Court Statement by Garry Carroll

[ This case study is of a statement provided for a court case, and as such certain details have been removed to protect our client. ]

 

Statement of Garry Allan Carroll

Master Cleaner & Master Restorer of All Aces Services

I am a proprietor of All Aces Services, a home cleaning service.

I am a Master Cleaner and Master Restorer, with the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning & Restoration Certification (Registration No. 31867)

I recall attending to inspect the premises at … on or about 14 January 2003 and subsequently treating that property for urine contamination.

I attended at the request of … and …

Description of Damage

The urine damage to these premises was one of the worst soiling I have seen.

Not only was the carpet and underlay throughout the house so badly affected by cat and dog urine that it could not be restored, there was swelling of wood throughout the premises caused by urine soakings. The cupboards, bottom of kick recesses in the kitchen, the pantry, architraves, and skirtings throughout the entire house were most badly affected.

Not only was chipboard swollen with urine, but even hardwood was soaked, which surprised me.

The hardwood will not swell, but it was completely stained with a lot of urine (particularly the skirtings). I advised … and … it would be more cost effective to simply replace the skirtings rather than try to treat them. As this hardwood was so badly soaked, I could not guarantee any treatment would be successful.

The damage to the wood was shocking. I have dealt with extreme urine soaking to carpet many times and seen carpet that is so rotten from urine it would just peel apart in your hands, but this was one of the worst soilings I have ever seen to wood.

In my opinion, the soilings would have taken place over a couple of years by at least one large dog (but I believe there may have been several animals at the premises).

Development of the odour

When … and … initially contacted me, I sent one of my Sunshine Coast employees to their house to clean the carpets.

After the carpets were cleaned, the odour became much worse. Odour is released when the salt deposits left from the urine are dampened.

Urine goes down as a strong acid and oxidises with whatever it touches. The urine changes from an acid to an alkaline by oxidisation.

There are two parts of the odour. There is a bacterial content and salt deposit content. When the urine begins to dry out, the salt deposits crystallise and they become alkaline salts.

Eighty percent of the odour emanates from these salt deposits. The salt deposits can stay dormant, then when filled up with moisture they release pungent odour (ammonia gas).

The other part of the odour is caused from amino acids in the urine, which cause bacteria to form. When animals repeatedly urinate in the same area, they are feeding the bacteria.

When urine dries, the odour is not very pungent. Certainly, if the house was opened up and all the urine dried, it is likely people would not have realised how bad the urine soaking was, as no significant odour would have been present. However, when the carpet is cleaned, moisture is added. In these circumstances, I suspect the carpets were cleaned and then the premises vacated and locked up. This would leave high humidity in the premises and cause the salt deposits left by the urine to fill up with moisture and release ammonia gas. Fragrant carpet deodorisers can be applied; however this only masks the odour rather than eliminating it.

We cleaned the carpets using our usual carpet freshener. The deodoriser would have been a lemon or cherry type. However, once the carpets have been cleaned and begin to dry, the salt deposits fill up with moisture and the extreme odour is released. Therefore, on the day of cleaning, the odour would not have been as strong as on the following day. In other words, after the salt deposits have been wettened, they fill up with moisture, then as they dry they become smellier.

Therefore, the day after my employee performed the carpet cleaning; the odour would have been unbearably pungent.

Treatment

After we initially cleaned the carpets, we returned to the premises at … request due to the powerful odours.

One of my employees pulled the carpet back and advised … and … it was full of urine. It is my understanding … then pulled up the carpet. When I arrived around 14 January 2003, all the carpet was in a skip.

I went to the premises to inspect and decide what treatment was required.

I advised … and … to pull off the smooth-edge upon which the carpet rivets hold down the carpet, the carpet underlay and the skirtings, along with the part of the cupboard and pantry in the kitchen which was severely damaged. The kick panels in the kitchen were also badly damaged. All these parts were severely soaked with urine and needed to be replaced.

I could then access the appropriate areas to apply treatment to those parts that could not be replaced, such as concrete.

Salt deposits from urine cannot be removed from anything that is hard and porous such as concrete, grout, hardwood and brickwork. Whilst these materials are hard, they are still porous and can become urine soaked. It is simply too difficult to remove salt deposits from these materials. Instead, they are treated with an anti-microbial solution, and then sealed.

In these circumstances we applied anti-microbial treatment to all the tiles, grout, concrete, brickwork and up the walls that were affected.

I personally applied the anti-microbial treatment. Even after the carpets, underlay, smooth-edge, skirtings and badly damaged wood had been removed; I could still notice the stench.

After I treated and sealed badly affected areas (as set out in the plan attached to my Inspection Report dated 14 January 2003), I then performed an ozone treatment. This treatment changes oxygen into O3 molecules. This should not be breathed, however it cleanses the air. This treatment has to be in a house for at least 24 hours. We had a couple of ozone machines running in the premises with some air movement to cleanse the air.

Effectively, we treated all the affected areas and cleaned the air.

The day after this treatment was completed I returned to the premises and noticed the odour had significantly reduced. … got down on her hands and knees and smelt every square inch. I confirmed that a couple of areas still smelt, though the problem was approximately 90% rectified.

I sealed some more brickwork and one corner of a grout area with another application of the anti-microbial product and sealant, which rectified the problem.

All carpets needed to be replaced as, whilst the carpet is strong, when it becomes urine soaked the natural backing breaks down. It becomes so brittle it can be simply torn like paper. This is another sign that the carpet was urine soaked, as it is the acid that breaks the materials down. It would not simply be spilt drinks or soaking from water that caused this damage.

In summary, basically the whole house had been treated.

I understand that this has rectified the problem and no more treatment is required.

Types of animals

Given my experience, I can simply look at urine on carpet and determine if it was caused by a male or female, dog or cat, and the approximate age of an animal.

When I first arrived at these premises, the carpet was already in the skip, therefore it is difficult for me to say with certainty whether the soaking to the carpet was caused by a male or female dog or cat. In general soaking in traffic areas is caused by female dogs, and soaking along walls is caused by male dogs, although a male dog will sometimes urinate in the middle of the room. Cats, on the other hand, often urinate as they walk (especially male cats).

In these circumstances, the odour was so bad that I am certain that at least one male dog caused the damage, and possibly some cats.

The fact that wood was soaked in areas such as one-half metre up the wall in the ensuite, leads me to believe there was definitely a male dog causing the damage.

In my opinion, at least one male dog, one to two cats, and one to two smaller dogs caused this damage. There were litres of urine in the premises. Naturally, the soaking can be become worse in certain areas, particularly if it is caused by male dogs as they will continually soil the same area, marking it as their territory.

I draw this conclusion due to my years of experience. No particular test can be done to determine whether the urine came from a male or female. Factors such as the colour of the urine, salt deposit consistencies, height of soilings, size of patch soiled, and peculiar odour, assist me to draw my conclusions.

Due to this urine soaking and the subsequent odour, the house was uninhabitable. There was no other way to treat the soiling other than the treatments I applied.

It is possible the previous owners resided in the house as the odour may not have been so pungent until the carpets were steam-cleaned, causing the salt deposits to absorb moisture and thus release the ammonia gases.

Qualifications

I have certification through the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration (Registration Number 31867). This is a world-wide Institution, with four trainers in Australia.

I am certified by the Institution in the following areas:

It takes three years to become a Journeyman and five years to become a Master.

- Garry Allan Carroll