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[Catty2]

I don't watch Hoarders on TV that often but have seen plenty of men on the show trying to get rid of their clutter. 

[Reba055]

It depresses/stresses me for sure. I'm sure part of my issue is not being able to physically do things at times and the clutter just closes in and hammers home the fact that I can't do it. It doesn't affect my husband that way either. He has too little time and is just able to dismiss it as the low man on the totem pole. 

That said, my house is actually much cleaner and organized than most. I too had a neat freak mom and like things that way. I'll drag around half dead to keep doing stuff. I have gotten pretty bad with paperwork though 😜 I just tackled a bunch last night. 

I can overlook clutter in a pinch. But it HAS to be clean!

[Carmie]

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@151949 wrote:

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@ROMARY wrote:

'Almost everyone' (Well, let's say 'Many') around here keep their cars out front in their driveway(s).  Lots of folks use their garages to store furniture, items, etc., etc.  Actually, I never did like the idea of having a car gas tank filled with gasoline in a garage near gas water heaters, dryers, etc.  Many years ago, a lady neighbor a few blocks away, had a slight gasoline leak (or something similar) and her house was almost completely destroyed; it took a year to rebuild it.   Since that time, I've been leery of cars in garages, unless there is a separate garage for the car, and another area containing gas appliances, etc.   IMO, better to leave cars out front, safety-wise, in some homes/situations, etc.

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I've always had all electric homes so this isn't an issue - but in Pa they require a firewall between the gas water heater or furnace or dryer and the garage because cars can cause a spark that would ignite a gas leak. Our Pa home was considerably less expensive to build because we did not need that firewall in an all electric home.

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I live in PA in an all electric home. PA  Code required us to have a firewall between the attached garage and house and the door from the garage to the kitchen had to be rated fire proof as well.

 Where I live we have basements,  no water heaters, washer/ dryers and furnaces are in the garage.  It gets below freezing out there in the winter time.

[151949]

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@Carmie wrote:

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@151949 wrote:

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@ROMARY wrote:

'Almost everyone' (Well, let's say 'Many') around here keep their cars out front in their driveway(s).  Lots of folks use their garages to store furniture, items, etc., etc.  Actually, I never did like the idea of having a car gas tank filled with gasoline in a garage near gas water heaters, dryers, etc.  Many years ago, a lady neighbor a few blocks away, had a slight gasoline leak (or something similar) and her house was almost completely destroyed; it took a year to rebuild it.   Since that time, I've been leery of cars in garages, unless there is a separate garage for the car, and another area containing gas appliances, etc.   IMO, better to leave cars out front, safety-wise, in some homes/situations, etc.

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I've always had all electric homes so this isn't an issue - but in Pa they require a firewall between the gas water heater or furnace or dryer and the garage because cars can cause a spark that would ignite a gas leak. Our Pa home was considerably less expensive to build because we did not need that firewall in an all electric home.

---

I live in PA in an all electric home. PA  Code required us to have a firewall between the attached garage and house and the door from the garage to the kitchen had to be rated fire proof as well.

 Where I live we have basements,  no water heaters, washer/ dryers and furnaces are in the garage.  It gets below freezing out there in the winter time.

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Our house was a split entry - there was no door from the basement garage level up to the house level. Also the basement level was heated, as the house was intended to have a finished basement. There was just a regular -plasterboard wall between the garage and the basement - it had insulation on the garage side - like a blown on styrofoam.

[Julie_23]

Thanks for posting this.  The article sounds good.  Is there a way to find it to read?  I'm not very familiar with MSN's website.

[151949]

google it

[Carmie]

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@151949 wrote:

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@Carmie wrote:

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@151949 wrote:

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@ROMARY wrote:

'Almost everyone' (Well, let's say 'Many') around here keep their cars out front in their driveway(s).  Lots of folks use their garages to store furniture, items, etc., etc.  Actually, I never did like the idea of having a car gas tank filled with gasoline in a garage near gas water heaters, dryers, etc.  Many years ago, a lady neighbor a few blocks away, had a slight gasoline leak (or something similar) and her house was almost completely destroyed; it took a year to rebuild it.   Since that time, I've been leery of cars in garages, unless there is a separate garage for the car, and another area containing gas appliances, etc.   IMO, better to leave cars out front, safety-wise, in some homes/situations, etc.

