They may say that prevention is the best medicine but when it comes to our pets, we’re always keen to trust before it’s too late and the walls, floor and furniture have all fallen victims to our four-legged friends. However, it may not be too late to restore the previous beauty of our dwellings by following these simple tips.
Damaged Floors/Carpets
Pet damage to your floors are certainly every pet owner’s main concern (or should be), as most of you may have already figured that fixing those floors or cleaning carpets isn’t nearly as easy as in the TV adverts. While accidental mishaps can be cleaned up quite quickly and easily, there’s still a chance that your pets may come back to urinate on that spot again turning it into a permanent problem.
First thing to remember is that all the puddles need to be wiped up immediately, to stop it from being absorbed by the flooring. While the actual cleaning can be easily done by a mixture of water and vinegar, you might need specialized pet urine removers to remove the odour.
To effectively get rid of pet stains on your carpet, rub a small amount of detergent into the carpet with the help of a cloth and spray a mixture of warm water and white vinegar over it. Dry the area with a cloth, to get rid of any excess moisture, place some heavy items over it and leave for a few hours. Use a brush to raise the nap of the carpet.
Scratched/Chewed Walls
Investing into a proper cat scratching post or a dog chewing toy and then catching them scratching or chewing on your recently painted walls can probably drive even the biggest animal lovers absolutely mental.
Simply painting them over wouldn’t work, so treat yourself to a can of joint compound and apply it evenly over the damaged area with the help of a putty knife, then leave it to dry. A day later, wipe the whole area with a damp sponge and paint it over. Unfortunately, little can be helped if they’ve actually damaged the wallpaper- either patch it over or hand up a new one.
Damaged Woodworks
As if the walls and carpet wasn’t enough, a common target is also our wooden furniture and even things like window frames and railings. Before starting to make plans for revenge you could try sanding the area lightly, and re-painting it with two coats of semigloss polyurethane varnish.
Alternatively, try filling the scratches with wax putty the paint over with the colour of the table and clean the excess putty off. Traditional methods also suggest rubbing walnut meat into the scratches.
(Your Favourite) Leather Sofa
And you thought you were playing it smart by getting a sofa that doesn’t attract every hair on your pet’s body? A hard lesson for many pet owners to learn is that getting a leather sofa isn’t a way of escaping some pet-related inconveniency because it only attracts new ones.
So when your favourite piece of furniture has fallen victim to your pet’s teeth and nails, first try rubbing the scratch with your bare hands or chamois cloth or applying leather cleaner. You can even try ink marker, milk or olive oil on the leather. For deeper scratches you can either buy a leather dye and patches, furniture polish or even shoe polish, just make sure to dry it properly!
Just a word of advice – even if you manage to do an immaculate job fixing pet damage around your house – not everyone may appreciate it quite the way you’d expect to. Property agents estimate that pet damage could cause a 5% decrease in the resell value of our dwellings, which is another good reason for setting boundaries with your pets and potty-train them as soon as possible.
Do you have any Pet-related damage horror stories? Share them below!
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Louise Blake is a new mum and a true animal lover who sometimes believes her dog is a better help around the house than her husband. When she’s not walking her pooch or looking after her first-born, she blogs for eMoov.