My husband has his hoarding issue contained to his room now. It's really sad that he is living in the horrible conditions he is, but it's his choice. He won't allow me to bend over and pick up one piece of trash out of his floor. If I talk to him about cleaning out his room we end up in a terrible argument every time. After the last major argument we had about it, he promised me that his room would be clean by November 1st, 2012. Today is March 2nd, 2013 and his room hasn't been touched. He has a storage tub full of clean clothes that he can't put away so they are out in the carport. The tub won't even fit in his room. It is a mental illness. I'm sure of that. Meanwhile, after my hard work, I have my daughter and grandson living here. Also, I'm able to have my son and his family (who live next door) in at anytime. This is a dream come true for me. I'm having such a good time. My triplet granddaughters were almost 6 years old before they ever saw the inside of my house. Just tonight, on the spur of the moment, I had them in to eat dinner and play. I'm a happy grandma. There are still a few problem areas that I will slowly tackle without help from him. He will raise hell because I'm touching his stuff but I don't care. He has tools strewn, and just thrown in, all over laundry room shelves; a big covered back porch is piled high with his tools and junk, as is our entire two car carport. We are both disabled but able to slowly accomplish most tasks. He may help me just to make sure I don't get rid of his stuff but I will have to endure his griping the whole time, either way. I doubt he will ever clean out the massive piles of trash in his room. I have thought that it would take him having to not be here, as in him being in the hospital or something, before I'd ever be able to get his room cleaned out. I can have the grandkids in my bedroom and let them lay on my bed or explore my treasures while they have never seen his room. He keeps the door shut at all times. They grandkids constantly ask him about when he is going to clean his room so they can go in and he always has some excuse about not having time (bullshit). It's a real pity.
