Does my carpet have mold in it.?

Question

I Just moved into my apartment a month ago, i spelt water on the floor, and i cleaned it up good and now black spot...and the landlord said the last owner had a dog with fleas and the whole apartment had them but he said that he bombed it and got rid of all of them. so why am i getting bites all over my body. my kitchen and my bathroom always have ants. i always keep my apartment clean. I told my landlord abut the black spots and the bites. i paid 1,175 to move in and the carpet is old, it doesnt even look new at all. my rent is coming up. how should i handle this.

Answer 1

If there are still fleas present, you should be able to capture them with sticky tape or a light trap:

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pc...

Spray carpets with a good flea-cide with something like permethrin for a quick knockdown of the adult fleas, and methoprene or nylar for 6 month control of the juvenile fleas in the carpet.  Foggers are generally innefective for flea control; sprays are much better.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig132

There's no way to tell what the black spot is without actually seeing it, but  there's a fair chance it's just yuck* that's wicked up the carpet fibers as they dried from the water spill.  Try surface cleaning, perhaps with hydrogen peroxide and a little detergent.  DO NOT SOAK THE CARPET.  Blot the area thoroughly after cleaning with dry towels, and leave a towel in contact with the area during drying, so it gets the wicked up yuck instead of the carpet fibers.

In most jurisdictions, you can't really do much beyond this unless you can show the apartment is uninhabitable -- and this does not sound like it meets that standard.

*yuck: every carpet I've even had pulled, even from houses with the most fastidious housekeepers, has had dirt and debris trapped in the carpet pad and under the carpet pad.  Carpet is generally about the least sanitary thing in the house.

More help: http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectID...

Answer 2

Wow that sucks & I feel for ya.

OMG, I own a carpet business & I went through this a couple of yrs ago.

The problem with fleas is they multiply so fast. They feed off of blood deposits in the carpet & can lay dormant for mo's.

They are attracted by vibration. I tried everything, bombs, home depot spray. I finally went to an exterminator & got this stuff called Conquer. You put it in a spray bottle & spray the entire floor, bed & furniture.

Well worth the investment. Trust me I lived in agony for mo's.

The black spot, I doubt it's mold, most carpets wont sustain mold unless their is food or drink in it that's not cleaned up. My thinking is you said the previous renters had a dog. Your landlord probably had the carpets cleaned before you moved in but the urine gets down into the padding & in time will work it's way back up through the carpet. Does it smell? You could always take the pad out & replace it & clean the carpets.

As far as your landlord, I can't give you any advice. Don't want you to get kicked out.

Good luck