Smell lingers despite fixing sewage leak

I had a leak in a sewer line in a crawl space under my house. That leak has been repaired and I thought I cleaned up thoroughly, but whenever I turn on my air system, we can smell sewage. How can I get rid of the smell?

Go back to the crawl space and make sure that you have cleaned all visible surface residue left by the leak. Dig down about a foot or so in the area where the sewage pooled.

Then, thoroughly soak the entire area with pure bleach to kill bacteria and the smell it leaves. Take proper precautions when using bleach in a closed space. Cover the bleached area with a 60-pound bag or two of powdered lime. Check for damaged ducts in your air system, and consider a professional cleaning of the ducts.

James and Morris Carey, The Associated Press

• Marmoleum a ‘green’ flooring alternative

I am trying to find a source of linoleum tiles. Not vinyl. I found one dealer that sells sheet linoleum, but it is very hard to install. In trying to go green with using a flooring that does not contain petroleum, I am not having much luck. Can you help?

You can buy Marmoleum — a brand of linoleum flooring from Forbo made of linseed oil, wood flour, rosin and jute — from various flooring companies.

Try Marmoleum Click, a product designed for do-it-yourselfers. It comes in 12-inch squares and in 12-by-36-inch panels.

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services