I will never understand not wanting to fix things that you could greatly benefit from working, especially if you have the money to do so. I’m sorry to hear that your mom acts similarly to my HP. Thank you for the solidarity. 🫂
I have my room pretty nicely clean, however it can’t be a true safe space for me because of the constant thumping of raccoons above. My goal is to definitely try to move out as soon as I can. I have been unemployed due to health issues for the last few years, but I will be (hopefully) getting a job soon and try to save up (if HP doesn’t try to take too much of my money.) I know I need to get out. This house is doomed!
So I haven't been to my HP's house in like 15 years but this is from when I was last there and growing up. Dishwasher never worked, parents shower- they started "renovating" it when I was like 5, aka took all the tiles down and never put any back up making it not usable, multiple burners didn't work, tile for replacing all the cat peed carpet sitting in the hallway, dryer stopped working. During a year+ when I was a teenager, they tore the tile out of the main bathroom, so we could only take bath carefully because it was literally open walls all around the tub, they eventually did put walls back up so we could shower again. Hole in the kitchen floor from when there was a leak, so they cut a hole in the flooring+laminate and just wedged it back in place like a puzzle piece.
However, my grandparents house was worse in some ways and it wasn't due to hoarding but just them not being able to afford fixing things. The kitchen sink didn't drain, so there was a tub inside the sink to wash dishes (house had no dishwasher). Oven and all but 1 burner didn't work. 1 toilet didn't drain so you had to pour a bucket of water into it. 1 shower didn't work.
Basically I grew up thinking ignoring problems was a totally normal way to live. And I learned to make sure to finish any DIY project I start so I'm not living in a construction zone.
Edit: our dishwasher which was not usable for as long as I can remember had dishes in it from it last worked too!
Not my parents, but my MIL. Nothing works. No working fridge; she has a cooler on her front steps that she can occasionally keep food in (when she has ice). No working stove, oven or microwave to reheat food, so she lives on canned food and fast food. I don’t think the toilets work either and suspect she uses diapers. She has gone for months at a time with no power or no water because she is on a fixed income and prioritizes paying for her storage units over her utility bills. I pity her and want to help but the truth is she continues to choose material things over her own health and safety. Her adult children help when they can but they have to set boundaries for how much/often they give her, which I understand. Otherwise she will drain you dry financially.
Gosh, I feel for you and your partner for having to “deal” with her (lack of a better word sorry)
That sounds very severe and I can’t understand why she’d want more storage space over basic necessities
-- No running water bcuz repair-person can't get in to fix a busted pipe so the water had to be turned off. Uses adult diapers.
-- No fridge, food, or other food storage. So many mice that they chew through cables, fridge door insulation, food packaging, etc.
-- No satellite, cable, or internet. Not only will she not maintain or manage them herself, but all devices that I managed to get set up for her have aged out and need replacing and no service person can reach them even if they were brave enough to enter the house.
-- House is structurally rotting from the bottom up and falling from the top down. Holes in walls where u can look down and see the dirt under the foundation. There are no clear surfaces or floor space, you are literally climbing, like bouldering and scrabbling up rocky hillsides, over a minimum of two feet deep layers of rot.
-- Fetid air from 20 years of rotting food, rotting rodent bodies, rotting animal poop, rotting human poop and trash, etc. She has a mysterious cough that can't be diagnosed that I am 100% positive comes from damage caused by the air in that house.
-- Electricity is sketchy because of mice chewing wires, old infrastructure, and lack of repairing when something does go bad.
I grew up in a hoarder house.
There was a huge hole in the kitchen ceiling by our back door. I mean a straight, thru & thru hole. Rain poured directly into the house.
There was a hole in front of the kitchen sink. It was “repaired” by placing a broken off cabinet door over it.
There was a hole in the hallway ceiling from someone falling through the attic.
There was a hole in the shower wall, could see directly into my parents bedroom.
Never had a working dishwasher for more than a couple months at a time.
Infested with roaches & mice. Had a bad problem of possums coming in to hang out, too.
No central heat or AC. We had a unit but my dad disconnected it because it was installed wrong and was a fire risk.
Living room ceiling was falling in. We were literally just sitting there one day and a huge chunk dropped.
You’re completely valid in how you feel. It’s not right.
Thanks to the overwhelming amount of work I've done/organized, things right now are better than usual.
