To expect my landlord to pay for our piss stained carpet?

[Kaedsmum]

We moved into a rented house last year. The letting agents are quite fussy and always seem to be to lazy to try to get hold of my landlord about anything because he's 'difficult to get hold of'. Yet they won't make decisions themselves.

So the other night our godson (aged 20 months) kicked over a pint of water. I mopped it up with a towel but obviously it was still dampish. The next morning it had begun to stink to high heaven. I didn't know why. By the time I got home that evening it smelt so bad I had to call my dad to come and shampoo the carpet (he has a vax). He did, then opened the doors and windows for a while. By morning it was dry. However, the smell had gotten so bad it made me physically sick as I came downstairs.dp came to see what was going on and he started bawlking.

Rang the letting agent and they said it wasn't like that when we moved in and water doesn't do that so we had to pay to get it industrial cleaned. I told them i thought it was something underneath the carpet and they said it's just concrete.

Mum came round and said 'that's cat piss' and I realised it was! The house stinks to high heaven. There was cat poo in the yard when we moved in so obviously someone has had cats. I hate cats.

Mum rung and explained to the letting agent that's what it is and that we shouldn't have to pay for a new carpet when all we've done us spill some water.

They keep saying they'll ring us back and they won't. So we've had to move in with mum as it's uninhabitable and we have a 3 month old baby.

Go get yourself a solicitor now, or spend the next 3-4 months homeless and arguing with the letting agent.

I cannot understand why the carpet still smells even if it has been shampoo'd. I also can't understand why this is the first time you've smelt it.

Try shampooing the carpet again, it often takes 2-3 attempts, especially if it hasn't been done for a while.

This is why I think it's some kind of piss stain that's soaked through the carpet or is under the carpet, or on the underlay? I don't know.

We're not stinky people, and we've had people round and no one's ever smelt it. But you can smell it from outside with the windows open now.

The shampooing seems to have made it much worse.. as though the damp has unsettled it all?

have you liften a corse of the carpet to see if they have layed it over another carpet ?

CORNER !

yes wetting it again does bring out the smell. my tom cat tends to pee when he gets upset unfortunately. is it the whole carpet that stinks or just areas of it? if its just areas then biological washing powder will break down the enzymes in the urine getting rid of the smell if its the whole carpet try steam cleaning it also breaks down the enzymes and kills gthe bateria which gets rid of the smells. though you may want a gas mask as the steam lifts out the smell far more to begin with just keep steaming untill you cant smell it anymore.

also agree try carpet cleaning it again. though the steam will work beter against the smell. i use my vax for cleaning marks and my steamer for eliminating stinky cat odours.

It could be in the underlay (which isn't dry still)

Agree with shesells - the cat pee probably dried up and the water, um, rehyrated the dormant urine. disgusting. There is nothing worse than cat urine, other than old cat urine.

Think you're right - it's in the underlay.

Can't you speak to your landlord? Can't he claim on his contents insurance as an accident?

They won't even contact him, they're useless. They've said they'll send someone round to see if I'm telling the truth today but they're ringing to let me know they're going before hand. Still no call. Obviously they're hoping the weekend will come and they won't have to deal with it.

Worst thing is, I've been hoovering and putting my baby on that carpet thinking it was clean. It's not shabby looking. Now I feel sick at the thought.

"They've said they'll send someone round to see if I'm telling the truth"?! I am astounded by this remark - how dare they be so rude as to assume you to be a liar. Your landlord is responsible for providing a sanitary place to live. A cat piss soaked carpet does not make for a healthy living environment. Check out the landlord and tenant act.

Letting agents are (mostly) the scum of the earth IMHO.

Try the landlordzone.co.uk forum. It has landlords, solicitors (sp) and tenants and I've had invaluable advice from there.

Is your bond in a DPS? From April 2007 IIRC it should be. If it is they can't charge you for the carpet from the bond without your agreement and then if you can't agree it goes to some sort of arbitration.

Had a huge row with them as they won't do anything about it and she won't even contact the landlord. She accused my DP of having dirty trainers and that being the smell. It's horrific, it is not trainers. She got the gas man out and said it's gas. She was ridiculous. Dad's going to try and speak to them.

The smell of cat pee does get worse after is made wet. We have just rented our house out and replaced every carpet as we had cats. We are now in a rented house and need to pay for all the carpets to be cleaned before we leave.