This week questions on getting rid of musty smells and the height of garden walls are answered.
A musty smell
My friend recently rented a small house, aware of a musty smell throughout which she thought could be obliterated by scrubbing and fresh paint, which isn't working. Now she believes the odour is that left by cats living with a previous tenant. Is there anything she can do to reduce or remove this odour on her own, or will she have to call in a professional fumigator?
How horrible. Why is she so certain it's a cat smell? Might it be damp? Damp can produce a variety of pongs. Old rotting timber smells pretty bad. Could it be rodents? A dead mouse or rat under the floorboards can produce a very pungent and difficult to define smell that has a way of lingering. But back to the cats. If it is a cat smell, then it is most likely that it is caused by cats' urine soaked into the soft furnishings from the carpets to the upholstered chairs. There are over the counter enzyme-based products available from pet shops that might get rid of the smell - they don't mask the smell, instead they break up the stain and disperse it. Always make sure of colour fastness in fabric or carpets before you proceed to clean a larger area - the last thing you want is for your friend to spend ages cleaning the sofa and for the landlord to accuse her of bleaching or in some way discolouring the furniture. If the problem is a carpet, then she will have to treat the carpet but also, crucially, the underlay and the sub-floor beneath - pee-soaked underlay should be replaced and urine could have seeped into the bare floorboards which will have to be scrubbed with a diluted bleach mixture. If the carpet is the main culprit, get the landlord to pay for it to be professionally cleaned or replaced altogether. Bread soda is a traditional way of getting rid of smells - but this problem sounds a bit too serious to be solved by a sprinkling of bread soda on the floor. If the furniture is the problem, then your friend really shouldn't have to live with it - it's too disgusting. As this is a rental, the problem is not her's alone - it is the landlord's responsibility to provide accommodation that isn't smelly. The days of tenants putting up with substandard accommodation are gone. Get the landlord to come around, point out the cleaning she has done to get rid of the smells and request that any offending furniture, carpeting, be replaced. If any cat-keeping reader sends in cat smell solving ideas I will forward them to you for your friend.
Privacy for our garden
We want more privacy for our back garden. The walls are around 5 ft tall and we want to build them higher. Do we get planning permission or can we just go ahead?
The planning guidelines regarding height of back garden walls are clear. Capped walls made of brick, stone or block, wooden fences but not security fences, can be erected as long as they do not exceed 1.2 metres in height or 2 metres at the side or rear. On the basis of that, you would be able to build your wall up a little. If you have neighbours on either side you should consult them as to your plans - they will certainly ask you to finish their side of the wall to match their existing finish.
Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, 10-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 or e-mail propertyquestions@irish-times.ie.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions received. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.