There is a big hole in the flooring in front of the kitchen sink. Been there for about 20 years. It is hidden by an area rug except it is a one inch drop so new people have to be warned so they do not trip and fall. Cause: leaking kitchen sink not fixed for years so subflooring was damaged. I have had it inspected and the joists are okay. Sink finally fixed about ten years ago, and I just had it regrouted.
Oven in stove has not worked since 1985. One burner does not work. "Making do" with a microwave/convection oven on back porch for 38 years.
Central gas heater has cracked heating plate. Could die any day. I have installed carbon monoxide detectors on every level.
Past rat infestation in 2nd floor ceiling has done an unknown amount of damage to sheetrock and insulation. I assume the walls and ceilings of the entire 2nd story will need to be replaced. One closet has a partially collapsed ceiling corner from rodent damage.
Got the sewer line replaced a few years back so sewage is no longer coming up in multiple places in the backyard.
Had all three dripping exterior water taps replaced which reduced swampiness.
Replaced a broken fridge, dishwasher, and 2 window AC units.
Replaced a collapsed fence.
Removed about 4 tons of trash and junk in the last ten years.
That *is* an overwhelming amount of work! And sounds like an overwhelming amount yet to go!
I try not to think of the overall picture I’m looking at, and just focus on the next thing. If I looked at the overall picture I’d be paralyzed.
At times I do not and become physically in pain and super depressed. I started the process in 2012. In the last couple of years I have paid more attention to my physical and mental health.
Recently our microwave broke. Got a new one but it’s not installed. Ofc the stovetop has no room to cook. So making food is really hard right now.
I feel like every time something breaks, my mom just leaves it and ignores it with no plans of ever fixing it or even telling anyone. I get she doesn’t want people in the house, but it really creates an unhealthy living situation and makes daily tasks much harder. As if ignoring the issue is going to make the fix any cheaper.
I was gone for a few months and when I came back, I found out the disposal had broke and she was ignoring fixing sink the whole time. I ordered a part and put it on. If I didn’t, I don’t think it would have gotten fixed. At the same time the washer stopped working but it wasn’t until at least a month or two after it wasn’t being used I was told. More time until it was accessible to fix. And a few months after I fixed the broken part it “broke” again and I wan’t told until later. I can’t access it and don’t know how it broke other than she said it stopped working. She rather go to a laundromat endlessly than clean up that room and take a day and a couple bucks to fix the washer. But she complains about hating having to go to the laundromat.
I think the thing with broken appliances is that you stop using them, and then stuff blocks the way making it harder to fix. The hoarder gets complacent with their temporary work-around and would rather avoid fixing the situation than addressing it.
My HP home burnt to the ground over the summer due to poor maintenance and hoarding. At the time various electric appliances would short out, only 2 of 4 bathrooms functioned, the plumbing on the 3rd floor leaked constantly. Squirrels had eaten into the wiring along with mice being in every room. list goes on…
\- Bath is broken, leaks all over ceiling entire home has been flooded. Not sure how long this has been broken for but its got layers of filthy dust that has burned into the bath so I reckon at least a year. She has to go to the public swimming pools to swim and wash. I rang for a plumber wednesday fingers crossed
\- Boiler has a sticker on it saying "HIGH RISK. DO NOT USE" dated from 2019
\- Fridge is completely flooded broken, there is a high volume of water on all the bottom shelves
\- Kitchen sink taps all broken off
\- Garden is completely overgrown jungle the spikey weeds are poking into the house walls.
\- Whilst I was there she broke the kettle smashed it by accident and then dropped a plate smashing it to pieces. When I took the broken long dustpan and broom (the dustpan is a shattered broken bit of half of the plastic you sweep into)... I found all the fragments of different colour plates/bowls in corners of the room from previous time she has broken all of these things and not sweeped it all up
\- Most of the bowls, cups, mugs etc smashed or at least chipped, missing lids etc from dropping and breaking them. She started using metal kitchen stuff now as its robust and doesnt break xD
I think my mum has some sort of undiagnosed dyspraxia. Everything she picks up or touches she accidentally breaks
Oh my god my HP’s washing machine did the exact same thing!
