What a powerful cleaner Tod’s Bissell Steam Master carpet shampoo machine is.   I’ve been cleaning at the rental and I may not have to replace all the carpet after all.  Last night I finished the September layout of  Horizons and sent it off to the printer.  First thing this morning, I went over to the mobile and began shampooing the carpets.  When I worked on the back bedroom carpet last night, I didn’t know how much shampoo to use, so I only added a couple of capsful.  I got lots of dirty water up that eventually came up clear, so I knew it was working.  Today I was told to add a cup of shampoo, so I did that for the living room.    Wow, big difference!

I’ll go over later and do it again.  I don’t want to use too much steam at one time and want to make sure I suck up all the moisture that goes down.   It’s easy to tell because you can see in a clear window when the water is coming up.  I do several passes over each line though, just to make sure.  I should have taken before and after pics…

I put down the new floor registers, and unscrewed some floor carpet-holding-down-at-the-threshold thingys and cleaned them and cleaned underneath them.   I took my laptop over to see if I could catch someone’s signal for an internet connection, but the only one I saw was password protected.  Smart guy!  It’s just as well, when I’m over there I need to be working, not playing on Facebook.

I took down the towel rods and bath tissue holder in the front bedroom to ready it for painting.  I also wiped the walls down with Fabuloso and began washing down the molded shower stall.   I want to wash all the walls before I paint them.  Since I’ll be used an oil based primer, I need to buy some paint brushes that I don’t mind tossing at the end of the job.

I want to hold off painting that front bathroom until Tod pulls the flooring up to see where all the subfloor needs support.  If the cabinet and toilet are coming out, then I’ll get to paint behind them.  If they’re not, I’ll paint around them.   Tod is fitting me in between other projects he’s doing, so we’re not sure when he’s coming next.  I didn’t want him to have to be smelling fresh paint in that small area, nor worry about nicking the new paint as he worked.   So I’ll be ready to paint once he says the word.  I even have my painting ensemble picked out: old shirt and jeans I won’t mind getting white primer all over.  And some old shower liners to use as drop cloths.

I asked for three extra days to get the mag done this time so I could do the cleanup work. Actually I asked for a week and the printer agreed to 3 days.  I thought I’d be scrambling to finish, but it was plenty of time.  All the ads fell into place at the last minute.  I had time to do what needed to be done.  I had my physical self pushed to a new limit (yay!)  I found resources I didn’t know I had.  This has been a really cool experience.  I’ll keep you posted.

I’m not just readying a rental, I’m creating a home for someone
Turning on utilities
We’re making progress at the rental home
Getting my rental property ready for the next lucky tenant
Wear gloves cleaning nicotine damage to avoid poisoning
I clean my rental home of nicotine stains
My tenant is moving out this weekend