Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with carpet

Radiator + Valve adjustment = wet carpet?

ayerarcturus — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:13:35 -0800

There's wet carpet around my water/steam radiators and I'm not sure why. Ok, so excuse my cluelessness here, I grew up in a house with forced-air heating and this is my first apartment with radiators. A couple of days ago the weather got nice around here, so I opened up my windows and shut off the valve of my radiators. A day or two ago I re-opened the valve on one of the radiators and didn't notice any moistness, but I really wasn't paying attention. Today, I recovered my bookbag from the ground next to the radiator and discovered that it was soaked. In fact, the entire carpet is soaked within about a foot radius of the control valve. So, I guess I'm wondering:

What would cause a massive leak like that? The ceiling above isn't wet, and it's on the side of a house where I imagine there wouldn't be any plumbing, although I could be wrong. Was it something I did with closing the valve and reopening it, or do leaks like this just happen? Mostly curious to know if my landlord is going to be angry at me (he never mentioned anything at all about the valves).

How can I tell if I have a hot water or steam radiator? I'm guessing hot water, but I'm not certain.

The radiator is still giving off heat, although it never really gave off all that much to begin with, relative to the other radiator in my apartment. Does that have anything to do with it?

Gardening in the sink

bradly — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:13:00 -0800

What indoor plants or herbs can I grow in this repurposed children's sink? The ideal plant would have a carpet-like sheet of foliage (if a non-herbal plant) or be something I could use around the kitchen.

This is in a bedroom, but quite a bit of sunlight can be given if needed.

FWIW, the 'sink' doesn't have any drainage.

Thanks in advance!

Renting in New Zealand - Pets urine on carpet. Smells. Pet hair

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:13:10 -0800

I'm currently renting a flat unit in New Zealand which I will be moving out next month. My current rental agreement states that I do not need to have the carpet professionally cleaned before I move out. I have two cats in the house and the question was raised with the property agent before I moved in. They have agreed to let me have the pets in the house and on the rental agreement, it also states that they are okay with it. The property agent did an inspection of the house recently and they have asked for me to have the carpet clean by a professional carpet cleaner because they can smell cat urine. This was not raised previously in the previous few inspections. I suspect this could be due to the fact that I'm moving out for good. I do know that my cats have made a few accidents on the carpet which I have already tried my best in cleaning up the area. The smell does remain but it's not strong. the carpet is discoloured slightly as well. My questions are: Is it reasonable for the property agent to request for the carpet to be professionally cleaned? If I disagree, am I in any way in breach of the tenancy agreement? I am thinking that since the property agent allows us to keep pets in the house, wouldn't the cat 'accidents' be the normal wears and tears of having a property rented out?

Is it safe to use Resolve Carpet Cleaner?

capitalist.pig — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:23:53 -0800

Is it safe to use Resolve carpet cleaner? BACKGROUND INFO: House-sitting at my mother's house. Spilled a dark drink on the floor, and am wondering whether or not to use this Resolve carpet cleaner that I found under her kitchen sink (red, spray bottle).

Is this stuff toxic? Does it cause any adverse side effects (e.g., genetic or reproductive side effects)? My mother has a small, 1 yr. old puppy. Is it safe to use in a household with a young pet?

Which cleaners do you use for stain removal? What do you consider safe to use?

Eco-friendly carpet cleaners? In DC?

alexherder — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:07:41 -0800

Carpet Filter: My company in Washington, DC is looking for an eco-friendly company to come and clean our carpets. We have medium-sized office with standard office carpet. We want it clean. We don't want to use toxic chemicals to do it. Does anyone know what to look for in a carpet cleaner as far as environmental responsibility goes? What questions should we be asking potential vendors? Of course, if you actually know of anyone to call, that would help too.

We found one company locally and another company in Boston but we're hoping to find more in or around DC to get a better sense of appropriate costs. Anybody have any ideas?

How do I permanently fix the carpet on this stair?

explosivo2k2 — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:43:58 -0800

CarpetFilter: How do I fix this? We had our basement & stairs recarpted when we moved in. The rest of the job is done perfectly, but this one particular stair keeps coming up. We had the installer back out to fix it once, and it came up again.

As you can see, he put padding down, but I think he may have shorted this one particular stair so the staples weren't really secured to anything. There is linoleum tile underneath the carpet.

What would be the best method of securing this once and for good?

Decently-priced carpet runner?

rhizome — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:09:32 -0800

I'd like to get a ~20ft runner for my hallway. Big-box stores only ever have 9ft at the longest, and the local carpet store wants more than $500 to have one cut and bound. Are there any options in between, save dumpster-diving for remnants?

How to un-stinkify my carpet?

