Dirty carpet and bad landlord
By cynddvs
@cynddvs (2948)
United States
October 9, 2007 2:54pm CST
My family and I just moved into our new rental house this weekend. We spent our first night over there Friday night. When we first went over there the carpet had been professionally cleaned a few days earlier and looked great. Well the first night we stayed there and started walking around in our socks and barefeet we realized the carpet has a stiff, sticky feeling to it and has a strange odor to it. So we called our landlord first thing Saturday morning to let her know about it and to see what we should do. She hires someone different to come and steam clean the carpet that day. So Sunday after the carpet is dry we check on it again and it still has a weird odor to it. We finally ask her if the previous tenants had pets because it had a pet odor to it. She swore that the woman who lived there before us had a dog and kept it outside. When she came back over yesterday to check on the carpet again she swears she can't smell anything and basically tells us that if we can't stand the odor we can have till the rest of the month and look for a new place. She is refusing to do anything more to the carpet and says that if she has the carpet replaced she will have to go up significantly on our rent. So needless to say after moving all weekend and dealing with dirty carpet we are very frustrated at this point. I am really thinking that the pet odor has gotten below in the foam beneath the carpet and has completely ruined the carpet. Our landlord is convinced that just because the carpet looks clean that it is clean. We really don't want to start looking for another place to live considering we haven't even been in this house a week yet. But I don't want my daughter rolling around in dirty carpet.
For those of you who have made it through reading my long story thank you for listening. Does anyone have any advice on what we should do? Is there anything we can do to get rid of this odor? I really really don't want to have to move yet again if we can help it. I love the house and I swear we aren't making up phantom odors lol.
5 people like this
20 responses
@AxranraRose82 (1120)
• United States
10 Oct 07
Be careful- if she is already starting to ignore issues that you are having you might be in for something huge at the end of your lease. I personally thought that landlords were required to replace the carpet between tenants for many reasons. It sounds like she is just ignoring the problem and doesn't feel like replacing the carpet. There is no reason that she should increase your rent because she had a responsibility that she didn't take care of- it wasn't your fault the carpet is gross. I don't even think that she is allowed to raise your rent unless your rental agreenment states that she can raise your rent for reasons like that.
And it is outrageous for her to think that if the lady before you had a dog that she never brought it inside!!!
You ought to make her sign something stating that the carpet was in bad shape when you moved in, otherwise she might end up accusing you of sneaking a pet in and taking that money out of your security deposit at the end of your lease! And take pictures of it or do something to show that it is not very clean. I have heard so many horror stories from tenants that had bad landlords- don't be one of those!
@AxranraRose82 (1120)
• United States
10 Oct 07
Oh and if you have to spend your OWN money to clean it or replace it or anything, legally I believe you are allowed to deduct that cost from your rent. Contact the housing authority or a similar business to find out more but I am pretty sure that is the rule. Just like if you had to get your own plumber or electrician to fix a big problem because she wouldn't do it on her own- you aren't supposed to be paying for that stuff so you just take that money out of your rent and explain why.
2 people like this
@southernpixie (741)
• United States
10 Oct 07
Since the landlord doesn't want to do anything else, you should probably start looking for a new place. I don't know why landlords don't want to take care of their property. If she's not willing to replace the carpet, she's probably not going to want to fix/replace anything else.
I don't blame you for not wanting your daughter on that carpet, I wouldn't want my kids on dirty carpet either.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
10 Oct 07
Argh, how frustrating. I'm sorry that I have no suggestions.
2 people like this
@TerryZ (22076)
• United States
10 Oct 07
Hi cynddvs!Im afraid your right the odor has gone straight throu to the pad of the carpet. You either must rip it up and pay for the carpet yourself or live with the odor. Maybe you can just use area rugs after you rip the carpet up. You must clean the floor very well too. Whatever you do good luck to you. And that is the problem with renting a house. I do know about it Ive been renting for years now.
2 people like this
@smurfettewv (359)
• United States
10 Oct 07
been there and here is somehtings we used its availble at walmart called Urine Be Gone it comes with a black lite so u can isolate the pet stains that are not availbe to naked eyes and saturate with that stuff it will disappear, also a home remedey that works vinegar ,vinegar will neutralize pet odors especially urine you ca put in a shamppooer or just in pray bottle and spray the house will smell pickle like for a few minutes lol but the odors disapate.
2 people like this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
12 Mar 08
..I'd follow all the cleaning advice.. if you can't roll it up and store it in the attic, that is.. and then I'd also treat it with chili powder. I've found that it takes away pet odors, when nothing else does.
Good luck!
1 person likes this
@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
9 Oct 07
I would definitely suggest going to a pet store and getting a carpet cleaner from there if the smell doesn't go away in another few days. I hate the way our carpet smells when we've first shampoo'ed it. Because we have two dogs in the house, and it smells terrible when the carpet is wet. Otherwise I don't even notice the smell of them.
I would also go around and make sure that the walls are really clean. Especially down low where a dog might have been right up against one. I know that one of my dogs likes to sit with her back right up next to the wall, and we really had to clean that spot to get rid of the smell when we moved out of our last house.
2 people like this
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
16 Jan 08
That is a problem. We have a simular one here in our apartment. They steam clean the carpet before ppl move in but not after that. Hubby and I have lived here about a year and a half now and of course, we've managed to get little (and a few medium sized) stains on the carpet from God knows what and although it doesn't smell or anything it looks terrible. Also it seems like the carpet they put in here picks up every little speck of dirt.
