[tim handley]

doing a nasty smelling job today, human urine, im looking at trying enzall to hopefully deal with smell...........
also will be laying down craftex kill odour, do i stand a chance??  it is rather bad............lifting up carpets/changing underlay etc isnt an option on this one.........

[Peter Sweeney]

Then you will not be able to solve the problem without doing so.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Next bet after not lifting would be a waterclaw but if you haven't got either you'll need to soak the area, have you got some chemspec urine contamination treatment and a black light?

Shaun

[Mike Halliday]

Get a bucket and saturate the carpet through to the underlay. Unless the  chemical touches the urine it can't does its job.

[CleanerCarpets]

and then how does he get the underlay dry and stop the backing rotting/delaminating due to the wetness for so long?

[DB]

Water Claw

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I've stated that already all because you made yours stand out more

Shaun

[stuart_clark]

I have a needle syringe from chemspec , you can inject the carpet with UCT

[Mike Gwilliam]

So like, urine penetrates the carpet, underlay and possibly the floor which is virtually impossible to deal with.

Yet there are still members advocating possible solutions to the problem without any certainty like waterclaw, backlights and numerous chemicals etc..... It sort of beggers belief to me why so many people put so much time and effort into non profitable and down right loss making jobs, perhaps in the belief they will get more work.

[Mike Halliday]

So it would be better to just say "don't bother"

How do you know what people charge to make the assumption that to do this would be 'unprofitable and loss making' ?  This problem can be tackled with little time and effort, it. It might not be successful but if 100% success was the deciding factor In whether we takle a problem we would never try and remove a stain.

[tim handley]

customer didnt want the carpet lifting, despite me telling him about the underlay possible being a cause of smell if its soaked through. he wanted me to do my best and was made aware of the risk of the smell coming back................... the carpet had been trashed by a previous pub manager, the landlord was hoping to rescue it to make it habitable for the new manager. have to say stain/soiling wise the carpet came up very very well,  in fact id go as far as to say most of it came up like new, so from that perspective, very satisfying!   re urine smell, which was caused by three young kids , not cats or dogs,  (god knows why they allowed it but they did, it was not just a smell, you could taste it as you went up the stairs to the  upstairs area where the accomadation was,
when i left the carpet was very very clean, i removed, paint, bluetack, foodstuffs heavy staining and it took some doing. The smell was much much better, the client was told, before and after that the smell may re occur and need further treatment, he was happy with this, as was i, and re profitability, i worked hard all day and am very happy with my fee, which i pitched knowing i may have to go back and re treat............  i used bioclean/odour kill, enzall, citrus prespray, ultimate master.....  and elbowgrease....... im  aware there are other products i would love to have had on the van today, however, he rang me yesterday and wanted it doing today......   so off i went!   

[Mike Gwilliam]

This problem can be tackled with little time and effort, it. It might not be successful

Mike that's a contradictory statement.

Inevitably, urine will not come out despite the best efforts. I used to chase those jobs years ago. Not forgetting that the problem belongs to the customer.

What I'm trying to say is that many chase jobs that have no profitable justification. It's like the several people who call over the week with tea or coffee stains that won't come out and perhaps only want to pay a few quid for the call out.

In essence and in my opinion (and also what I do) is market for high end and profitable jobs. Eg not fannying around with small call out stain removal or tiresome problem jobs such as urine.

Ive always said and aspire to making life simple and easy for yourself.

[tim handley]

Mike you talk much sense.............      some of us are less experienced than others, some of us less experienced folk are doing our very best to do a good job,.offer a  good service and to keep on learning...................

[dutchman]

"Inevitably, urine will not come out despite the best efforts. I used to chase those jobs years ago. Not forgetting that the problem belongs to the customer."

Maybe you were not that good at getting urine smells out of carpet. I have removed these smells many many times. How do I know this? My customers tell me the smell has gone. As for the jobs not being worth it. How do you cope when one of your "big houses" has a dog that pee's everywhere and you need to get the smell out? I had one last week. £500 job but had dog that had accidents in the basement. Phoned me yesterday - smell has gone. I could have refused that one but would have lost a well paid job. If you do enough of them and monitor what works and what does not then you make progress.

[tim handley]

phone call from client this morning, hes over the moon with the job, having been to inspect last night, hes aware smell may re occour to a degree, but compared to what state the place had been left in, hes very very impressed, hence, im happy as well!!!!!
the whole lifting of carpets etc etc is a step too far for me at the moment not having competance to know i can relay them properly......  in another life, i would do three/four years fitting carpets then go into cleaning them........ perfect!!!!

[John Kelly]

Good on you Tim. Well worth getting to know a good local carpet fitter which can be a beneficial partnership.
Its worth asking the question when the customer rings, "what's the reason you are having the carpets cleaned?" This can give you an idea about specific problems and you can price accordingly.
Odours can always be removed from a property. Unfortunately that sometimes entails removing material. One job we did we had to remove a section of timber flooring and 36 bags of subfloor soil.

[Elfyn]

I find it's important to manage the customer's expectations right from the beginning. The only promise made should be that you'll do your very best.
I think the worst odour problem I've ever had was a couple who went on holiday for a fortnight leaving the neighbours to come in to feed their two cats daily. When they returned they found that a local stray tomcat had been coming through the cat flap as well. It had sprayed in most rooms up to a height of around 2ft. I have a very strong stomach, but the smell hit you as you entered the house and I was retching. I turned the job down and it ended up as a very big insurance job.