Sufi — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:57:29 -0800

I just steam cleaned the carpet of my new apartment and now the place smells horrible. Possibly caused by cat urine. I recently moved into an apartment with a carpeted bathroom. My husband complained of a cat odor from day one, I was only able to (vaguely) smell something in the bathroom. Yesterday I steam cleaned the bathroom using our Rug Doctor and after an evening with open windows and two fans, the entire upstairs now reeks. I pulled up a corner of the carpet next to the bathtub and noticed a few things: the carpet/padding was laid over vinyl tile and there appears to be mold on both tile and carpet.

At this point my main concern is the smell. Is there anything I could spray onto the carpet or use in the steam cleaner to completely remove the odor? I heard vinegar works very well, as well as a dishsoap/hydrogen peroxide/baking soda mixture.. could these things be safely used on carpet? I've looked into Natures Miracle but the bathroom is large and that could get pretty expensive to cover the entire room.. got any cheaper ideas?

Smells like team spirit -- or worse!

ubiquity — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:23:43 -0800

I live in a place that is rainy or snowy half the year, and during that half it is impossible to keep the floor of my car dry. It has begun to smell pretty bad. I recently had the interior detailed, which included washing the floor mats, and it smelt fine until the floor got wet again, which was almost immediately. Does anyone have a good technique for keeping wet carpet from smelling bad? Drying it is not an option. For bonus points, exactly what is it that causes the smell?

P.E.T. (Polyethylene Terephthalate) Carpeting

inquisitrix — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:50:02 -0800

Does anyone have any experience with P.E.T. (Polyethylene Terephthalate) Carpeting? We are re-carpeting our family room. I am new to the whole carpet game as my preference is for hardwoods, but this room has to be carpeted. So, I know little to nothing about carpeting other than what I can find online.

I came across P.E.T. carpeting ( (Polyethylene Terephthalate - which is made from recycled soda pop bottles, ketchup bottles, etc.). Along with supposedly being a option that is 'green', it is supposed to be very stain & moisture resistant, better for people with allergies, and (bonus!) cheaper than some of the other options. But I have heard that it sheds initially and has a higher flash point than nylon.

Economy is key - spending $1K on carpeting a room is more attractive than spending $3K or 4K right now. And while I could go with a remnant, I haven't been able to find any that I like.

So, my question is has anyone had any experience with this sort of carpeting? Good or bad, any info that you can provide would be helpful. Thank you!

What kind of flooring should I use in my Basement of Doom?

dayintoday — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:13:07 -0800

Are there any flooring options for a concrete basement floor that occasionally gets moist from groundwater/high water table? If so, do I need to remove the paint on the floor first? Here's the full story:

-Basement was once carpeted (by previous owners). Sewer backed up so we pulled up the carpet.
-We painted the cement floor (Sherwin-Williams concrete stain... lovely shade of blue).
-We hate the painted cement floor and want something else.
-The basement is mostly dry (no water gets in from storms, we use a humidifier, and don't have a sump pump). However, when objects (like large plastic storage totes) are on the floor, some moisture builds and mold forms. Gross.

We've been told several things so far, none of which we're totally sure about:
-We should NOT seal the concrete b/c hydrostatic pressure will cause the concrete to crack or shift over time.
-We should remove the paint b/c that seals the concrete, causing above problem.
-Carpet is fine and no vapor barrier is needed.
-Carpet is fine if a vapor barrier is used.
-Carpet is not fine at all.
(and so on with every type of flooring)

Does anyone have a similar experience and advice on flooring that will work without turning the basement into a nasty mold pit? And is the paint we used really sealing the concrete and potentially causing this mold issue and/or a later hydrostatic pressure issue?

Persian Rug Savvy

zenpop — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:43:02 -0800

Suggestions/tips on purchasing a Persian carpet. I live in Seattle and would like some ideas about how to not get swindled purchasing a large Persian carpet. There are scores of these stores in downtown Seattle, so that's where I've set my sights so far. But I associate this adventure with the same dread of visiting a used-car lot.

Any tips, suggestions, recommendations?

And does anyone in Seattle have a store they'd recommend?

hiring a non-perfumey but really great carpet cleaner in NC

amtho — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:16:26 -0800

I want to hire a professional carpet cleaner in Chapel Hill / Durham, NC. Requirements: getting hard-to-clean, oddly-stained, cheap berber carpet looking good; strongly prefer no scent left behind; would love to get this done soon. Any suggestions? I have an appointment with "Stanley Steemer" on Tuesday; the lady on the phone seemed to have no clue about whether there would be a perfumey smell left behind, or what kinds of stains they could remove.

My stains include grayish areas where I tried to remove smaller stains. Ugh. Not sure what's going on there. Original stains are generally from cat puke...

I know berber is hard to clean. Probably nothing special to be done there. I'm not fond of this carpet, but I do want to live somewhere that looks and is clean and doesn't smell perfumey.

