo of my gramps in a frame we lost him last novemeber, but its hidden behind other pictures. but i felt a need to keep his picture somewhere, my husband had a beautiful picture of his parents up, but his brother decided it was his and took it, my husband when he was feeling a bit down would actually go into the room where the picture was and talk to his parents, it seemed to help him in some way, not sure how long it took him to be able to have a picture up as he lost his parents before i knew him. he now only has a small picture of them up on the shelf in the living room, and he talks to that one but only when im not around.

jat, not sure if i understood what you were saying properly, like i said im half asleep still, but my bathroom sink is slow to clear, has been since i moved in, so no idea how long its been like that, i got one of those pump drain unblocker things that i use, its not brilliant but it helps, and the other thing that helps, and i know i shouldnt do it but i do it every couple of months, i pour some thick bleach down the plug hold, then i hold my breath and squeeze a good amount of the harpic power plus down with the bleach, due to chemicals mixing it foams up, rwally need to hold breath tho as the smell can be extremely strong and burns the throat, close bathroom door, then after about 10 minutes i poor some boiling water down to wash it away.
ive been told its got something to do with when the property was built and something to do with the layout of the pipes. i had same problem in kitchen but since the council has redone the kitchen plumbing an all its not been as slow to clear, i had a problem with my washing machine filling back up at one point as well, got a replacement for the same thing to happen to be told later yeah it was the layout of the pipes and the waste pipe wasnt actually high enough off the ground so instead of it draining out properly it would back back up into washing machine.

i have to say i dont think i have ever had any ufo's in my freezer, im a sucker for labeling everything, hubby brought home some of those yellow reduction stickers they use in shops once when he worked in one of the local small sm, as they didnt use those type of ones any more, so if anything comes out of the packaging or i cook something to freeze they all get labelled with those. item and date i put it in the freezer. they especially come in handy if i had some spare cash and go get some chops and steaks off the guy on the friday market. altho i will be honest if i can send soemone else i will cos hes one of them meat men that you say id like, and then he starts grabbing this that and the the other and going how about that will do that lot for you for x amount, and telling him all you got is a tenner and you like a small beef joint and some steaks maybe a pack of sausages, he puts what you want then an extra joint some extra chops grabs a pack of bacon and goes ill d that lot for 20, you say ive said i only got the tenner so he might take somethign off and go ok 15, so i try to send someoen else, cos then they say its not their money and he just does whats been asked for.

well spent the night at my nans sunday night, and at one point i started to think it might have been easier to drive down 6 am monday morning, it was the first time i have stayed there since gramps funeral, and i just couldnt sleep, i was actually in bed before 11, and had lights out by half past, 2 am i gave up and decided to go and have a cuppa, went down and when i opened the living room door, it smelt liek someone had smoked a fag in the last few minutes, witch is strange considering i smoke and dont normally smell it. had my cuppa read for a bit then went back up just after 3, was still awake when i heard nan getting up at half 4. think i managed to get just over an hours sleep before my alarm shocked me awake just after 6.
the thing that hit me then was i rememebred when i was caring for gramps before he died, around 2 was the time he used to call me for a drink or to help with something else.
went to hospital app, only for everything to be fine as it usually is for my diabetic checkups. (actually starting to wonder if i do have diabetes, cos i forget to take my tablets half the time, and i get a bit of a sweet tooth now and then and munch on chocolate.)
dyed my nans hair for her before getting ready to come home, altho hubby suggested i stay an extra night due to lack of sleep, but i didnt feel i could stay an extra night witch i feel is a bad thing, and i actually kinda missed my husband. so went to my dads to drop off my step mothers birthday card for tomorrow, left there just after half 8 last night, topped up the car just in case i didnt have eneough petrol to get home, and then part way thoguht maybe my husband was right and i shoudl have stayed as the tiredness was starting to get to me, pulled over to get some air had a quick drink, if i was brave enough i would have used the public bathrooms to wash my face in cold water, but decided against that was bad enough i pulled over there as i dont like to in the nights especially when im on my own, carreid on and due to roads being fairly empty i got home around half 10.
felt like i shouldnt have bothered when i got back to a welcome home of, did you get milk, and cos id forgotten all about milk, i huff and a puff and an eye roll. so eneded up sitting in silence for a couple of hours.
put some washing on as hubby hadnt emptied the wm, had to re wash what was in there, then went to sleep around 3, slept nearly 12 hours, and woke up feeling worse for ware like i hadnt had any sleep, feel like i could go back to sleep now, but that would be a bad thing as i know ive got stuff to get done, like empty the wm and refill it.
i think im going to have another cuppa see if that wakes me up, then try and get cracking, thats if i can find the energy to do anything more than just plod around wondering what im sposed to be doing lol

silvasava

Anirtak - STOP STOP STOP NEVER mix chemicals with bleach - they produce Chlorine Gas which can KILL YOU
That's the stuff they used in the First World War - you only need to inhale a small amount to do lasting damage - PLEASE STOP

JustAboutThere

silvasava wrote: »

Anirtak - STOP STOP STOP NEVER mix chemicals with bleach - they produce Chlorine Gas which can KILL YOU
That's the stuff they used in the First World War - you only need to inhale a small amount to do lasting damage - PLEASE STOP

That's exactly the sort of thing I was worried about when I asked about the use of soda crystals.

I knew you guys would know.