7. A stinking carpeted bedroom - doggy smells and dampness?

Sep 12, 2007

"My daughter did not want to enter the master bedroom on the 3rd floor," June said. "The stench was overwhelming." June is a renovation contractor and she had to give an estimate of the costs involved. I met her when I treated her Doberman Pinschers and her daughter was just a toddler. She wanted 40% of $25,000 as a deposit to renovate the whole house including painting.

"Yes, I know," I said. "Ann had kept 2 puppies in the bedroom for the past year. They must have had peed and pooped everywhere on the carpeted floor." Anna could not smell the stench as her nose is desensitised or if she did, she did not say anything.

A new housing agent, Shirley wanted me to go to the house to smell for myself as she felt that it was untenantable. "It is so smelly that nobody would live in it."

"What a negative mental attitude you have," I said. "There will be tenants who don't mind the smells as they have low budget. Rentals of a bedroom in Singapore is now as high as $500 per month. Of course, there is a need to get a carpet cleaner to remove the smells first.

"My point is that if you think negatively, how do you succeed in your agency business? You want to be an entrepreneur but you are already thinking that the glass is half empty instead of half full. Instead of thinking of this house as an opportunity to start your business for foreigners, you start giving bad news of untenantable place---all because of some smells."

2-month-old puppies need to be confined in a small area for up to 4 weeks especially in carpeted rooms. Their bladder control is poor till they grow up to more than 5 months old. Take them out to a bigger but restricted area. Don't let them roam the whole bedroom which is carpeted. Urine-marking may also be a problem causing bad smells on the carpet when the dogs are mature even though they may be female. Some alpha female dogs do urine-mark.

In this carpeted bedroom, the smells of urine and faeces just accumulate but Ann would not be able to smell it as visitors could. There is a need to neutralise the smells and clean up the carpet and it can be quite a chore and expensive to do it. There were water seepage from the walls and roof and those could add to the smells.

In such situations, almost the whole house has had to be renovated. A new agent needs to be positive in thinking, otherwise it is best to become an employee as time is money and income depends on performance.