Redditors that work inside people's homes, (i.e. Plumbers, electricians, ect) what is the funniest/weirdest thing you have seen going on in someone's home?

I used to be a service electrician. During that time I'd seen some pretty nasty living conditions from time to time but this one job took the cake. There was a really obese black woman in her late 50's who had some issues with her power for some reason so she called to have someone look at it.

First of all she said we couldnt enter through the front door but she never said why. So she opens the rear slider that leads into the kitchen and as soon as she opened the door it smelled like there were dead bodies inside. I could barely hold back from projectile vomiting. So we step inside and what I saw before my own eyes was the most horrific scene I've ever witnessed. It truly was an unbelievable sight to behold. I quickly realized why we couldnt get in through the front door.

Now we have all heard of hoarders and seen the TV shows but this lady took 1st place in all categories. From the back entrance you could see the front door. But only half of it. There were literally hundreds and possibly thousands of bags of random trash strewn about the entire house. The walls were a nasty brown color. I had no idea if she had carpet or tile or anything. All I saw was trash and was constantly stepping in/over it. There was actually a little pathway created because of the trash being trampled on for so long. Im talking plastic bottles, wrappers, soup cans, magazines, newspapers, trash bags full of whatever, and pretty much anything you can imagine being in a home. I imagined she hadnt taken the trash out in years.

Nothing was organized. It honestly looked like the rolling hills of a dump site. The trash was so high it came up to bout half the wall.

It was a 2 story home and there was the same beaten path that went upstairs and the stairwell walls had hundreds of random pictures and decor hung up. So much so that i could barely see the color of the wall. Seriously, Im not even exaggerating about this. She had a path from the back door to the kitchen to the living room where there was an old wooden chair sitting in the middle of the room and a small tv on some sort of stand. I couldnt see the legs of the stand because it was surrounded by so much trash. Again the smell was unbearable.

The kitchen counter tops were absolutely disgusting with spider webs and opened cans of food ALL over the place. Not to mention the trash bags full of whatever piled up as high as she could get them. I had no idea what color the counter tops were. She had just enough room to get to the sink, fridge, and a few of the cupboards.

The closet where the electrical panel was located was inaccessible because the trash was piled so high against the door. She had to dig through her shit for 10 minutes before we could get the door open and then the closet was the same. About six foot high of just trash. Oh and did I mention the smell?

Anyways, we decided it was a hazard to work in there so we left. I was only like 17 and was just a helper and now that i look back I wonder why we didnt call someone to help her get her house clean. We just left and that was it. I think to this day I am such a clean freak because of that experience.

/r/AskReddit Thread