Buying house from a dog minder

vkusuman

Hi,
We are in the process of completion of our purchase.

the vendor is a dog minder (lots of dogs in the house), I knew this at the time of offer but as I have no knowledge of owning pets, I didn't consider it to be a big issue. I thought there would be ways of getting the house cleaned.

I have 2 small children (3 and 1), so I am a bit worried now about how to get it cleaned before moving in.

I realise its a bit late, but does this sound like a bad idea? (moving into a house after dog minder, with 2 kids)

What sort of cleaning should I carry on before I move-in? Some one mentioned fumigation, does that cover everything related to pet issues? how much would it cost approx. for a 4 bed house?
would it be reasonable to ask Vendor to carry this out before they complete the sale?

Many Thanks

anselld

Get a can of "Acclaim" flea spray rather than paying for fumigation.

However, I would be inclined to budget for new carpets personally.

alchemist.1

I personally would get new carpets but then again i would do that majority of properties.

Davesnave

A 'professional' dog minder wouldn't allow the dogs access to the entire property, so what to do will depend on how professional they really are.

Assuming this is not a case of dog anarchy, I would budget to replace carpets in the areas where dogs have been and treat the other areas as above, or with a hired steam cleaner. After all, you have visited the property and must have some idea about its cleanliness, or otherwise.

You shouldn't need to go to the extent of fumigation, unless there are rather obvious signs of bad practice.

In any event, you cannot rely on the owner doing anything in this direction, because their attitude will be that the house was good enough for you to offer on, and good enough for them!

davidmcn

I really wouldn't worry about it, unless your family has some sort of allergy or relevant health problem. Millions of kids grow up living with dogs, so moving into a house which used to have dogs isn't necessarily an issue. Just clean it to the extent that seems necessary.

Fosterdog

I wouldn't worry about it too much, I'd certainly be more concerned about the chemicals used for fumigation or de-fleaing around children than the fact there have been dogs in the house. Only worry about fleas if you find signs of them.

A good scrub of all hard floors and surfaces and a carpet washer will be all you need.

Mrs_pbradley936

We once bought a house from an animal hoarder - because it had been for sale for a long time and was very cheap.

We ripped up every carpet because you never could have cleaned them and before we had new laid we decorated and painted everywhere. So with a couple of weeks of open windows, no animals, fresh paintwork and new carpets we did not have a problem.

I would not like to be living in it while I was trying to rectify it though.

teddysmum

I would hire a RugDoctor (They are so good that we bought one), then use your nose to decide whether the carpets need replacing.


Dog minders are usually very fussy about the dogs they mind, so it's unlikely that the dogs will have been house messers. They are, also, unlikely to care for animals with fleas, as they would spread to other pets and the owners would complain.

bouicca21

I second the rug doctor. They are really good. If you can afford it put your stuff in storage for a day or two; if you can't afford it shift it round the house so you can work on empty rooms - much much easier to use a rug doctor on empty rooms.

Once the carpets are done - and like others I think the dogs will probably not have had the run of the house - then simply opening windows and letting the air in will do the rest.

uncreative

New carpets are so cheap these days that I would always go for new carpets. We rent a house and planned to be there for at least 3 years so at the start we completely recarpeted a 4 bed house (excluding kitchen and bathrooms which had tiles/lino) and it cost us £1,400. all the same carpet throughout to keep the cost down. Well worth it.

paddy's_mum

That's actually one helluva big assumption that if people have dogs, then the place will be left filthy!