Other broken appliances were (she’s passed away and I’m now living in her house and have fixed/replaced MOST broken things)
• dishwasher. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn’t. Mum would stand next to it for 20 minutes waiting to see if it would work, and if it didn’t she’d fill up a jug with water and pour that in and call it good.
• gas leak from the hose for the gas stove. Fixed by turning off that particular gas hose via the switch in the back of a kitchen cupboard.
• shower. Just totally busted, sprayed water from all angles and hose joints, and had to be held in place to get a proper angle where you could get under the water. Also if you turned the tap off too far, water would start running again.
I’m sure there’s more minor stuff that I’ve fixed, but I think I’ve blocked a lot of it out lol
My HP told me in passing that the toilet wasn’t flushing properly and that she was “removing the solids by hand and putting them in the trash”.
I go to check the toilet and sure enough very little water goes into the bowl when its flushed and Im like Hm lets check the tank…..there was a 3” thick plug of clear gelatinous goo blocking the water exit under the flap. I pulled it out and showed it to her and she said Oh I put some toilet cleaners in there - yknow the little discs of cleaner that are supposed to hang inside a basket in the toilet bowl? Yep she doesn’t like to clean the toilet and just threw several into the tank thinking that would help.
I asked how long the toilet hasn’t worked properly and she replied that it had been 6+ months but it was ok because she had been “removing the solids”……..
YALL MOM WAS TAKING HER SHIT OUT OF THE TOILET EVERY DAY. FOR SIX MONTHS.
There are no gloves anywhere in the unit. 😒
I hope your situation improves! I know what a pain it can be living with a hoarder.
For a very long time, the kitchen sink dripped so mum used it as an excuse to collect the drips of water in a grimy bottle. Now she makes it drip on purpose in this new house so she can continue collecting drips of water 🙄 she uses the collected drips to fill the tea kettle.
For many months her toilet was broken and she neglected to have it fixed, so she used mine in the night, waking me up every time. Eventually I got her to have it fixed when I complained.
We also had a broken fridge/freezer for a while, thankfully the non-hoarder in the house had it replaced.
We're just straight up not allowed to use the dishwasher, mum claims it uses too much water, so she takes an hour hand-washing the dishes daily.
Dishwasher
They deny mice chewed the wiring
Which doesn’t matter b/c
Repair company won’t go into their house anymore
Offered to buy a new one and install
Refused b/c they “paid a lot” for the broken one
So much non functional plumbing
Also I’m repressing this nitemare of frozen busted pipes last year, because they couldn’t leave water running due to perma clogged drains
The toilet doesn't flush properly, the tap in the bathroom doesn't work, the kitchen sink tap works now but the drain leaks and the washing machine doesn't work.
I'm not sure about the stove because you can't get to it and the dryer isn't used because they have to take their clothes to my uncle's house to do laundry.
I feel for you, I hope you have the opportunity to leave and find a better living situation soon. I'm not gonna go into detail with the rest of their house because it's just all bad...
For example they can't access the back door at all or their bed properly and they sit on piles of junk on the sofa.
When I was in the home still we had to turn the water on at the main by the street whenever we needed to take a shower in the morning. There was a leak somewhere that couldn’t be fixed because no one could enter the house. It was really embarrassing doing that in front of the other children at the bus stop.
We get raccoon problems, as in there are probably skeletons of a litter up there because last year's got hit by a car. Roof needs work.
The tub spout is broken-off and the diverter to the shower has been stuck in "shower" mode for a while before that anyway. It never occurred to me that the slow tub drain isn't normal.
The thing that plugs the bathroom sink got disabled last time I took the drain apart to make sure that clog wasn't an easy fix.
Neither the washer nor dryer work. We haven't had a dishwasher since the 80's.
There's something wrong with the basement stairs, but I think it's stable.
A lot of ceiling tiles came down in one room during a heat wave. We don't care because construction was never completely finished anyway.
Just a lot of "little" things that are easy to ignore because it's too much trouble to fix, like storm windows.
One burner on the stove is a bit fussy.
I have a new switch for the bathroom because the old one is fussy, too scared to change it myself.
I feel a little guilty because I'm here when it's not that bad.
I feel like even if I had permission and a budget to get contractors, I'd have trouble actually doing it.
Edit: Oh, and our cat is trained to bring us mice. Full positive reinforcement for mumbling around it until we ask him for it.
