Q. My air-ducts are rusting in 2 places for sure. They are also very nasty. I just vacuumed a bunch of dust out of the parts my vacuum hose can reach. Sometimes I see particles coming up out of my ducts. My townhouse is about 15 yrs old. I'ld like cleaner air ducts. Should I ask my landlord?

A. You need to read your lease. See what it states about housekeeping. If your landlord provides maid service and cleans your house then the landlord would handle this. If you pay for your own maid service and cleaning you would pay.

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Q. Have a town home that carpets need a good steam cleaning from pet messes and normal traffic.

A. I hear Molly Maid is pretty good.

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Q. I, the wife am responsible for the birthdays of 1 child, and 4 stepchildren, and almost 4 granchildren, along with Christmas, and other special occasions. I am responsible for bills, house cleaning, childrearing/homeschooling of our 8 year old child. My husb. is gone all week long and home for approx. 2 days each week. He is trying to start another business on the side so he works on this when he is home and tries to divide his time up so that he can spend time with us. I want to know what is fair as far as division of time and responsibilities because I feel drained after keeping the house clean, homeschooling our daughter, trying to keep her entertained and disciplined by myself and then trying to give my husband attention when he is home. I don't have ANY family where we live so I keep my friends around so I have some family for my daughter and I while my husband is gone. My husband is tired when he comes into town, therefore no friends. What do you think would be fair?

A. You both have tough jobs, and I can't see you affording a maid service. I would suggest a 60% for you and 40% for him. Why don't you sit down, and write up a list of all the household chores, that need doing, and see if you can't work out some equitable schedule. There will be some jobs, he doesn't mind doing, and the same for you. Forget about percentages, as long as you both pitch in, then neither of you will feel put upon.

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Q. I signed a year lease for a 2br duplex for Aug. 1st. I also gave a non-refundable deposit. I received a voice message from my new landlord asking If I’d like to clean up and she would give me $50. Then she says… When I used the maid service they charged me $250.00. I am on fire!!!! I have to move out of my current apartment and clean And will be charged for things that I did not clean. Why would I want to move Into a place that I have to clean. My first question is: 1. Can I back out of this lease? I haven’t moved in and it sounds like it’s not going to Be ready? 2. What do you answer that question (Do I want to clean for $50) without being sarcastic?

A. 1) You can't back out of the lease unless the apartment isn't ready on August 1st. In other words, you can't back out early because you THINK it won't be ready. 2) Just say that you would prefer she have the apartment professionally cleaned. Tell her you won't have time to clean it yourself because you'll be busy cleaning your old place and getting ready to move.

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Q. My landlord is claiming $4000 in damages for mostly superficial scratches on a wood floor. He informed me when we moved in that it scratched easily, but that polish to remove the scratches could be used. I did this, and though the floor was no longer new of course, thought it looked fine considering the two dogs and 14 months normal wear and tear. He also claims the windows were "black" and never cleaned, which even if it was true, I hired Merry Maids for a deep cleaning after I moved out and paid them nearly $400. I walked through after they had cleaned and everything looked and smelled very clean, but I didn't take pictures. I contacted the Maid service and they said they would talk to the landlord, but that they had no idea what he was talking about. I have several witnesses that have been in my old home, including the maids, that can attest that I kept it perfectly sanitary and that the floor was in no way damaged beyond repair. The bushes outside were overgrown, but a neighbor cut them, he did that often because he knows I was living there alone. My husband is deployed and this landlord says he has already sent a letter to his Colonel and spoken to JAG. I spoke to JAG and was informed that they would not have spoken to the landlord since he's not military or a military family member. So why did he lie about talking to them? To intimidate us? Is he just trying to scam us out of money? Oh, I have a few pictures of what the floor looked like while I was living there, but just didn't take any after I had moved out and the maids were done cleaning. Yes, of course there will be some nail scratches from the dogs, but almost all of them did not penetrate the stain on top, they are only visible when the light hits the floor the right way. Those that did penetrate to the wood underneath, I filled in with wood wax and stained it. The movers bumping the coffee table when moving us in before I put pads on the legs did way more damage than the dogs' nails did. We paid a pet fee, he knew the floor scratched easily, so I don't understand how anyone could expect it to still be in new condition after 14 months.

