ListWise

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

More Cat Peeness

I finally got everything stripped that needs to be stripped. Thank God. Man, that really took a long time. Today I went around with a nail set and drove any protruding nails below the surface, and then I puttied all the nail holes. When I did the arched trim over the big stained glass window I used that really expensive epoxy. For the nails on the siding I’m using MinWax High Performance wood putty. It’s another 2 part epoxy filler, and while it’s not cheap, it’s not nearly as expensive as the other stuff. I think it’s about $13 for a 12 ounce can as opposed to $7 for a 2 ounce can.

Tomorrow I would be able to sand and maybe even start putting primer on, but instead I get to install more carpet in the apartments. Yea me! I thought I was going to be able to salvage the bedroom carpet. It didn’t smell that strong at first, and after I shampooed the carpet it seemed fine. The smell just kind of seemed to grow, though. I went up and cut out the padding and sprayed on more Nature’s Miracle (They’ve gotten my $30. I’m sorry, but I’m never buying that stuff again.) I also had a professional come in and clean the carpet. It smells fine for a few days but then it really gets bad. After a week the tenant complained again – and for good reason. I’m really tired of dealing with it so I ripped it all out last Friday and today I picked up the new carpet.

Tomorrow I’ll go down and rent the equipment to install it. And that is the reason I may not start to primer the siding until Friday, at the earliest. Remember when it was going to be Monday? Ha! I ran through the old tenants deposit already so this carpet is coming out of my pocket. It’s not too bad. They were out of the carpet I bought for the living room so I went with something very similar but a lower grade carpet. The bedroom won’t see a lot of traffic (She’s not that kind of girl), so I think it’ll be fine. All told, with the equipment rental, it’s going to be about $125. Spending the money is a drag, but the worst part is it takes me away from painting the house! Winter’s coming.

3 comments:

Jocelyn said...

well, at least you're done with it (cat pee) for good.

gabbi said...

There is a solution to the carpet problem that seems to work on the worst. Using a mix of vinegar and baking soda deodorizes and nuetralizes the ammonia which is what your smelling. Moisture also brings out the scent so using a dry lava rock medium is a good idea as well

Anonymous said...

Nature's Miracle is good at stopping cats from peeing there again, but I don't know how well it would remove smell from deep within a carpet pad.

We used baking soda on our hardwoods to draw the moisture out and that was probably the most effective treatment - including NM and another pricey product. At least the rug is gone now.. that smell is really awful, and one of the main reasons I'm a dog person.