My limited experience with the world of professional large item cleaning (car, previous attempt on the carpet) has generally smelled awful afterward. Are there any companies, or ways to research, that will lead to less scented results?

Can anyone recommend some specific service?

Thanks.

To Pad or Not to Pad?

Spyder's Game — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:28:19 -0800

NewCarpetInARentalFilter - We are renting our place out. If we buy the expensive padding, can it be re-used if the carpet needs to be replaced? Or will we just have to replace the expensive padding as well? Bought a new home, now we're revamping the condo where we used to live so we can rent it out. We are going to carpet with a dark-ish carpet that won't show stains as well, but any other suggestions for "rental carpet" would be greatly appreciated. Also, the condo is on the third floor, so we will probably go for thicker, more expensive padding to save the downstairs neighbors a little grief (due to the noise) if we can. If we buy expensive padding, and the carpet has to be replaced in two years, can we save the padding and just replace carpet, or is it an all-in-one type of deal. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

Help stop my dog's pee colonization on my carpet.

anarchivist — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:26:13 -0800

I've read related posts on AskMeFi several times, as I've dealt with this before. I know there's something I'm missing. My dog pees in the house, albeit infrequently...except when she's peed in the house recently. I clean up the spots using Nature's Miracle (now Petastic). I do things to discourage her from peeing again near that area (blocking it off, putting her food nearby, etc.). She pees again in close proximity, but not at exactly the same spot. So, what do I do? For what it's worth, she does this most often either when I'm sleeping or while I'm not at home. I've thought about doing the following: steam cleaning my carpets, getting a baby gate to keep her in the foyer while I'm not home. I'm also in a rented apartment, which precludes me from tearing up the carpet and padding.

Dog-and-Stain-Resistant White Carpet?

wetpaint — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:11:28 -0800

Has anybody had a great (or terrible) experience with stain-resistant carpets? Some guidance about brands and weaves would be great. We're looking for wall-to-wall white that can withstand some doggie dirt. In an effort to make our small-ish apartment look bigger, we've decided to redecorate in lighter, whiter shades. Building management doesn't allow hardwood floors (something to do with noise), so we're left to find a white (or white-ish) carpet that won't destroyed by our dog's grimy paws and our own occasional spills. We vacuum frequently and are diligent about treating stains quickly. In case you were wondering. Thanks!

Where can I buy things from the Persian-speaking world in Vancouver BC?

thewalrus — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:47:36 -0800

Vancouver Persianfilter: Where can I find Farsi language books, Iranian style clothing, preserved foodstuffs/snacks and authentic Afghan or Iranian (or any Central Asian style) style carpets and household accessories in Vancouver BC?

Shop Vac air-powered carpet beater?

iTristan — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:54:47 -0800

Does anyone have experience with an air-powered carpet beater with a Shop Vac? I've read/heard that buying an air-powered (vacuum-powered, not electrical) carpet beater designed for use with some central vacs but using it with a Shop Vac works quite well.

I have no intention of buying yet another vacuum cleaner (as we're getting rid our our carpet soon enough) but have some carpet that could use better than just Shop Vac-sucking power so would love to hear if any MeFi's have experience with this.

SQUEAKY Floor Filter. How can I stop the floor squeaks in random locations in the 2nd story of my house?

emjay — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:49:29 -0800

SQUEAKY Floor Filter. How can I stop the floor squeaks in random locations in the 2nd story of my house? How can I stop the floor squeaks in random locations in the 2nd story of my house?

Recently bought a 2-story home, concrete slab downstairs with concrete block walls throughout the first-floor. The 2nd-floor has wood framing and already has a heavy pad and carpet, but walking through the house, several spots squeak quite loudly as you walk past them. One of these spots is even in the tiled bathroom!

Any suggestions for stopping the squeaks short without too many tools or hassle involved?

Looking for something to cover the ugly carpet in our apartment for less than $500 for 156 sq ft.

Brian Puccio — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:21:30 -0800

Can we get area rugs (or custom cut+bound remnants) to cover our apartment's ugly carpet that won't bubble up or fall apart? The gf and I have an apartment that has two carpeted rooms (one is roughly 8x9 and the other 7x12) but the carpet is just an ugly brown. When I first moved in 18 months ago, I got some cheap Ikea Erslev rugs. But they get dirty quick, don't stay put (even though I've resorted of copious amounts of carpet tape) and have started to wear out. So we bought a remnant at a local carpet place, had it cut and bound and tried it out. It bubbled up in several spots and we thought it was because it was too tight a fit. We had it cut down and even with two inches on each side (which I think looks ugly since now the room is ringed by a stripe of brown carpet) it still won't lay flat. We do have the bed on one half of it and two bookshelves on the other half of it.