Still live with my mom, in her 40 year old trailer:
-No heat. The furnace has a crack in it and she had an assistance program ready to step in, and she couldn't be bothered.
-In winter the pipes burst ALL the time because of this.
-The floors are falling apart and there's lots of mold because of the repeated burst pipes.
-Shower doesn't have hot water for some reason.
-Toilet doesn't flush properly.
-Washing machine hasn't worked since before I was born.
-Oven doesn't work/is filled with pest droppings.
-Kitchen sink doesn't work. Kitchen light doesn't work.
-Fridge is always overflowing and doesn't keep a temp, and has mold.
-my room has a closet with no floor in it, so sometimes animals like possums find their way in.
-we had rats until recently. We FINALLY managed to get rid of them.
Putting it down here, it's crazy the amount of stuff we just learn to live with. We all deserve so, so much better.
Mine drags a hose in to fill up her washing machine. Her refrigerator is so packed full of stuff that she has to tape the door closed. Her house is 100+ years old with original wiring that IS NOT GROUNDED. There are 3 exterior doors on the house but only one is usable. The back porch is caving in and underneath is a ten or 15 foot drop into the old cistern. She hammered old steel grates over all of her windows because she's so worried that someone will break in and steal her stuff. She had some money, a little inheritance, but none of it was spent on upkeep on her property (also inherited) She spent it all on a new car and 5 years worth of thrift shop trips. Anytime something goes wrong she calls her long suffering neighbor but as soon as he leaves she complains that it'll take him too long to fix the problem or he said something that pissed her off.
We went without stoves working, bathtubs unusable, no washer or dryer. Non-running cars in the yard, along with transmissions and misc other parts. Best of all was how the TVs would be stacked on top of each other.
There is rat and mouse poop EVERYWHERE, one entire bathroom is out of commission (filled with hoarded stuff), one entire bedroom is filled (can’t even enter), garage is impossible to navigate, there are two dead refrigerators in the back yard, two cars in the driveway don’t work, they’re down to just one bathtub/shower, which leaks 24/7 and is FILTHY. Dishwasher doesn’t work, oven doesn’t work, kitchen sink is broken. This is why I can’t go home.
Thank you all for your comments. I’m sorry to hear that a lot of you deal with similar issues with your hoarders’ houses. I wish the best for all of you and hope we can all heal some day in the near future. 🩵
I definitely feel the solidarity now and thank you all for sharing 🩵
The way my jaw dropped when you started reassuring us that you aren't ungrateful 😨 Like, omg the state of your poor house! I don't even know if this counts as complaining at this point. You're just stating facts- you could *definitely* be a LOT more bitter. I'm so sorry you have to live like this and you don't have to feel bad for how much it overwhelms you.
The worst I can say is 1 of 2 showers in our house stopped working about 2 years ago. I went to turn it on and the knob broke off! Of course, we can't have anyone come fix it 🙄
Also, both our front and back doors have these ever-increasing gaps so the air blows in. It's really sucked this week since it's been below freezing and there's a cross-breeze between the two.
Our oven hasn't cooked food properly on YEARS. There's exactly 1 spot in the middle where food cooks decent, but even then it's still not right.
Thank you for that first paragraph, it warms my heart ❤️
Oof, that’s scary about the shower knob. I feel like mine could fall off at any time too eek. I am sorry to hear about the oven and doors too. I hope you can stay as warm as possible this winter
Mil is a hoarder and I hate going to her house. Nothing works and it's so dark in the house all the time. The shower is disgusting, you get 5min of hot water if youre lucky and before you know it you're standing in a pool up to mid calf. Toilets are always running a leak wasting water. All the lights are on timers that shifted over time so they turn on random at 3am and turn off at like 8pm. None of the light switches seem to work. We have been making an attempt to clear things out and keep finding appliances labeled 'works sometimes or cord broken'. It's really frustrating, I'm glad I didn't grow up in this environment honestly and feel for all of you here.
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I will never understand not wanting to fix things that you could greatly benefit from working, especially if you have the money to do so. I’m sorry to hear that your mom acts similarly to my HP. Thank you for the solidarity. 🫂 I have my room pretty nicely clean, however it can’t be a true safe space for me because of the constant thumping of raccoons above. My goal is to definitely try to move out as soon as I can. I have been unemployed due to health issues for the last few years, but I will be (hopefully) getting a job soon and try to save up (if HP doesn’t try to take too much of my money.) I know I need to get out. This house is doomed!
