Boise
Hoarding Cleanup

Hoarding cleanup looks different depending on which part of Boise you're in. A North End or East End bungalow with narrow stairs and a small attic poses different challenges than a Bench-era ranch with a finished basement, or a newer Southeast Boise home with a three-car garage. The volume of stuff matters, but so does how hard it is to move through the house to get it out.

That's the part that trips people up. A hoarding situation isn't a weekend project you can knock out with a few trips to the curb. It usually takes more planning than a typical decluttering job, and it usually needs more than what the city's regular programs are set up to handle.

What the city's programs are built for

Boise residents get real tools for getting rid of extra stuff. The city's Curb It program includes a yearly allotment of free bulky-item pickups for things like couches, mattresses, and old appliances, plus a small number of free overflow stickers for extra trash throughout the year. There's also a year-round compost cart for yard waste, with paper leaf bags accepted on top of that.

Those programs work well for the occasional big item or seasonal yard cleanup. They're not built for clearing out a house room by room, or for the kind of mixed pile, trash, recyclables, furniture, and salvageable items, that builds up over time in a hoarding situation. At that volume, hauling everything yourself usually means more trips to the Ada County Landfill than most people plan for, on top of sorting it all first.

• City curbside pickup covers a handful of large items a year, not a whole house at once
• Yard waste goes in the green compost cart or paper leaf bags, with free leaf drop-off at the landfill during the posted season
• The Ada County Landfill, off Seamans Gulch Road in the North Boise foothills, takes household trash, scrap metal, and clean wood, but charges for tires and refrigerated appliances
• Household hazardous waste is accepted free for Ada County residents, but only on certain days of the week
• The landfill is closed Sundays, so drop-offs need to work around posted hours

Sorting before anything leaves the house

One of the most important parts of any hoarding cleanup happens before a single bag hits the curb or the truck: sorting. Important documents, financial paperwork, family photos, and valuables often end up buried under things that have no value at all. Going through everything in place, instead of bagging it all up at once, is what keeps those items from getting lost.

It also matters because what comes out of a hoarding situation often needs to go to different places. Scrap metal, e-waste, and anything with a battery or coolant generally can't just go in with household trash. Mixing it all together usually means an extra trip back to sort it out at the landfill gate.

Mistakes that slow things down

A few things tend to turn a hoarding cleanup into a longer process than it needs to be. Renting a dumpster without checking where it needs to sit matters more than people expect: the Ada County Highway District requires a right-of-way permit for anything placed in the street or sidewalk, including a dumpster. Starting before the person living there is on board tends to stall things partway through, since decisions about what stays and what goes usually can't be rushed.

Loads also need to be secured on the way to the landfill, not just loaded and driven. The county enforces that, and will bill cleanup costs if anything blows out along the way. In neighborhoods with narrow alleys or driveways, especially older North End and East End lots, it helps to think through how things actually get from the house to the truck before the day starts, not during it.

A hoarding cleanout in Boise goes a lot smoother when the sorting happens early, the right disposal spot is picked for each category of stuff, and the person living there is part of the plan the whole way through.

If you want a second set of hands and a clear plan for getting started, Boise Hoarding Cleanup offers free estimates.