Carpet & Flooring
Inspectors Help in the Purchase of a resale home:
Candles, carpet
deodorizers, cleaning products, air fresheners, cinnamon sticks,
and a host of other air freshening products temporarily mask odors
fooling prospective
home buyers, but, once the sellers belongings
are moved out, the deodorizers are removed, and the new homeowner
moves in, the problems become evident rather quickly. It's sad
when you find the perfect house, only to find you have to spend
thousands or ten's of thousands of dollars to replace carpet,
wood, or laminate
flooring damaged by pets.
If there were pets in the house- suspect pet urine damage.
A Certified
Carpet Inspector can identify spots and stains caused by
pets, and locate spots not yet visible.. This is especially
helpful before you purchase your new house; if the spots and
stains originated from the sellers pets, your attorney may request
the seller help with replacement costs prior to closing.
Pet stains on carpet
The degree of staining from pet urine on a
carpet will depend in part on the age and diet of the pet, the
fiber type and dye method of the carpet. Solution dyed fibers will
be the most resistant to urine stains with olefin providing the
greatest stain resistance.
In most cases,
stains created by urine tend to leave either a red or yellow
tinge. In either case the change in color is almost always
permanent. Commercially available cleaning products designed to
remove urine are only effective on fresh spots.
Acids found in pet urine degrade calcium
carbonate fillers used in carpet latex, causing it to lose bonding
strength. It is not uncommon to experience delamination
and loss of tuft bind strength in carpet exposed to pet urine. (Tuft
bind is the relative strength of the attachment of the yarn loops
to the backing of the carpet. Delamination
is present when the
backings separate and tufts fall out).
How to Clean Fresh Pet Stains:
- Blot the spot with white paper towels
-
Dampen with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water
-
Blot with white paper towels (don't rub or scrub) leaving the spot
as dry as possible.
- Fold white paper towels to 1/2 inch thick- cover spot- lay
plastic sheeting on top of paper towels- completely cover the
toweling with heavy weight (the heavier the better-cinder blocks,
heavy books, tool boxes are good weights).
- Leave overnight, then remove.
Older urine spots typically require
replacement of the carpet and pad in the affected areas.
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