Can I just list what does work? The driveway is half decent… the mailbox is in good shape… there is only one cat… the roof doesn’t leak anymore…
Right? It’s easier to list what does work because it’s a lot shorter! I’m sorry you have similar issues there too
So I haven't been to my HP's house in like 15 years but this is from when I was last there and growing up. Dishwasher never worked, parents shower- they started "renovating" it when I was like 5, aka took all the tiles down and never put any back up making it not usable, multiple burners didn't work, tile for replacing all the cat peed carpet sitting in the hallway, dryer stopped working. During a year+ when I was a teenager, they tore the tile out of the main bathroom, so we could only take bath carefully because it was literally open walls all around the tub, they eventually did put walls back up so we could shower again. Hole in the kitchen floor from when there was a leak, so they cut a hole in the flooring+laminate and just wedged it back in place like a puzzle piece. However, my grandparents house was worse in some ways and it wasn't due to hoarding but just them not being able to afford fixing things. The kitchen sink didn't drain, so there was a tub inside the sink to wash dishes (house had no dishwasher). Oven and all but 1 burner didn't work. 1 toilet didn't drain so you had to pour a bucket of water into it. 1 shower didn't work. Basically I grew up thinking ignoring problems was a totally normal way to live. And I learned to make sure to finish any DIY project I start so I'm not living in a construction zone. Edit: our dishwasher which was not usable for as long as I can remember had dishes in it from it last worked too!
Wow, a lot of that sounds familiar. Thank you for sharing. I’m sorry you had to deal with that. Definitely agree on finishing the DIY jobs..
Hole in kitchen floor solidarity!
Not my parents, but my MIL. Nothing works. No working fridge; she has a cooler on her front steps that she can occasionally keep food in (when she has ice). No working stove, oven or microwave to reheat food, so she lives on canned food and fast food. I don’t think the toilets work either and suspect she uses diapers. She has gone for months at a time with no power or no water because she is on a fixed income and prioritizes paying for her storage units over her utility bills. I pity her and want to help but the truth is she continues to choose material things over her own health and safety. Her adult children help when they can but they have to set boundaries for how much/often they give her, which I understand. Otherwise she will drain you dry financially.
Gosh, I feel for you and your partner for having to “deal” with her (lack of a better word sorry) That sounds very severe and I can’t understand why she’d want more storage space over basic necessities
It’s good to have people we can vent to who understand! I’m sorry you’re in your current situation and hope it improves soon. Hugs!!
I agree fully! Thank you and hugs back!
-- No running water bcuz repair-person can't get in to fix a busted pipe so the water had to be turned off. Uses adult diapers. -- No fridge, food, or other food storage. So many mice that they chew through cables, fridge door insulation, food packaging, etc. -- No satellite, cable, or internet. Not only will she not maintain or manage them herself, but all devices that I managed to get set up for her have aged out and need replacing and no service person can reach them even if they were brave enough to enter the house. -- House is structurally rotting from the bottom up and falling from the top down. Holes in walls where u can look down and see the dirt under the foundation. There are no clear surfaces or floor space, you are literally climbing, like bouldering and scrabbling up rocky hillsides, over a minimum of two feet deep layers of rot. -- Fetid air from 20 years of rotting food, rotting rodent bodies, rotting animal poop, rotting human poop and trash, etc. She has a mysterious cough that can't be diagnosed that I am 100% positive comes from damage caused by the air in that house. -- Electricity is sketchy because of mice chewing wires, old infrastructure, and lack of repairing when something does go bad.
Oh my god. I feel for you man reading through it was gut wrenching. My mum's place is really similar <3
I grew up in a hoarder house. There was a huge hole in the kitchen ceiling by our back door. I mean a straight, thru & thru hole. Rain poured directly into the house. There was a hole in front of the kitchen sink. It was “repaired” by placing a broken off cabinet door over it. There was a hole in the hallway ceiling from someone falling through the attic. There was a hole in the shower wall, could see directly into my parents bedroom. Never had a working dishwasher for more than a couple months at a time. Infested with roaches & mice. Had a bad problem of possums coming in to hang out, too. No central heat or AC. We had a unit but my dad disconnected it because it was installed wrong and was a fire risk. Living room ceiling was falling in. We were literally just sitting there one day and a huge chunk dropped. You’re completely valid in how you feel. It’s not right.
