INSIDE & OUT : Ridding Rug of Pet Smell Isn’t So Easy

Q. Last year we bought a house in which the previous owner kept a number of cats. The carpeting was almost new when we moved in so we chose not to replace it. However, after all this time and many cleanings, the animal smell is still present when you walk into the house. Are there any methods to remove this odor from the carpeting?

R.S., Laguna Hills

A. Unfortunately, your options are limited, says Mark Silverberg of New York Carpets in Anaheim. The problem is that urine contains acid and other compounds that create odors that never seem to fade away completely. In dry weather you may not notice the odor as much, however, when it’s humid or when you clean the carpeting, the scent is released and it can seem overpowering.

When the urine isn’t cleaned up immediately, it can soak through to the padding and even into the subfloor. If the odor is a real problem for you, you can either wait a long time for it to fade, or replace the carpeting. In some cases, you may need to treat the subfloor by grinding the concrete under the old stains or sanding or removing pieces of wood subfloor before laying the new padding and carpeting.

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Q. We’re interested in replacing the wood sliding closet doors in our master bedroom with mirrored sliders. However, the floor in that area seems to dip about one inch. Is there an adjustment we can make on the doors to keep them on their tracks through this dip?

P.Y., Fountain Valley

A. The easiest way to fix this would be to place some wood shims under the track in the lower area to build it up and make it level with the rest of the floor, says Katy Jackson of Maley’s Glass in Anaheim. However, you’ll need to buy the better quality doors with tracks that can be shimmed.

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Q. I want to paint the interior of my three-bedroom home, and I’d like to use a sprayer. However, I’ve never used one before and I’m wondering if it would be worth renting one for the project, or would it take the same amount of time using a roller, since I’ve used those all the time.

G.G., La Palma

A. Using a sprayer is a different process, and you need to do more preparation beforehand, says Charlie Kaczorowski of Tustin Paint Mart. When you’re using a roller, you can go from room to room and you don’t need to be as careful about masking because rolling isn’t as messy.

Before you spray, you need to move all of the furniture out or cover it in the center of the room, then cover the carpeting and windows. Some people make the mistake of renting a sprayer, then coming home and doing the preparation, which can take a full day. With rental rates starting at around $45 per day, not doing the prep work beforehand can be expensive. If you haven’t used one before, you should probably take an hour and experiment painting scrap wood or newspaper in the garage.

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Q. We have a pretty new single-handled kitchen faucet, and recently we noticed that there seems to be some vibration in the handle when we turn on the water. Any ideas on what could be causing this?

K.E., Costa Mesa

A. When installing a new fixture, it’s important to flush the lines out by letting the water run for a a while, preferably without an aerator, says Ron Albright of Albright Plumbing & Heating in Los Alamitos. If you don’t do this and there’s some sediment in the water supply lines, it can get into the fixture and cause problems. It could also be caused by too much water pressure, and you may need to turn the handles under the sink down a little. If you find that this has happened immediately after hooking up the faucet, you might suspect a loose pipe.