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Expert Advice

Pet Odor

Q: How do I get out pet urine from my carpet? Some of the stains are old and I am constantly steam cleaning my carpets.

A:Sounds like the urine is also in the padding and possibly in the subfloor underneath the carpet. Steam cleaning will not help at this point. Urine is humectant and feeds on moisture. You probably notice the odor gets worse the more you steam clean it.

You will need to get to the source of the odor. The carpet will need to be pulled back and the padding replaced, in most cases, because all padding is just a dense sponge. This urine is trapped in this sponge and is very difficult to extract out.

The next step will be treating the floor. Wood or concrete slab floors are porous so the urine, with the help of gravity, soaks into these pores and needs to be treated and sealed. If the subfloor is not properly treated and sealed before putting back the new pad and freshly cleaned carpet, that familiar odor will return to the carpet when it gets a little humid or when the house is closed up for a while. Your sensitive-nosed dog will also return to that familiar odor to do his business.

When looking for a professional carpet cleaner to take care of this for you, make sure the firm you hire is a certified odor damage specialist who offers a money back guarantee to remove the odor.

To locate a professional carpet cleaner certified as an odor damage specialist, please visit our site at: http://www.servicemagic.com. Type “Carpet Cleaner” into the search box and fill out a service request for “Find A Home Carpet Cleaning Service.” Explain you want a certified odor damage specialist so we can match you with the ideal service professional in your area.

Good luck!

This information is brought to you by Andy Gallagher of Gallagher’s Carpet Care in Sacramento, CA.