A woman in North Sydney who's been accused of hoarding items in her house for years is holding out hope her home will be saved.

For months, Sylvia Dolomont has been in a battle with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to save her home. The city says the house isn't structurally sound and has received complaints for years about rotting garbage, debris and mould sitting inside.  

“It's completely cleaned out inside,” Dolomont says. “It cost me now $50,000 to do what they wanted me to do. I paid $23,000 for workers, including eight or 10 dumpsters that I had.”

But the municipality says the house has to go.

In a last ditch effort to save her home, Dolomont invited the public inside Wednesday to try and gain support. She says an independent building inspector has told her the house is safe, and they have been trying to comply with CBRM requests to bring the building up to code.

“One was to obtain an environmental assessment. We did reach out to the company and we had a scope of practice prepared. But unfortunately they weren't able to get on site as of today and have the report in the hands of the municipality, says Dolomont's lawyer Nick Burke.

In an email, the CBRM says it is working with the contractor to co-ordinate the demolition for as soon as possible. Work could start as early as Thursday.  

The municipality says neighbours have been calling about odour and rodents coming from the home since 2008. Dolomont is still holding out hope the municipality will have a change of heart.

“Now it's just ready for hardwood floors, some paints, new kitchen, new bathroom and clean the basement and it's ready to go,” she says.

Dolomont, who is in her 70s, says her husband built the house for her and was hoping to move back in if she received the go ahead. 

“It's very emotional,” says Dolomont. “I intended to get on with the renovations and move back in this home.”

In July, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge denied Dolomont’s request to halt the demolition, saying the municipality has legal authority to take it down. 

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.