Author: Megan and Amanda Boccardi
Remember me saying (a couple times) that warm weather equals busy season for Bio-One? And do you remember what jobs are more prominent in warmer weather? If not, I will refresh your memory. Decompositions , also known as Undiscovered Deaths, and Hoarding projects are more common and frequent during the warmer weather months. Why is that? What do decompositions and hoarding jobs have in common? Smell. You know how your trash cans smell more in the summer time while they sit in your hot garage or outside- same goes for deaths that go undiscovered for several days and houses that are hoarded (especially the ones with feces and/or rotten food).
The weather in St. Louis has been getting hotter and so has our incoming phone call volume. Last week we, Bio-One STC, had a hoarding/feces clean up job, and two undiscovered death clean ups. This week we have started a week long hoarding job where the home is entirely affected by dog feces and urine- several years worth. Undiscovered deaths are being discovered a bit sooner due to the smell that manifests from a decomposed body. Mold, feces, rotten food, dead rodents, rodent feces, and the list goes on and on with items/bio-hazards found in a hoarded home that cause those awful smells most people cannot handle (or their stomach for that matter). Is it a coincidence that the two most common jobs that come with warmer weather were the jobs we had the past week- probably not.
Does our job sound gross to you? I guess I can understand why, however I do not see it that way. All owners of Bio-One got into this business to help people despite how cliche that may sound. Who better to need help than a family member who discovered their loved one's death caused damage to their home? Or how about a person yearning for a healthier life and is to the point of desperation to get their home cleared out and cleaned? Hoarders do not like to call us and have strangers come into their home; they are embarrassed and feeling shame and guilt. But, they do call us and we respect them for wanting to better their lives. We have the fortunate opportunity to help others on a day to day basis- how many people can honestly say that?