I'm tired of spending money trying to cover up the ugly brown carpet on solutions that don't work. I'm OK with spending up to $500 to hide the carpeting in these two rooms and have started looking at carpet tiles. Would those work and would the fact that they are tiles, as opposed to one continuous piece, and thus wouldn't bubble and buckle so much? Is there another solution we should be looking at?

Thanks!

Asbestos exposure and asbestos tile removal...did I screw up and what is my next step?

sirhensley — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:07:49 -0800

Asbestos exposure and asbestos tile removal...did I screw up and what is my next step? I am in the process of removing my old (nasty) carpet so I can lay down laminate wood flooring in my house. I started the project by ripping out all the old carpet and padding at which time I noticed there was vinyl tile underneath the carpet.

My plan was to just leave the tile and install the floating laminate flooring on top of it. However, there were tack strips and staples all over the floor. When trying to carefully remove the tack strips the tile kept breaking/cracking/crumbling. After finishing 1/2 the room and destroying about 20 of the these tiles it occurred to me that the tile may contain asbestos. I stopped working, sent out a sample and got confirmation that the tile does contain asbestos.

During the work I was wearing a respirator and had an air filter (HEPA filter) running since I have very bad allergies. However, I am concerned about a couple of items.

1) The respirator I was wearing was a 2 canister mask but was only rated for paint/solvents and not for asbestos/mold. Am I being paranoid about what I may have breathed in, or would the respirator likely catch most/all of the asbestos.

2) Most of the remaining tile is in-tact, but about 10% of the tile looks somewhat deteriorated...kinda like an old particle board table that has been used/moistened too many times. I dont know if the foundation is cracked under the tile and letting moisture up, but I am more concerned about the fragile tile.

3) I had windows open with my HEPA air filter running, but realize this may have done more harm than good by moving the air, and thus asbestos fibers around. What should/shouldnt I do at this point.

4) At this point I would like to just stop disturbing the tile and lay down my laminate flooring. However, 1/2 the room is still covered with tack strips and staples. Not sure how to proceed on this now. Do I finish removing the strips even though I know more tiles will be broken? I would bit the bullet and lay a new subfloor over the current one, except I dont know how to get around the tack strips that are currently there.

5) BTW, I never removed carpet before but was discusted by how much stuff was underneath the carpet and pad. It looked like sand and the floor was covered with this. The crazy thing is that was UNDER the padding...is this normal?

Any help/info on each of my questions would be appreciated.

Is that word Persian for "flying"?

pmann — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:21:42 -0800

Help me identify my rug! It has a label on the back that says "OSMAN" across the top, with a picture of a mosque and some Arabic or Persian writing along the bottom. Where was it made, and what does the label say? I got it cheap on craigslist, and the seller didn't know much about it. I don't expect that it's some rare, valuable treasure; I'd just like to know what the label says and where it is from. Thanks!

Wall-to-wall carpet--should I take the plunge?

Gordion Knott — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:53:10 -0800

Coping with a squeaky floor overhead. Will a thick carpet on the floor solve the problem? My wife, who occupies the home office above mine, is diligent about keeping her footfalls to a low volume. Even so, since the floor is wooden (wideboard pine), I hear the boards squeak as she crosses the floor (it's new construction).

We've laid a few low-pile throw rugs on the floor, but these seem to be ineffective. So I'm thinking of taking the plunge and covering the floor with a wall-to-wall, thick-pile carpet and mat.

Will this work at removing a large share of the squeaks? And if so, what type of carpet and mat should I buy?

I'm not a big fan of wall-to-wall carpet on wooden floors, so obviously, I want to make the best decision from the outset.

Dude! Can I surf the waves in your area rug?

Fuzzy Skinner — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:50:33 -0800

What are your personal experiences with products or methods to keep your area rugs from moving around on your carpet? I have a 5'x8' area rug in my living room. It's sitting on short-nap carpeting, right in main area where the sofa, chairs and television are, so it gets a good amount of traffic. It's pretty thin and rubber-backed and lays down pretty well, but quickly develops "waves." I've looked at the various adhesive rug pads out there that are supposed to keep this from happening, so I know pretty much what's out there, but I want to know your personal experiences with any of these products. Or, is there some magical product or method that works better than the rug pads, but might not be as obvious?

Also: this is a rented apartment, so suggestions to remove the carpet or do anything permanent are not going to work.

Thanks!

Can I clean a carpet without ruining the hardwood underneath?

perpetualstroll — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:45:06 -0800

If I steam clean a carpet that has been installed on top of a painted hardwood floor, will I ruin the hardwood? I have a room in my house that has carpet on top of painted hardwood. Down the road, I am thinking of refinishing the hardwood floor. If I were to steam clean the carpet, would I be risking ruining the hardwood? Are there other things I should be taking into consideration?