Other People’s Dog Urine smell in my carpet
Exactly one week ago today we moved across country from Western New York to our new home in South Texas. For about the same amount of money, we got a bigger house, with a great water view, an inground pool, and an affluent neighborhood. When we bask in the warm Texas sun, watching the palm trees sway in the breeze from Corpus Christi Bay while we sip Margaritas, my husband and I remind each other that we are not on vacation — we actually LIVE here now. How did we get so lucky to find this piece of paradise? Only one thing brings us down to Earth — the pungent smell of dog urine when we walk into the house.
When we flew here to house-shop two months ago, there was no odor of dogs, although three large dogs were penned up in the back office while we toured the house. The owner vacated the house shortly after, subsequently turning off the air conditioning. We surmise that the heat and humidity of two months of near 100 degree days brought up these older smells.
The smell was so vile it initially brought tears to the eyes. After buying several over-the-counter products guaranteed to remove pet odors, it now smells like dog pee lurking under spring rain, mountain breeze, and fresh linen scents. In addition to watery eyes, we now suffer from uncontrollable sneezing fits from all the different odors and chemical products piled on top of the dog pee.
I have steam-cleaned the carpets with our personal steamcleaner, to no avail. I believe the smell is actually getting worse. It is now time to give up trying to do it myself and call in the big guns — professional carpet cleaners.
This brings me to my paid review of Quality Carpet Cleaning. I have reviewed their website at http://www.qualitycarpetcleaning.com/ and they have a solid premise of solving problems like mine. In fact, their FAQ page addresses how to treat pet odors.
“Q. How do you treat pet stains and odor?
A. Because dogs and cats don’t sweat, their urine contains alkaline salts which absorb moisture out of the air. Thus, pet urine never really dries. It becomes a feeding ground for bacteria which causes odor, staining and discoloration. Minor conditions can be handled with a combination of germicidal and enzyme surface treatments, and enzyme injections into the padding. Major conditions usually require pad replacement and floor treatment in addition to treating the carpet.”
I believe the part about how “pet urine never really dries” is our problem. In fact, I have difficulty pushing the vacuum over the spot where the worst stench is. I am met with resistance from the vacuum — it feels like I am pushing a vacuum over a wet carpet.
Quality Carpet Cleaning has an entire section on Pet Odor and Pet Stains, including a coupon for 25% off. If they were in my area, I would be on the phone with them this very moment, asking “how fast can you get here to clean my carpet?” They serve many counties in Southern California. If you live in that area and are experiencing the embarrassment and torture of a smelly pet-stained carpet, I recommend giving them a call for an estimate. Cleaning a carpet is a lot cheaper than replacing a carpet.
Quality Carpet Cleaning treats all sorts of stains and dirty carpets, not just pet stains. Besides carpet cleaning, other services they provide include upholstery cleaning, drapery cleaning, carpet repairs, and tile and grout cleaning. They offer a list of carpet cleaning services on their website.
Stumble it!
November 19th, 2007 at 7:28 am
My suggestion about the carpet is to ask the owner to replace it (if you’re renting) or replace it yourself (if you’re buying). Scented products will just make it worse. An enzyme-based product *might* do the trick; you can usually get those at pet stores. The clerks usually know which ones work best, because they probably use them in the store.
I was wondering where you moved from. We just moved from Buffalo to Northeastern Oklahoma, and we’ve had quite a different experience with real estate. We sold our lovely old house in the city of Buffalo for a fairly good price, but can’t find anything here for the same price except starter homes and modest houses in iffy neighborhoods. Everyone thinks we must be pleasantly surprised by the real estate prices, since we moved from NEW YORK, but it’s actually just the opposite.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I moved from Elma NY. I miss all the trees — we had a forested back yard on one acre in Western New York, but there are no shade trees at all in our yard. But I’m really liking the warm weather.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
stop complaining you traitor to the empire state!
November 10th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Gas here in Portland Texas today is $1.86 a gallon. My husband is on business in Buffalo NY today and reports it is still over $3.50 per gallon there.
Further, it’s 74 degrees and sunny, and I hear you have a foot of snow already and the sun has disappeared for the next 6 months.
So, yeah, I’m liking Texas better than New York these days…