Would you cancel your vacation?

[Andtototoo]

It should NOT take 9 days to clear out a house. Maybe 2 days for packing, 1 day for moving it, 1 day for cleaning. 2 max. So 5 days or so total.
When the time comes for my mom, I have one sibling, and should he not be able to help...OH WELL!

Who came up with that number.

It took us a month to get through my grandmothers stuff and 1 week we hired a professional to come in when we had to return home.

LOL, No way on this planet could I pack and have my house empty in 9 days unless you consider just shovelling stuff into garbage bags as packing.

Yeah, I have to agree.

When we cleaned out my mother's one bedroom apartment, we had 6 days. It took us three solid days to do so, a fourth day to sort her papers, then another day to clean, then another day bringing stuff around to the various places we were donating it and/or wait at home for pick up She wasn't a hoarder and had only moved there 10 years before, but she also died very unexpectedly, so we had to find her financial records and other important papers. Then you have to go through belongings and determine who's getting what and then from what no one wants -- where does that go? As it was, we did it too fast and now regret some of the things we chose to give away, but we did the best we could.

When my grandmother died, it was also unexpected and we weren't cleaning out a house, just her room. Nonetheless, it took us one solid day to go through her clothes and books -- she had been stashing cash in pockets and between pages. We found $8K in that one day. Worth the time.

When my dh's grandmother died, having outlived her dh by some years, we all cleaned out their house. They had lived there for 52 years. They were not hoarders and were very frugal people, so there wasn't a lot of stuff. Nonetheless, it took nearly a month (8 people after work and on weekends) to clean it out.

My coworker's mother was a hoarder. It took nearly 250 hours of work just to sort the stuff and empty her house. Some rooms were easy -- newspapers ad magazines could just go into the dumpster. Other rooms were not so easy and the items had to be sorted and divided. Then you had to do all the work to prep it for sale.

 

[hereyago]

When my grandmother went into the nursing home when I was a teenager.

It was my uncle there to help sell her belongings in the way of furniture.
My aunt(uncles sister) wasn't there, she lived 3 hours away but she wanted nothing to do with it.
my mom: she didn't show up until later(hence my question about the family dynamics)and really didn't do anything.

I went there because my grandmother told me to get certain things out so uncle wouldn't sell them. it was a mess; he was selling stuff like it was a 1.00 garage sale because he wanted to hurry up and get to his mistress-no I am not kidding.

I am an only child so obviously the only situation I had to deal with it was with my grandmothers then when mom passes away she lives with us so it's not a whole house of stuff.

Uncle had his sons come and repaint,etc. I helped clean.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Feb break is the week of Presidents day where they get the whole week off from school.

Not all of us get a February break so it is not at all unreasonable for us to not know what it is

 

[npmommie]

Not in nj. I think it's just a NY thing.

Personally I would hire the job out. No hurt feelings. Perhaps go for the long weekend and take whatever is valuable to you and then allow the professionals to tag and sell everything else. It will save your sanity. And generally they take a % off the profit.

no they do it here too, the week off in February, then the week off in April which is when patriots day occurs ( i think a mass thing ).

OP, I see your update, glad you got some helpful advice.
good luck with it all, I imagine this is very stressful for everyone.
I can foresee this happening in my family as well. I am the one far away in my family, but I do have a flexible schedule.
hugs to you.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We have packed up a whole house, moved, cleaned the old house out, and were done in less than a week...just me and DH...three times. And we didn't take time off of work/school to do it. It can be done. A good plan in place helps. That includes painting rooms, cleaning carpet, deep cleaning...etc.

Maybe you can do that, but I can't. It takes me a solid 3 months to get everything done.

I do not have the energy to go full force like that.

 

[YodaGirl]

I will agree with those who say that you can't determine how long it "should" take to clean out a house.

House size as well as amount of "stuff" determines how long it takes to clean out.

For the record, KY (at least my school system), doesn't get a week off for President's Day, either.

 

[JVL1018]

Not in nj. I think it's just a NY thing.

Personally I would hire the job out. No hurt feelings. Perhaps go for the long weekend and take whatever is valuable to you and then allow the professionals to tag and sell everything else. It will save your sanity. And generally they take a % off the profit.

Yes, in NJ. I've lived here my whole life and we always had the week of President's Day off.
This year for the first time, my kids are getting Mon and Tues and that's it, so we can get out "early" ..June 20th. LOL

 

[nephthys43]

Yes, in NJ. I've lived here my whole life and we always had the week of President's Day off.
This year for the first time, my kids are getting Mon and Tues and that's it, so we can get out "early" ..June 20th. LOL

depends on where in jersey you are. the district i live in doesn't get the week off, but the district i work in does. my nephew was furious when he found out. he wants to transfer to my middle school now.

 

[msjprincess]

Yeah, I have to agree.

When we cleaned out my mother's one bedroom apartment, we had 6 days. It took us three solid days to do so, a fourth day to sort her papers, then another day to clean, then another day bringing stuff around to the various places we were donating it and/or wait at home for pick up She wasn't a hoarder and had only moved there 10 years before, but she also died very unexpectedly, so we had to find her financial records and other important papers. Then you have to go through belongings and determine who's getting what and then from what no one wants -- where does that go? As it was, we did it too fast and now regret some of the things we chose to give away, but we did the best we could.