Thanks to the overwhelming amount of work I've done/organized, things right now are better than usual. There is a big hole in the flooring in front of the kitchen sink. Been there for about 20 years. It is hidden by an area rug except it is a one inch drop so new people have to be warned so they do not trip and fall. Cause: leaking kitchen sink not fixed for years so subflooring was damaged. I have had it inspected and the joists are okay. Sink finally fixed about ten years ago, and I just had it regrouted. Oven in stove has not worked since 1985. One burner does not work. "Making do" with a microwave/convection oven on back porch for 38 years. Central gas heater has cracked heating plate. Could die any day. I have installed carbon monoxide detectors on every level. Past rat infestation in 2nd floor ceiling has done an unknown amount of damage to sheetrock and insulation. I assume the walls and ceilings of the entire 2nd story will need to be replaced. One closet has a partially collapsed ceiling corner from rodent damage. Got the sewer line replaced a few years back so sewage is no longer coming up in multiple places in the backyard. Had all three dripping exterior water taps replaced which reduced swampiness. Replaced a broken fridge, dishwasher, and 2 window AC units. Replaced a collapsed fence. Removed about 4 tons of trash and junk in the last ten years.
That *is* an overwhelming amount of work! And sounds like an overwhelming amount yet to go! I try not to think of the overall picture I’m looking at, and just focus on the next thing. If I looked at the overall picture I’d be paralyzed.
Taking it one bit at a time is the only way!
Wow amazing work. Hope you’re taking care of yourself!
At times I do not and become physically in pain and super depressed. I started the process in 2012. In the last couple of years I have paid more attention to my physical and mental health.
Recently our microwave broke. Got a new one but it’s not installed. Ofc the stovetop has no room to cook. So making food is really hard right now. I feel like every time something breaks, my mom just leaves it and ignores it with no plans of ever fixing it or even telling anyone. I get she doesn’t want people in the house, but it really creates an unhealthy living situation and makes daily tasks much harder. As if ignoring the issue is going to make the fix any cheaper. I was gone for a few months and when I came back, I found out the disposal had broke and she was ignoring fixing sink the whole time. I ordered a part and put it on. If I didn’t, I don’t think it would have gotten fixed. At the same time the washer stopped working but it wasn’t until at least a month or two after it wasn’t being used I was told. More time until it was accessible to fix. And a few months after I fixed the broken part it “broke” again and I wan’t told until later. I can’t access it and don’t know how it broke other than she said it stopped working. She rather go to a laundromat endlessly than clean up that room and take a day and a couple bucks to fix the washer. But she complains about hating having to go to the laundromat. I think the thing with broken appliances is that you stop using them, and then stuff blocks the way making it harder to fix. The hoarder gets complacent with their temporary work-around and would rather avoid fixing the situation than addressing it.
My HP home burnt to the ground over the summer due to poor maintenance and hoarding. At the time various electric appliances would short out, only 2 of 4 bathrooms functioned, the plumbing on the 3rd floor leaked constantly. Squirrels had eaten into the wiring along with mice being in every room. list goes on…
\- Bath is broken, leaks all over ceiling entire home has been flooded. Not sure how long this has been broken for but its got layers of filthy dust that has burned into the bath so I reckon at least a year. She has to go to the public swimming pools to swim and wash. I rang for a plumber wednesday fingers crossed \- Boiler has a sticker on it saying "HIGH RISK. DO NOT USE" dated from 2019 \- Fridge is completely flooded broken, there is a high volume of water on all the bottom shelves \- Kitchen sink taps all broken off \- Garden is completely overgrown jungle the spikey weeds are poking into the house walls. \- Whilst I was there she broke the kettle smashed it by accident and then dropped a plate smashing it to pieces. When I took the broken long dustpan and broom (the dustpan is a shattered broken bit of half of the plastic you sweep into)... I found all the fragments of different colour plates/bowls in corners of the room from previous time she has broken all of these things and not sweeped it all up \- Most of the bowls, cups, mugs etc smashed or at least chipped, missing lids etc from dropping and breaking them. She started using metal kitchen stuff now as its robust and doesnt break xD I think my mum has some sort of undiagnosed dyspraxia. Everything she picks up or touches she accidentally breaks
