Carpet Stains Along Baseboards and Under Doors
(Don't miss the bonus section at the bottom on leaking below grade fuel tanks!)

Today's topic is from an e-mail received from an agent who asked:

"I have a question regarding dark stains on carpeting along the baseboards. My seller asked me if I knew what can cause this. I said I would try to find out. Can you help?"

Dark stains on carpets along the baseboard could be any numbers of things, but in most cases it's just plain dirt.
Vacuum cleaners don't allow cleaning all the way against the baseboard unless some sort of special tool is used like an upholstery tool. Most carpet cleaning machines are similar to vacuums and leave the same un-cleaned edge.

Soot from oil furnaces, unvented gas logs, wood stoves and the burning of candles can make this worse. You will usually notice it most in older homes with older oil burning furnaces. One of the worst cases I have seen was in a room where a young girl kept candles burning most of the time. Not only was it on the carpets, but you could tell exactly where the curtains were at the windows because they had acted like chimneys leaving a soot trail behind and over the curtains. It is often worse in master bathrooms with garden tubs where the lady of the house enjoys long candlelight baths. The more candles, the worse the stains. I saw one recently with a scalloped effect around the walls on the ceilings.

In below grade rooms such as basements sometimes it is mold and mildew or stains from the edge of the carpet being wet from a damp wall. This is often accompanied by a musty damp smell. In finished basement rooms this is one of the ways we detect leaking/damp foundation walls which are covered over. It usually is easy to tell the difference between just dirt and stains caused by leaking walls or damp floors. The smell usually is a dead give away.

Yesterday, I was in an older home where the only new carpet was in the basement. In this situation you must look closer because in most cases the carpet was removed because it had been damaged by moisture. This is usually not a good sign. Luckily in this situation it appeared to be just new carpet.

In one case it was from a leak in a below grade fuel tank which was barely seeping through the wall and staining the edge of the carpet. In that situation, the basement reeked of fuel oil.

You may also notice dark stains on carpets below doors especially bedroom doors. Which doors in your home are most often closed at night? You close your bedroom door for privacy. The heating and cooling system has a central return air in the hall. All night long, all of the air pumped into your bedroom from the mechanical system must depart the bedroom through whatever space is below your door. The tighter the space the more your carpet is acting just like a furnace filter. Ever noticed how dirty one of those things can get?

The simplest answer is dirt or soot. If it's anything else, you can usually tell the difference. If it looks dirty doesn't look like mold and doesn't have an odor, in most cases it's just plan ordinary dirt.

Thanks for the question. It makes my job easier. I don't have to decide what to write about.

Bonus Section

Leaking Below Grade Fuel Tanks

If you missed the "At Home" section of the Saturday Winston-Salem Journal here are links to their site. Everyone involved in Real Estate transactions should read these articles on leaking below grade fuel tanks!! Maybe next time you won't look at me so strange when I raise the issue with your client.

Click here: An Oily Mess

Click here: Exposed pipes, disclosures are keys to finding tanks