A. I was a soldier myself (long ago), so I've seen plenty of these type scenarios. Your landlord has not spoken to anyone in your husband's military command. He's full of it. If he attempted to contact your husband's chain of command, you can bet your man would have heard about it immediately, but since the landlord has no way of finding out who your husband's CO's are, this is just an out-and-out lie. You see, there's not only a chain of command in the military, there's also a chain of custody. The furthest your landlord would have gotten in his contact would have been the welcoming center. The only exception to this rule would be if your landlord required command authorization for a rental agreement to be signed. Now, as the wife of one of our service member's (thank you both) you are entitled to help. Your first hint should have been the JAG debacle the landlord tried to pull. What did they tell you? He isn't military or a military FAMILY MEMBER. Your answer - you need to contact JAG, and explain the situation to them. They will point you in the right direction = and don't worry, you won't be paying for the floor. More than likely, that landlord will end up getting black-listed for trying to take advantage of the wife of a deployed soldier. Hope this helps, take care.

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Q. I just moved into army housing, and they recently varnished the wood floor, and it STINKS! Also, it's completely obvious that whoever lived there before never cleaned, the fridge smells like rotten I-don't-know-what. I'm having the fridge replaced, but does anybody know how to get bad smells out of an entire house? It smells like old people, varnish, and rancid oil. The house has been cleaned up by a maid service, but i don't think they did a good enough job. I don't want to cover up the smell, I want it gone! reminder: it's army housing, I can't tear out the carpets, but I will be painting the walls.

A. Haha i live in army housing to and had that problem when i moved in. first, i cleaned everything (inside the cabinets, shelves, closets EVERYTHING) with a bucket of cleaning solution, and Clorox wipes. i used baking soda on the carpets and then a scented carpet powder, plus on the tile floors i used a bleach cleaner, then went over them with a cleaner with a nice smell. i bleached the crap out of my bathrooms to! cause its just gross to me. i also got the small air filters you can plug in, and have two on each floor, plus a humidifier upstairs where all the carpeting is. and lots of febreeze!!! good luck

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Q. A water pipe broke in the roof resulting in 30 days of water damage restoration. Demolition of interior walls and floors have layers of dust on all my furniture, floors, fixtures, inside cabinets. Is clean up after the restoration part of the job scope or am I stuck with footing the bill myself? I live in California and the damage was actually caused by roofers making repairs to the apartment building I have spoken to my landlord about getting a cleaning service and she initially agreed but now she said she is being nickled and dimed by the insurance company. None of my property was damaged. But I do want all my walls, floors, cabinets cleaned. I have already spent many hours on washing all my linens, curtains, dishes, and inside of cabinets to remove the dust.

A. Usually the landlord does not provide maid service, most tenants would not be comfortable about that. You will have to ask your landlord to clean your house if you want that, there is no way they would think to do it on their own.

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Q. We just bought a new home in Rancho Cucamonga and we're trying to find a good flooring company to do the entire house for us. Carpets upstairs, hardwood floors downstairs, with tile in the bathrooms. We've stopped by a few stores but something just didn't feel right with each of them. Any suggestions or past experiences would greatly help. Thanks in advance.

A. Try Service Magic in your area by going to their website and putting in a job order. All of their contractors are pre-screened, legal, liscensed, bonded and insured. They will come out and give you estimates of both labor and a time schedule. They will have 3 different contractors give you estimates so you have instant comparision. In my experience, they are fair and honest contractors and with Service Magic behind them, their work is guaranteed. Once you get their estimates, you can verify real customer experiences on kudzu.com for added peace of mind.

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