LESLIE: Gil in North Carolina needs some help cleaning up some black mystery spots. Tell us where you see them.
GIL: The carpet has, over a period of about ten years, started showing various-sized spots or dots. They almost look like they’re tar except they aren’t and they’re dry and they’re solid.
TOM: Have you tried to steam clean the carpet, Gil?
GIL: Yes, we’ve tried that.
LESLIE: What is the carpet on top of?
GIL: There’s a padding material.
TOM: And do you see any of the spotting underneath the carpet?
GIL: Yes, it shows underneath but not as dense in it’s feel or coloring.
TOM: Hmm.
LESLIE: Is the subfloor concrete?
GIL: No, the subfloor is – underneath that is an unfinished basement.
TOM: OK, so is it like a crawlspace or a basement?
GIL: No, it’s a walk-in.
TOM: It’s a walk-in basement? And you don’t see anything in the basement, do you?
GIL: No.
TOM: Hmm.
GIL: And the living – yeah, the living room – which is right next door to the family room, where all the spots are – is completely clean.
TOM: Well, you know what? It sounds to me – I was going to suggest that this could be a defect in the carpets that have taken many years to show. I wonder if there’s a problem with the dye kind of coming off in chunks like that.
GIL: Hmm.
LESLIE: You don’t think maybe there’s a leak somewhere underneath and that’s mold?
TOM: Well, it sounds like it’s very consistent all the way across …
GIL: Yeah.
TOM: … and you know, it’s over an unfinished basement. If he had a mold problem, it certainly would be more prevalent in the basement than up in this carpet. So I’m tending to think that you just may have some worn-out carpet on your hands there, Gil.
GIL: Well, that’s where the pressure is coming from as far as fixing the house up.
TOM: Well, and is it – and where’s that pressure coming from, exactly? Would it be Mrs. Gil?
GIL: Yeah.
TOM: (chuckles) Well, it might be time to grant her wish, Gil, and get her some new carpet. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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