Look closely on the left. There is a toilet under that mess.

Before you learn how the toilet pictured above was cleaned up and removed let me introduce you to the man that managed the trash-out at this property. Ben Norris is the owner-operator of Norris Property Preservation in Evansville, Indiana. Ben’s company is a 1-stop-shop that manages distressed property projects from start to finish. He has worked in the property preservation industry for a decade but didn’t go full time until after he was injured on the job as a firefighter.

“I got hurt in May of 2018 when a roof collapsed on my head and I thought I was dead.”

When Ben moved full time to property preservation he made a point to include public service in his work.

“It’s a business of course, but the firefighter side of me is trying to help people out.”

“If we can donate the couches or bedroom set or appliances or whatever that’s usually the first half day of what we do. We’ll pull all that stuff out and set it in the front yard, take pictures of the stuff and post it on Facebook and here ya go come get it.”

Most of the time the homes that Ben works in are in fair shape but recently he completed one of the filthiest trash-outs of his career. One of Ben’s family friends recently inherited a 2,400 square foot home after the death of a family member. The home had been occupied for decades by Phil, a man who suffered from mental illness and alcoholism.

“Phil had always wanted to be by himself, kind of did everything by himself and lived by himself.”

Several months ago after Phil received his Covid stimulus check he used it to pre-pay a month of rent at a low priced, motel. He was in poor health and passed away in his motel room. The cause of death was unknown.

Ben was contracted to clean out the property so it could be ready for new occupants. What he saw during the inspection shocked him.

“I started doing this up in Indianapolis and we were in some pretty rough places. Some places we thought we were walking into a crime scene. Ya know there is blood, you think hmm… what happened here? This by far is probably the grossest house I’ve ever been into.”

The house was filled with trash in every room except the kitchen.

“The amount of Wild Turkey bottles that was in the home was incredible.”

“Thousands upon thousands of dollars of bottles.”

The bathroom was the worst room in the house. The toilet pictured above was overflowing with 5 feet of decayed fecal matter and debris. The evidence suggests that the previous owner had been climbing a ladder and defecating onto the toilet perhaps for years.

“We think honestly he climbed on this ladder and was pooping off of it. I mean it was about a six foot ladder that was around the corner and that’s honestly the only thing that halfway makes sense.”

The crew member that cleaned up the bathroom took extra safety measures.

“He got gloved up, masked up and had a protective suit on.”

The first step was to remove the feces pile that was above the toilet. The technician used a shovel to remove the top portion but this released a tremendous odor.

“I’ll tell you honestly it had a smell but not as bad as you think. But when we knocked off that top, and it’s wet and it released all that, it was worse than pulling bodies out of a river. I don’t know how to describe it.”

The waste matter was hauled outside using trash cans. The toilet below the massive pile of feces was not salvageable so the decision was made to destroy it.

“He took a sledgehammer and he smashed the toilet because that was hard but what’s underneath was still soft and wet.”

Pieces of toilet, wet feces and debris flew around the room. The tech used his scoop shovel to haul out the mess in 3 trash cans.

“He earned his bonus that day for sure.”

It took days 2 days to complete the entire home.

“as we took the trash away we peeled away layers of years. There was stuff on the floor we were finding from 1987. I think that was the earliest we found.”

In the end Ben’s instinct for public service came through.

“Do you have that uncle… ya know maybe check him. Because there are a lot of people that live like that and they don’t want help but by God they need it.”

If you know someone living alone that suffers from mental health challenges or addiction and you need help please contact SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.