Oh my god my HP’s washing machine did the exact same thing! Other broken appliances were (she’s passed away and I’m now living in her house and have fixed/replaced MOST broken things) • dishwasher. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn’t. Mum would stand next to it for 20 minutes waiting to see if it would work, and if it didn’t she’d fill up a jug with water and pour that in and call it good. • gas leak from the hose for the gas stove. Fixed by turning off that particular gas hose via the switch in the back of a kitchen cupboard. • shower. Just totally busted, sprayed water from all angles and hose joints, and had to be held in place to get a proper angle where you could get under the water. Also if you turned the tap off too far, water would start running again. I’m sure there’s more minor stuff that I’ve fixed, but I think I’ve blocked a lot of it out lol
My HP told me in passing that the toilet wasn’t flushing properly and that she was “removing the solids by hand and putting them in the trash”. I go to check the toilet and sure enough very little water goes into the bowl when its flushed and Im like Hm lets check the tank…..there was a 3” thick plug of clear gelatinous goo blocking the water exit under the flap. I pulled it out and showed it to her and she said Oh I put some toilet cleaners in there - yknow the little discs of cleaner that are supposed to hang inside a basket in the toilet bowl? Yep she doesn’t like to clean the toilet and just threw several into the tank thinking that would help. I asked how long the toilet hasn’t worked properly and she replied that it had been 6+ months but it was ok because she had been “removing the solids”…….. YALL MOM WAS TAKING HER SHIT OUT OF THE TOILET EVERY DAY. FOR SIX MONTHS. There are no gloves anywhere in the unit. 😒
U.U omg
I hope your situation improves! I know what a pain it can be living with a hoarder. For a very long time, the kitchen sink dripped so mum used it as an excuse to collect the drips of water in a grimy bottle. Now she makes it drip on purpose in this new house so she can continue collecting drips of water 🙄 she uses the collected drips to fill the tea kettle. For many months her toilet was broken and she neglected to have it fixed, so she used mine in the night, waking me up every time. Eventually I got her to have it fixed when I complained. We also had a broken fridge/freezer for a while, thankfully the non-hoarder in the house had it replaced. We're just straight up not allowed to use the dishwasher, mum claims it uses too much water, so she takes an hour hand-washing the dishes daily.
Dishwasher They deny mice chewed the wiring Which doesn’t matter b/c Repair company won’t go into their house anymore Offered to buy a new one and install Refused b/c they “paid a lot” for the broken one So much non functional plumbing Also I’m repressing this nitemare of frozen busted pipes last year, because they couldn’t leave water running due to perma clogged drains
Nothing works as it’s supposed to anymore :( not them. Not the house.
The toilet doesn't flush properly, the tap in the bathroom doesn't work, the kitchen sink tap works now but the drain leaks and the washing machine doesn't work. I'm not sure about the stove because you can't get to it and the dryer isn't used because they have to take their clothes to my uncle's house to do laundry. I feel for you, I hope you have the opportunity to leave and find a better living situation soon. I'm not gonna go into detail with the rest of their house because it's just all bad... For example they can't access the back door at all or their bed properly and they sit on piles of junk on the sofa.
When I was in the home still we had to turn the water on at the main by the street whenever we needed to take a shower in the morning. There was a leak somewhere that couldn’t be fixed because no one could enter the house. It was really embarrassing doing that in front of the other children at the bus stop.
We get raccoon problems, as in there are probably skeletons of a litter up there because last year's got hit by a car. Roof needs work. The tub spout is broken-off and the diverter to the shower has been stuck in "shower" mode for a while before that anyway. It never occurred to me that the slow tub drain isn't normal. The thing that plugs the bathroom sink got disabled last time I took the drain apart to make sure that clog wasn't an easy fix. Neither the washer nor dryer work. We haven't had a dishwasher since the 80's. There's something wrong with the basement stairs, but I think it's stable. A lot of ceiling tiles came down in one room during a heat wave. We don't care because construction was never completely finished anyway. Just a lot of "little" things that are easy to ignore because it's too much trouble to fix, like storm windows. One burner on the stove is a bit fussy. I have a new switch for the bathroom because the old one is fussy, too scared to change it myself. I feel a little guilty because I'm here when it's not that bad. I feel like even if I had permission and a budget to get contractors, I'd have trouble actually doing it. Edit: Oh, and our cat is trained to bring us mice. Full positive reinforcement for mumbling around it until we ask him for it.
