Carpet stain diagnosis questions & answers set#2.

This article series describes how to identify and diagnose carpeting stains at the edge of carpets near walls in buildings focusing on the cause of various interior wall and ceiling stains and explains how to recognize thermal tracking, thermal bridging stains, building air leaks, and building insulation defects.

Q&A on Stains & Marks on Carpeting #2

These questions & answers about diagnosing the cause of stains on carpets and on stain removal were posted originally at CARPET STAIN DIAGNOSIS - be sure to review that article

On 2019-01-22 by (mod) - green stains on carpet at perimeter

I think I would start by looking for a leak or condensate or other moisture Source in that location.

On 2019-01-20 by Ceci

The carpet and tile are at the 1st floor, on concrete slab. Where the carpet meets the tile there is an area tha is getting green

On 2018-11-14 by (mod) - pink spots keep appearing on our carpet

I can't say for sure what's on your carpet but to me it looks like a bleach or cleaner stain

On 2018-11-14 by Regina

These pink spots keep appearing on our carpet. The basement below is covered in mold/mildew/hell and I’m wondering if the pink on the carpet is related to what lies below. Is this something our landlord should take care of? He doesn’t seem to be concerned.

On 2018-07-27 by (mod) -

Wet carpeting as well as wet carpet padding need to be removed and the surfaces cleaned and if appropriate sanitized.

Fans, steaming, water extraction processes have proven singularly ineffective in dealing with flooded carpets and are at high risk of leaving un-healthy materials in place in a building.

If that is what was done you don't even need an inspection.

Details about handling wet carpets and area rugs are at

CARPET MOLD / ODOR TESTS

On 2018-07-27 by Abby

Thank so much for your reply and advice.

Unfortunately, my dad was not the only one affected. Multiple apartments had some type of leakage but he was the only one that had his carpet replaced (I believe because he was sent to the hospital and the building management was worried about liability).

His neighbor who had the same type of leakage and wanted her carpet replaced was denied because they said they resolved the issue by using fans to dry out the carpet and then treated the carpet with chemicals to combat mold.

(Maybe this works?) None of the other residents have been sent to the hospital with respiratory distress like my dad, so maybe the management assumed that their treatment efforts worked(?)

The reason I brought up the carpet testing is that I hoped to show some indisputable linkage between my dad's health problems and the carpet to show to the building's management.

If they had that, maybe that would prompt them to have someone inspect not only my dad's apartment, but the entire building.

Right now, they believe the problem is resolved. If someone else contracts pneumonia or a bacterial infection (or my father gets sick again), I don't think anyone would blink an eye.

All the residents are over 80 years old, and they probably just assume elderly people are prone to getting sick (which is true). But what if the building is making them sick?

The outside contractor who fixed the pipe leak said that the building's whole piping system was old, rusted, and very much needed to be replaced. But when I asked a maintenance person if that was going to happen, he said no, that was too expensive and unnecessary as the contractor fixed the problem.

I want to give the building management something to kick them into action if there really is a problem, so I'm trying to gather evidence and show causality (or potential causality).

Sorry for this long response. Your website is immensely helpful and appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question. I'll look into having an outside person evaluate my dad's apartment. Thanks again!

On 2018-07-25 by (mod) - dangers of wet carpet & padding left in elderly person's home

Abby
I want to help but cannot offer building health risk diagnosis by e-text for this case - we cannot know enough from your mail and photo.

I don't know, for example, just what was leaking: if it was sewage or possibly even water from a heating system, it would certainly include bacterial hazards and various pathogens in sewage.

Watch out: Wet carpets also invite harmful mold growth. NO cleaning nor dryout efforts suffice: the wet carpet and padding should have been removed.

The tack strips show that the floor was wet - the strips look wet - and the stains around the tacks themselves suggest the floor was wet for some period of time, certainly longer than a day or so.

If the indoor space is contaminated with bacteria or mold it needs to be cleaned and sanitized - and soft surfaces like carpets, pads, need to be replaced.

The question remains: did water enter wall cavities? Ceiling cavities?

If so further investigation for reservoirs of mold or bacteria is in order.

You could send carpet samples to an environmental lab but I'm unclear why that's beneficial - it's not going to change what needs to be done.

The greater concern here is the extent and quality of cleanup and the repairs to prevent a recurrence.

There may be cleaning needed of contents as well.