I talked to the manager but she told me that we can only have it professionally cleaned and the company they use charges $180.00 to do just the walkways (around the front door and the hall). So I am planning to buy a carpet cleaner myself and some area rugs to put down. In the meantime I just keep vacumming it so at least it looks halfway decent.
As for yours, I'd say probably the only way you'll get it out is to rip it all out.
**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~
1 person likes this
@carolscash (9492)
• United States
31 Oct 07
It sounds as though you are sort of stuck if she isn't going to clean again and you don't want to move. I think that she should be a little more understanding. However, I do know carpet is expensive and she would be out to replace the carpet. However, if you are good renters she might consider letting things slide on the rent until she can figure our what is wrong.
@kathisharpe (140)
• United States
9 Oct 07
You could try renting a steam cleaner from Wal-Mart or a local grocery store (about $20 for the day) and getting the pet variety cleaning solution (about $10). Also swing by the local pet store and get a product that is an enzyme cleaner. There's one that is orange-based and is very good, but I can't remember the name of it (sorry)... the pet store should be able to make a recommendation.
An hour or two before you clean the carpet with shampoo, clean it with the enzyme cleaner (in the shampooer).
Then, when you actually clean the carpet, add a couple of ounces of hydrogen peroxide to the water, and use the absolute hottest water you possibly can. (DO NOT do this unless you've got fairly light colored carpet; spot-test first. I have medium-beige carpeting and do it all the time without a problem)
Make sure you suck up every last bit of water that you can, as the carpet's going to have gotten wet twice. If you have fans turn those on to help the drying, and do this on a sunny day.
Another thought, seriously (now that I said all of that) ... is the odor coming from any one point? Is it near a water source or drain line? I thought one of my cats had (somehow!) gotten behind my washer and gone pee, and it turned out that particle board stinks like that when it gets wet, and my washer was leaking! Maybe something is leaking and the flooring's damp... ? Or maybe things haven't 100% dried out from all the cleaning?
and add a few ounces of
2 people like this
@newfette (338)
• Canada
30 Jan 08
My friend and I had the same problem when we lived in an apartment a couple years back. You need to call the Health and Safety Department (look it up in government pages). Also call the Landlord & Tenant's agreement people (also in government services). Or at least those services are listed in government for Canada. If you live in US I'm sorry I wouldn't know the department to call.
It is the landlord's responsability to provide a safe, clean, heated with water environment to you. Ours gave us a lot of trouble and once the Health and Safety people came in and tested the carpet and said it was mould infested which caused odour the landlord had to not only replace it but we got a month's free rent. so it's worth it to check it out!!!
I hope that helped.
@schilds (410)
• United States
27 Jan 08
I hope by now you have worked something out with the landlord. I can see her point if she has had the carpet professionally cleaned twice, and doesn't smell anything, but I can also sympathise with you. If you can pinpoint an area where it is coming from many carpet cleaners can come and inject with a syringe an enzyme to get rid of the odor. It works very well as it gets under the carpet into the pad. When I had my carpets cleaned a couple months ago the carpet getting wet made it smell really bad, so I had them come back and treat that spot. Within a couple of hours the smell was gone and hasn't come back.
1 person likes this
@annettenasser (2992)
• Kuwait
30 Oct 07
You can try to spread baking soda or baking powder in the carpet and let it stand for the whole night and then vacum it to the next day. hope it will help you to remove the bad odor of the carpet.
@trialrun01 (644)
• India
10 Oct 07
Cleanliness is something which is the key to stay healhty and fit in this world. Its us who define whether we stay healthy as dirt and dust gives invitation of lots of diseases and hence causes a person to become sick
1 person likes this
@livewyre (2450)
•
30 Oct 07
If the carpet has been cleaned twice and there is still a problem, then there is no point cleaning it again, ask for permission to lift the carpet and look underneath. If you take responsibility for this, your landlord should see that you are not trying to pull a stunt. When we moved into our new house, I was working in the spare bedroom and had my head close to the floor when the aroma of human urine wafted by me, I ripped up the carpet and it stank... it went straight out the window. Admittedly it was my house so there was no problem with a landlord.... I now have beautiful wooden floors, and it just cost me hire of the sander and a tin of varnish...
1 person likes this
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
9 Oct 07
I would find another place to live, if you can't afford higher rent. It sounds like the landlord has tried to fix the problem. I can understand charging more rent to replace the carpet. If you took her to court, you would lose.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (45594)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
9 Oct 07
The previous posters have given you sage advice. There's nothing more I can add, other than to corroborate that wet carpet SMELLS no matter how clean it is.
1 person likes this
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
10 Oct 07
Hi cynddvs! Oh that is kinda frustrating. I guess, the landlord thought that she has done her very best because she had it cleaned twice however, I agree with you that the pet odor is kinda disgusting because we all know that if it has some kind of smell, it is not entirely clean. I don't recommend that you buy a spray to mask the odor because that will not clean the carpet, however, if your landlord can have it cleaned it once again and maybe if you can share the cost at a minimum and you will be the one to instruct the people who will clean the carpet, I guess that will somehow save you and the landlord for changing the carpet and raising the rent. Well, it is not a perfet suggeston but I guess, it is worth a try. Take care and have a nice day.
1 person likes this