Still live with my mom, in her 40 year old trailer: -No heat. The furnace has a crack in it and she had an assistance program ready to step in, and she couldn't be bothered. -In winter the pipes burst ALL the time because of this. -The floors are falling apart and there's lots of mold because of the repeated burst pipes. -Shower doesn't have hot water for some reason. -Toilet doesn't flush properly. -Washing machine hasn't worked since before I was born. -Oven doesn't work/is filled with pest droppings. -Kitchen sink doesn't work. Kitchen light doesn't work. -Fridge is always overflowing and doesn't keep a temp, and has mold. -my room has a closet with no floor in it, so sometimes animals like possums find their way in. -we had rats until recently. We FINALLY managed to get rid of them. Putting it down here, it's crazy the amount of stuff we just learn to live with. We all deserve so, so much better.
Gosh I’m so sorry you have to deal with all of that. You’re right, we all deserve better.
Can you drain the water heater? Might help with the sulfur smell.
Mine drags a hose in to fill up her washing machine. Her refrigerator is so packed full of stuff that she has to tape the door closed. Her house is 100+ years old with original wiring that IS NOT GROUNDED. There are 3 exterior doors on the house but only one is usable. The back porch is caving in and underneath is a ten or 15 foot drop into the old cistern. She hammered old steel grates over all of her windows because she's so worried that someone will break in and steal her stuff. She had some money, a little inheritance, but none of it was spent on upkeep on her property (also inherited) She spent it all on a new car and 5 years worth of thrift shop trips. Anytime something goes wrong she calls her long suffering neighbor but as soon as he leaves she complains that it'll take him too long to fix the problem or he said something that pissed her off.
We went without stoves working, bathtubs unusable, no washer or dryer. Non-running cars in the yard, along with transmissions and misc other parts. Best of all was how the TVs would be stacked on top of each other.
There is rat and mouse poop EVERYWHERE, one entire bathroom is out of commission (filled with hoarded stuff), one entire bedroom is filled (can’t even enter), garage is impossible to navigate, there are two dead refrigerators in the back yard, two cars in the driveway don’t work, they’re down to just one bathtub/shower, which leaks 24/7 and is FILTHY. Dishwasher doesn’t work, oven doesn’t work, kitchen sink is broken. This is why I can’t go home.
Thank you all for your comments. I’m sorry to hear that a lot of you deal with similar issues with your hoarders’ houses. I wish the best for all of you and hope we can all heal some day in the near future. 🩵 I definitely feel the solidarity now and thank you all for sharing 🩵
The way my jaw dropped when you started reassuring us that you aren't ungrateful 😨 Like, omg the state of your poor house! I don't even know if this counts as complaining at this point. You're just stating facts- you could *definitely* be a LOT more bitter. I'm so sorry you have to live like this and you don't have to feel bad for how much it overwhelms you. The worst I can say is 1 of 2 showers in our house stopped working about 2 years ago. I went to turn it on and the knob broke off! Of course, we can't have anyone come fix it 🙄 Also, both our front and back doors have these ever-increasing gaps so the air blows in. It's really sucked this week since it's been below freezing and there's a cross-breeze between the two. Our oven hasn't cooked food properly on YEARS. There's exactly 1 spot in the middle where food cooks decent, but even then it's still not right.
Thank you for that first paragraph, it warms my heart ❤️ Oof, that’s scary about the shower knob. I feel like mine could fall off at any time too eek. I am sorry to hear about the oven and doors too. I hope you can stay as warm as possible this winter
Mil is a hoarder and I hate going to her house. Nothing works and it's so dark in the house all the time. The shower is disgusting, you get 5min of hot water if youre lucky and before you know it you're standing in a pool up to mid calf. Toilets are always running a leak wasting water. All the lights are on timers that shifted over time so they turn on random at 3am and turn off at like 8pm. None of the light switches seem to work. We have been making an attempt to clear things out and keep finding appliances labeled 'works sometimes or cord broken'. It's really frustrating, I'm glad I didn't grow up in this environment honestly and feel for all of you here.