You may need a qualified environmental expert, maybe a hygienist, to inspect, surface sample, and clear the apartment before your father returns to the space.

On 2018-07-25 by Abby

Hi, my elderly father lives in a retirement apartment building with a very old pipe system.

Each room in his apartment has a HVAC unit and the one in his bedroom was backed up and slowly leaking into his carpet for a few weeks until it started to gush out (that’s when the building management fixed the problem – before that, they said it must have been rain coming in through his window).

The day before the unit started to gush water, my dad became very sick and needed to be hospitalized.

The test results said he had a Methicillin Resistant Staph aureus (MRSA) infection, serratia marcescens in his blood, and citrobacter koseri in his urine.

Could sleeping and walking in a room with a slightly soggy carpet for a few weeks cause the bacterial infection that he had?

The management company agreed to replace the carpet, but I cut a few samples of the dried rug & padding and stored in freezer (was told by friend not to keep at room temperature).

Could I defrost the samples and use a tape test on them? Finally, the carpet company did not replace the tacking board – it was mostly clean looking, but around the HVAC unit it is has black streaks (see picture). If this is mold, could this cause any future problems if the carpet & pad are new and the HVAC leak has been corrected?

Sorry for all the questions, but I want to know why my dad became ill and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Thanks for your input in advance!

On 2018-07-08 15:52:40.361798 by (mod) - Small brown spots appearing on blue carpeting

If you can get the stain material or stained fibres onto an adhesive tape sample you can send the material to a suitable forensic laboratory.

Search InspectApedia.com for TAPE SAMPLE PROCEDURE to see an easy and inexpensive method for sampling.

On 2018-07-08 15:50:17.936042 by MaryStafford

I have a blue carpet that has brown stains that appear primarily in seven <1 inch circles and i need to determine the exact substance that caused the stain (to settle an argument). while my guess is that the substance is rust from a walking cane and my daughter believes it is makeup,

we want to know the exact type of stain. what is my best course of action?

On 2018-06-12 by (mod) - Blue carpet with dark spots

Blue carpet with dark spots . What could it be ?

With the apology that I can't answer such a broad question, the number of materials that can cause a stain on carpet is enormous.

Sometimes you can look at the location, size, shape, pattern, color, and surrounding materials, activity, and mechanical systems in the building to get a clue about the source of staining.

For example stains near a supply register for heating air can tell me that house dust or even oil burner sit are blowing through the system. Stains that are larger in area are often associated with a spill or a pet.

On 2018-06-11 by Kenny C.

Blue carpet with dark spots . What could it be ?

On 2018-06-11 by (mod) - are these small gray spots on carpet mold?

I can't say for sure what those spots are, Anon. If there is mold odor or if there have been leaks, spills, water that wet the carpet or its padding or the floor below, then further investigation would be in order.

You could also collect tape samples of the dark material to send to a mold test lab. Search InspectApedia.com for MOLD TEST KIT to see a very low-cost way to do that.

Let me know what you're told.

On 2018-06-11 by Anonymous

I have dark grey spots on my carpet. I just moved into this condo a few weeks ago. The landlord told me he hired a carpet cleaning company to clean the carpet. But I see these spots and I am worried it might be mold.

They are present in different spots throughout the condo.

We are planning on having a baby and I don't feel great about having mold in my carpet that I will be breathing in all the time. Do you think its mold?

On 2018-02-09 by (mod) - White spots appearing literally everywhere

Michelle,

White spots appearing literally everywhere argue against "throwing bleach" or any other cleaner about since I'm doubtful you could throw spots or droplets of anything uniformly all over a carpet.

Check the condition of the carpet where it is

- protected entirely by being covered such as under a book-case or couch

- exposed to different effects like sunlight

And the owner might want to check the carpet padding and floor below as well as checking for a source of dampness or mold contamination.

Let me know what you find.

On 2018-02-08 by Michelle

Hi.. I clean a house and over the last year white spots have appeared everywhere through the house on a tan carpet .. it is a very expensive rug but not positive of the kind .. the guy freaked yesterday saying we through bleach everywhere .. we don't use bleach .. he also claims he has never had it cleaned, which I believe. What are these?

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Continue reading at CARPET STAIN DIAGNOSIS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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• SMELL PATCH TEST to FIND ODOR SOURCE
• STAINS on INDOOR SURFACES, PHOTO GUIDE

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING STAINS

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