The owner of a specialist cleaning company has revealed the extraordinary scale of one recent job, in which workers wearing hazmat suits removed around 4,000 empty wine bottles from a Melbourne home.

Kristjan Tuul, a firefighter and founder of Melbourne Property Clean-up, documented the operation in videos shared on social media. The footage showed members of his team navigating through several metres of accumulated rubbish.

The property had been left vacant following the resident’s death. Outside, an overgrown garden was buried beneath piles of empty bottles that extended along the path to the front door. The company soon nicknamed it “the wine house”.

Wearing a mask, Mr Tuul carefully picked his way across the bottles before entering the property, warning viewers that the conditions inside would be difficult to see.

“This one isn’t the nicest, so if you don’t like anything nasty, you’d better tune out,” he said in the first video.

“It’s never a good sign when you have to enter a property this way.”

Inside, every room was filled with knee-high mounds of glass bottles, general rubbish, unwashed plates and soiled possessions.

Clearly taken aback, Mr Tuul climbed over the debris and stood on a coffee table to demonstrate the height of the piles.

Workers removed approximately 4,000 empty wine bottles during the clean-up

Melbourne Property Clean-up founder Kristjan Tuul and his team spent two days clearing the property

“We’ve been doing this for 15 years, so we’ve encountered just about everything,” Mr Tuul told the Daily Mail.

“It wasn’t the worst job we’ve ever taken on, but it was certainly close. My first reaction was shock, followed by sadness that someone had been living in those conditions.”

Although the client had warned him that the clean-up would be demanding, Mr Tuul said the reality was far more severe than he had expected.

“You could say the situation had been under-described. Spending two days in full hazmat suits made for extremely hot and sweaty work,” he said.

In footage from the operation, Mr Tuul said the kitchen had clearly gone without cleaning for an extended period. He also described finding “a lot of biological waste” in the bathroom.

His team spent two days removing the 4,000 wine bottles, biological waste and years of accumulated grime from the house.

For the second video, recorded as the work continued last week, Mr Tuul returned to the property in a full protective suit.

“That’s an unbelievable number of wine bottles. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to see how someone was living here,” he said.

The property was dubbed “the wine house” by Mr Tuul’s cleaning company

Mr Tuul estimated that about 70 cubic metres of rubbish was removed

According to the business owner, the clean-up generated an estimated 70 cubic metres of waste.

The bottles did not qualify for Victoria’s 10-cent container refund because of their condition, but Mr Tuul said he arranged for them to be sent for recycling.

For Mr Tuul, the job underlined the importance of staying connected with family, friends and neighbours.

“Behind every closed door is a story we may know nothing about. Those struggling most are often the least likely to ask for help,” he said.

“Take a moment to contact a family member, friend or neighbour you haven’t heard from recently. Ask how they are really coping, listen without judgement and remind them that they are not alone.

“We come across heartbreaking situations far too often. If sharing our work encourages even one person to reach out before it is too late, then it is worthwhile.

“A brief conversation, a little compassion or a helping hand can change someone’s life.”

Alongside their firefighting duties, Mr Tuul and his team prepare and clear properties for sale, renovation and demolition.

Their work includes deceased estates, hoarded homes and properties being emptied by families who are downsizing.

“My grandfather was a hoarder, so my interest in this kind of work developed naturally,” he said.

“Because of their shift patterns, many firefighters take on second jobs. The work can be physically demanding and dirty, but it is rewarding, especially when you see the transformation at the end.”

David Warner has accused Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins of throwing Usman Khawaja ‘under the bus’ in the latest dispute over the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal, while revealing the devastating impact the controversy had on his family.

Cummins earlier on Friday rejected Khawaja’s claim that the entire Australian team knew sandpaper would be used during the Test against South Africa in Cape Town. He branded the allegation ‘complete and utter nonsense’ and accused Khawaja of treating people’s lives and reputations too casually.

Speaking during a press conference in Sydney that ran for more than an hour, Cummins said there had been no team meeting about collective responsibility and no ‘masterplan’ to use illegal methods to alter the ball.

Warner came to the defence of his childhood friend Khawaja while working as a Fox Cricket commentator before Australia’s one-day international against England at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Friday.

The former opener also detailed the personal cost of the scandal, saying he and his wife Candice had suffered the greatest consequences and linking the intense pressure of the period to her miscarriage.

