“Hoarding cleanup is not an easy task, and it is best done by restoration professionals who have the expertise and equipment to perform the job efficiently and safely. By no means was this particular case the worst I have seen in my tenure, but the timeline from the property management company was tight, so we needed to get to work quickly and efficiently,” Ben Doebler writes.

Annissa Coy has found over the years that when a hoarding job goes sideways, there are three big mistakes that often are the culprit. “If you avoid these, you will be setting yourself and your client up for success right from the start,” she writes.

The technology and tools we now have at our disposal for contents cleaning and inventory are great and so nice to have, as long as we remember to use them to enhance our ability to create the right kind of experience for our clients and not use it to replace human interaction and relationships.

Purchasing and implementing technology, and adding more services in-house is not just an investment in your future; it just might secure your future. Complacency and delay will separate companies in our industry into two categories we can sum up in six words: Be a Netflix, not a Blockbuster. Let’s embrace technology and bring more contents in-house to become the contents restoration experts carriers and policyholders want to work with.

In mid-February 2021, Prism Specialties of Greater Wisconsin and Western U.P. received a water pipe break claim at a high-end waterfront home that sits just 40 feet off Lake Superior on Madeline Island, Wis. The first decision to be made: Ice road or ferry?

Tour the 95,000-square-foot Blue Kangaroo Packoutz flagship facility. See the inner workings of the warehouse, including 750 storage vaults, a state-of-the-art training room, art restoration, contents cleaning, furniture upholstery and refinishing, and more.

Don’t hesitate to spend time learning and improving your staff and yourself. The time spent training will pay dividends later in the form of faster job completion, little-to-no damage to items in your care and, of course, happy and well-cared-for customers in their time of need.

Remodeling, restoration, and remediation projects don’t stop during the pandemic!