A pipe leaked in the wall of my bathroom and the water subsequently leaked into the carpet. Now it stinks horribly, but the landlord says the smell will go away when it dries. Is this unhealthy and is that smell really going to go away?
by 
catlovr
ANSWERS: 12
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It may diminish but I doubt that it will totaly go away, It could be unhealthy as well, If mold has started to grow that can cause all types of health problems. You would find the mold under the carpet on the backside of the carpet or padding and on the floor as well under the carpet if it has started to grow. Could be mold even growing in the wall if the wood was completly soaked. This happened in our bathroom and we had to have a section of wall replaced and part of the floor.
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May be you can ask the landlord to pay to sanitize the carpet. It could be fungi growing in the damp carpet. It is within your rights.
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the carpet will need to be treated. the smell will stay.
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Thats dangerous.Black mold could start growing.You should call health department and go from there.
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I can tell you from experience that the smell will not go away and cleaning the carpet may not kill all the micro-organisms that are now living in the padding under the carpet.
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no the smell wont go away it will end up smelling stale and believe me you wont be able to stand the smell. the best thing is to chuck it out (sorry)
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Your carpet will smell just because of the water on an old surface with dust and dirt in it. The problem is under the carpet. IF a significant amount of water was allowed to stand under the carpet and soak into it, there will be a toxic mold problem shortly if nto right now.
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I hate to echo everyone else, but, No, the smell will not go away. You may be able to pull the carpet back, then pull the pad back and air it out. Get a fan blowing on it for a couple of days. Spray and sanitize the subflooring wood, the pad and the carpet (it is all or nothing) with something to kill the organisms that cause mold (Lowes or Home Depot will carry something). After several days, lay pad and carpet back in place. It seems like a lot of work for you to have to do at your own cost. Put the screws to the landlord - most states have laws about landlords obligations to tenants for health and safety. Check your lease and contact your county or city or local university's free legal aide clinic for assistance.
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My water heater erupted on new years day. happy new year! the waterheater is in a sunken den and the water drained to the lowest level. it has ruined our carpet and padding. it took 5 days of heavy duty fans to dry everything out. Here is what to expect: unless the carpet is completely professionally dryed, mold and mildew will set in, causing all kinds of breathing and lung problems for you and your family. depending on what has been spilled on the carpet in the past, the smell will never go away. your health will probably suffer. Grab your contract and read it line by line. this should be a covered item. the landlord should be responsible for the cleanup and carpet replacement. again, read your signed contract word for word. It appears your landlord is blowing smoke your way. replacing the carpet is the only solution, especially if the carpet has some age and you have a pet. you may also have some structural damage, as well. its the landlords responsibility to take charge and correct this problem, if its covered in the lease.
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If worst comes to worst- because by the sound of it your landlord is a cheap bas.... I would sprikle baking soda and some lavender oil, some teatree oil.. that works for me when my older cat has accidents.. It does help with the smell and keeps bacteria away..
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Yes, with time, the smell will go away, and I can not find any specific examples of the problems mold causes in the lungs -- no medical references whatsoever -- because people have been living with mold for thousands of years and they've developed immunity to it. If anyone can prove me wrong, please do -- I would love to see actual case histories to the contrary just because people keep insisting that mold is dangerous. Still, carpet is cheap, and you should not have to live with the smell if you're paying rent every month. If you were aware the pipe was leaking in the bathroom you had an obligation to tell the landlord -- i would think that unless he was annoyed with you for not reporting this in a timely way so as to prevent damage to his property, he would feel obligated to either bring in equipment to dry the carpet out within a few days, or replace it. You might negotiate paying for a percentage of a new carpet (if you go that way) depending on where the fault lies. I think an ozone tent will kill the mold spores.
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It's NOT healthy -not so much because of the smell, but because mold will grow in the wet carpet. And no, that smell won't go away when the carpet dries. Your landlord's going to have to spring for new carpet.
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