It threatened to bring down the beams supporting the living room floor.
“For three years, my living room was (going) to fall into my basement any minute,” Miller said, noting that the floor was slanted and gapping away from the walls.
It was only after a gas leak that Miller, with the help of his sister, decided to tackle the hoarding problem that landed him in jail for 60 days in 2001 and for five days in 2007 on convictions related to housing code violations.
Miller said producers for the hit A&E show “Hoarders” didn’t believe the condition of his house until they stepped into the basement and discovered the buckling beams and a 2-foot flood brought on by a pipe that no one knew had burst.
Miller was one of two Dayton residents featured on the documentary-style show this summer.
“Hoarders” Producer Alice Ikeda said the people selected to be featured on the show are at a crisis point. She said it is a serious mental disorder.
“Until the last few years, most people thought of hoardering as the crazy, old cat lady — that there is nothing wrong with a person who likes to hang on to stuff,” she said.
Ikeda said there is a misconception that hoarders are “toothless, hillbillies.” The truth, she said, is that many are “highly motivated and extremely intelligent.”
“The ones that take the therapy do well,” she said.
Miller works daily through the items that still clutter the house and property, including smoke- and fire-damaged items from a 1971 house fire that Miller thinks contributed to his condition.
“I don’t know how to part with my stuff just like that,” he said. “I am praying that God gives me the strength mentally to throw stuff away or give it away.”
Because of the house’s structural damage and fire hazards, the television show’s work was limited and the house was condemned by the city of Dayton.
Allowing a city code officer into the home was among the hardest things Miller said he had to do.
He feared inspectors as the enemy.
“I wouldn’t let anyone in here, none of us do,” Miller said.
Having the house condemned has meant Miller, who lives on disability, qualified for help to get his living room floor propped up.
The city began to crack down on code violations in 1996, issuing citations.
Miller said he brought more and more things from his porch and yard into his house in an attempt to avoid a citation.
He also began to store items in his vehicles, some of which he has never driven.
“You spend your time crying the blues and not finding a solution to the problem,” Miller said. “I didn’t realize how bad it looked. I was just blind to it.”
Eventually, Miller said the only room he could use in his house was a cramped upstairs bedroom with a mattress that caused him pain.
Miller encouraged other hoarders to recognize the problem and get help.
“Once you stop letting people into your home, you are never going to do it on your own,” he said.
“My stumbling block was that I didn’t accept help. I wanted you to help me the way I wanted to be helped. You just wanted to come in and throw stuff away.”
While he has mixed emotions about his experience on “Hoarders,” he said the show helped him.
“For the first time in 15 years, I could just walk into my house,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2384 or arobinson@ DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author