---

I've always had all electric homes so this isn't an issue - but in Pa they require a firewall between the gas water heater or furnace or dryer and the garage because cars can cause a spark that would ignite a gas leak. Our Pa home was considerably less expensive to build because we did not need that firewall in an all electric home.

---

I live in PA in an all electric home. PA  Code required us to have a firewall between the attached garage and house and the door from the garage to the kitchen had to be rated fire proof as well.

 Where I live we have basements,  no water heaters, washer/ dryers and furnaces are in the garage.  It gets below freezing out there in the winter time.

---

Our house was a split entry - there was no door from the basement garage level up to the house level. Also the basement level was heated, as the house was intended to have a finished basement. There was just a regular -plasterboard wall between the garage and the basement - it had insulation on the garage side - like a blown on styrofoam.

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Our garage has what looks like regular plasterboard on the wall attached to the house, but it is some kind of fireproof material.  I know this because we built our house and I wanted a door with a window between the garage and kitchen.  The house inspector would not allow it and said we needed a solid fireproof door. He told me at that time that my wall was fireproofed too.

The house had to be up to code or we couldn't get an occupancy permit. It's supposed to prevent a fire from the garage from entering the house.  I think a fire would still spread into the house, but maybe it will be slowed down. I hope to never find out.

[lolakimono]

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@Julie_23 wrote:

Thanks for posting this.  The article sounds good.  Is there a way to find it to read?  I'm not very familiar with MSN's website.

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@Julie_23

I don't know if this the article that OP referenced, as there were many items on MSN's page.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/cleaning-and-organizing/the-4-biggest-clutter-culprits-in-your-ho...

[Lucky Charm]

@151949Speaking of your cluttered house reminds me of your dear housekeeper's situation. 

I hope she is having Soc. Security withdrawn from your paycheck to her and everyone else's payments she receives--or she's going to be in trouble down the road when she retires.  Am sure she's wanting to live your life!

If not, she'd better take the full-time job at Publix for less than she makes cleaning houses, but have the piece of mind of them deducting SSI, medicare or medicaid and taxes for her. 

That's awesome she's making so much cleaning houses and that her healthcare payments aren't too high.  I always heard it was expensive.  Unless you were medicaid level and then it's free, which she wouldn't be eligible for because she's making more money cleaning houses.

Good luck with your clutter!

[Mominohio]

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

@151949Speaking of your cluttered house reminds me of your dear housekeeper's situation. 

I hope she is having Soc. Security withdrawn from your paycheck to her or she's going to be in trouble later on, too.

If not, she'd better take the full-time job at Publix for less than she makes cleaning houses, but have the piece of mind of them deducting SSI, medicare or medicaid and taxes for her. 

That's awesome she's making so much cleaning houses and that her healthcare payments aren't too high.  I always heard it was expensive.  Unless you were medicaid level and then it's free, which she wouldn't be eligible for because she's making more money cleaning houses.

Good luck with your clutter!

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I'll add to this as well, that I know how much you liked you housekeeper, and even called her a friend. It is not easy to find good help that one can trust to do a good job in their home, be it housekeeping or updating or construction. Sorry you will be/might be loosing her.

But, she has lived off the system all these years raising her children on CHIP (that is what it is, a taxpayer funded entitlement program) and now it is time for her to put on her big girl panties and make the decisions the rest of us have to. We have always chosen our employment based on benefit packages as a main consideration, and that includes health insurance. We could have made more money as well, but did the responsible and mature thing and looked out for more than the weekly cash flow, and considered the insurance factor when choosing how to make a living and keep ourselves covered. We didn't ask the taxpayers to do it. It's time for her to step up. Past time.

If she is really ambitious, she could still take that part time job up to full time for the benefits, and keep her best clients on the side to make extra money. After all, if the kids are grown, she should have some more flexibility. Maybe ask her if she would consider staying with you, offer a raise to keep her on. I'd get in on that early before her other clients know what she might be doing. She will only have so much time and be only able to keep so many clients if she takes the job full time.