When my grandmother died, it was also unexpected and we weren't cleaning out a house, just her room. Nonetheless, it took us one solid day to go through her clothes and books -- she had been stashing cash in pockets and between pages. We found $8K in that one day. Worth the time.

When my dh's grandmother died, having outlived her dh by some years, we all cleaned out their house. They had lived there for 52 years. They were not hoarders and were very frugal people, so there wasn't a lot of stuff. Nonetheless, it took nearly a month (8 people after work and on weekends) to clean it out.

My coworker's mother was a hoarder. It took nearly 250 hours of work just to sort the stuff and empty her house. Some rooms were easy -- newspapers ad magazines could just go into the dumpster. Other rooms were not so easy and the items had to be sorted and divided. Then you had to do all the work to prep it for sale.

ITA

I could easily pack up my own house in a week or two but it took over a month to empty my grandmother's house. When it's someone else's house you don't know what's important and what isn't so you have to search through everything. My grandmother lived in her house for over 50 years and saved everything.

We had to sort by what we were saving, selling or throwing out. Then once the house was emptied we had to rip up the carpets and have the floors redone and then paint.

 

[marcyinPA]

Being an only child, this is something that I will never deal with- I will be dealing alone.

However, having family who has gone through this type of thing already, I would cancel the vacation plans and help the siblings. I am a peacemaker, though, and I would not want to deal with the aftermath of going on vacation instead of settling an estate.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I would cancel my plans. The siblings have nothing to do with it, I would be cancelling on behalf of my own mother who would need me at this time.

 

[*JoGo*]

I'm glad you were able to work something out. As another poster mentioned, be sure to check clothing pockets, books, behind paintings and in cupboards for money. When my mom and her siblings were cleaning out my grandparents house (over 60 yrs of stuff, and my pap was a pack rat), they found several thousand hidden around the house.
Good luck!


And to a few PP, I apologize for never having heard of Feb break before. My sons' school doesn't even have spring break, just Good Friday & Easter Monday... They used to not have MLK JR day off either. We go end of Aug to first week of June. They get two days off in Oct, Wed to Fri in Nov, and about two weeks for Xmas.

 

[Minnie_me]

I'm glad you were able to work something out. As another poster mentioned, be sure to check clothing pockets, books, behind paintings and in cupboards for money. When my mom and her siblings were cleaning out my grandparents house (over 60 yrs of stuff, and my pap was a pack rat), they found several thousand hidden around the house.

OMG, you just reminded me that my mom DOES THIS! She hides the money and then forgets where she hides it. We'll definitely have to be careful. Just a few months ago, she lost $500 in an envelope. She was supposed to be depositing it into the bank the very next day, but she was afraid someone would steal it during the night, so she hid it and then forgot where she hid it. She said she had a very clear image in her mind of putting it somewhere in the basement!

 

[msjprincess]

I'm glad you were able to work something out. As another poster mentioned, be sure to check clothing pockets, books, behind paintings and in cupboards for money. When my mom and her siblings were cleaning out my grandparents house (over 60 yrs of stuff, and my pap was a pack rat), they found several thousand hidden around the house.
Good luck!


And to a few PP, I apologize for never having heard of Feb break before. My sons' school doesn't even have spring break, just Good Friday & Easter Monday... They used to not have MLK JR day off either. We go end of Aug to first week of June. They get two days off in Oct, Wed to Fri in Nov, and about two weeks for Xmas.

We found money hidden all over my grandmother's house. It wasn't a lot but we were able to buy ourselves lunch every day that we were there.

We found a strand of pearls wrapped in a tissue and then put inside a bunch of plastic bags

 

[prncess674]

I know this isn't exactly helpful to the OP, but I do hope that others take this opportunity to talk to relatives about what is in their house and who they would like items to go into their friends/family. My parents are only in their 60's but when Mom retired my sis and I have spent many days over the last several years going thru boxes of family items. Many times she told us stories but other things were sent to family and friends who Mom & Dad knew would enjoy such items.

Sure sis and I will have to sift thru items when they pass but we are very fortunate that many items that have been boxed for 30 years have gone to loving owners. Sis & I also learned the history of many items.

 

[JVL1018]

depends on where in jersey you are. the district i live in doesn't get the week off, but the district i work in does. my nephew was furious when he found out. he wants to transfer to my middle school now.

Oh I know, there are plenty of towns that don't have the whole week off, I was just pointing out that it's not just NY,lots of places in NJ DO have off..and I would guess elsewhere around the country too, as it's a big vacation week.

 

[mnrose]

I think all the siblings who can help, should help. It's part of being family. Just yesterday, 3 (of 7) siblings and I, plus one of our cousins, cleaned out my Dad's rental house as he is also moving to assisted living. In one day, we packed and removed ALL possessions from that home, and garage. Granted, we dumpstered a large amount of the stuff. Allow another day for a thorough cleaning, and we are done. I have no idea why it would take 9 days.

We started at about 8:30 and were done with the packing, sorting and throwing out part by about 6, taking a one hour lunch break.

All you need is a dedicated crew, with a joint philosophy about how to proceed.

 

[I Love Pluto]

I don't want to sound like I'm preaching, but - you should change the vacation dates.

Family is family. Be kind to them. You never know when you just might need them in an emergency.