‘Yes, we accepted it, but at the end of the day my wife and I paid the greatest price. We lost a baby during that time, and that is why it still hurts me the most until the truth is accepted.’

‘Pat Cummins was very well prepared this morning, but I still stand by what Uzzie wrote in that book. It is the truth,’ he said.

‘I support him [Usman], and I genuinely feel for him at the moment.’

David Warner accused Australia Test captain Pat Cummins of throwing Usman Khawaja ‘under the bus’ while commentating for Fox Cricket on Friday

David Warner and his wife Candice lost their unborn child a week after returning home from South Africa following the Sandpapergate scandal

‘I feel the captain threw Uzzie under the bus today, and I am extremely disappointed.’

Warner, former captain Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft all received lengthy bans from Cricket Australia for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal.

‘The three of us have paid a huge price. I had not spoken about it for eight years, but we have to live with these consequences every day. We have effectively been given a life sentence.

‘When other people talk about being affected by it, nothing compares with what Steve, Cameron and I experience when we walk out there every day and face the abuse.’

Warner said he had spoken with Khawaja and Bancroft, and claimed both were ‘quite upset’ by the latest developments.

‘In the eight years since, not one of those people in that changeroom has spoken to us about it. The mateship and honesty we talk about have not extended to any contact or questions over what happened.

‘We are all adults and open to having a conversation. I have played golf with Pat Cummins a couple of times, shared changerooms with him and won two World Cups, yet it has never been questioned.’

David Warner said he and his wife Candice paid the heaviest personal price in the aftermath of Sandpapergate

Warner responded to Cummins’ claims while commentating for Fox Cricket on Friday

‘At the end of the day, Pat is not going to agree with me, and I am not going to agree with him. He has spoken about what he believes Usman wrote in the book, but I stand by Uzzie’s comments.’

Fox Cricket co-commentator and Australian great Adam Gilchrist asked Warner whether Cricket Australia should launch another investigation.

‘It is difficult because of the way it was handled initially. Going back and providing more evidence was always going to be challenging,’ Warner replied.

‘It felt like a rushed, botched investigation designed to get it over and done with. Some of the questions were framed in a very challenging way, and the three of us were left to accept responsibility and move on.’

Former England captain Michael Vaughan then asked Warner whether he had ‘absolute proof’ that more players knew about the sandpaper plan.

‘There will be conversations behind the scenes after all of this,’ Warner said.

Candice Warner previously revealed that she suffered a miscarriage a week after the couple returned to Sydney from South Africa following the scandal.

‘I woke up feeling very unwell. I called Dave into the bathroom and told him I was bleeding. We knew I was miscarrying, so we held each other and cried,’ she told Nine’s Now to Love at the time.

‘The miscarriage was a tragic consequence and a heartbreaking end to a horrific tour. Like so many families who have experienced miscarriage, it was incredibly sad. The public humiliation and the ball-tampering scandal had taken their toll, and from that moment we decided no sport, nothing, would ever affect our lives in that way again.

‘At the time, I felt I had let us down and that my body had failed us. But I have come a long way since then. I am a very spiritual person and truly believe it was not their time to be with us. Despite our terrible loss, I know without doubt that my calling in life is to be a mum.’

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has responded to Usman Khawaja’s explosive claims about Sandpapergate

From left: Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc, the four bowlers who played in the Cape Town Test and deny knowing sandpaper was being taken onto the field

Khawaja and Cummins pictured together on the sidelines during a Test match in 2018

Cummins earlier reiterated a statement issued in 2021 alongside fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, in which they denied any knowledge of plans to tamper with the ball.

‘When Khawaja says we all knew, if he means we knew sandpaper was going out onto the field, he is 100 per cent wrong,’ Cummins told reporters.

‘I have said that consistently for the past eight years.

‘Usman says that I and others were architects of a scheme to tamper with the ball using sandpaper. That is complete and utter nonsense.

‘It is something I have been grappling with over the past couple of days. Usman is a friend, but the way he has been casual and flippant about people’s lives and reputations is not acceptable. I do not think that is what friends do.’

A reporter then asked: ‘So one of you is not telling the truth. Which one of you is not telling the truth?’

Cummins replied: ‘That is my story, so I think Khawaja is wrong.’ He added that he would not pursue legal action over the claims.