Unfortunately, this is not about dancing. I really do need to cut up a rug. My septic tank backed up over the wkend..big, yucky mess. I've cleaned up all the hard surfaces but a piece of carpeting in the LR was totally soaked, and the soft, splintery floorboards underneath as well. I've cleaned this up as best I could w/water/amonia, etc. But am worried about contamination, bacteria, etc. from sewage. It's an old, ugly shag carpet salvaged from a dustbin many years ago, so I'm happy to replace the whole thing. But the existing carpet, while not quite wall to wall, is pinned down by some very heavy pieces of furniture. So I'm not able to fold back rug sufficiently to clean carpet back or flooring adequately.

My next decision was, what the hell, I'll just cut the contaminated bit of carpet away, hose it down completely outside, and treat the floor with bleach. And here I've come to a large problem. The carpet may be ugly, but it has a very tough jute type backing on it. I have not been able to make a dent in it with: a carpet knife (admittedly not very sharp), a heavy duty box knife, a large pr of heavy duty shears.

If anybody has any ideas for me, I'd be very grateful. I spent the morning on phone trying to get a professional out to clean the carpet but once they hear that raw sewage created the problem, no one is willing to touch it. I have 3 dogs and the contaminated bit of carpet, about 3 ft x 4 ft., is right in the walkway. I have visions of us all tramping bacteria throughout the house (even tho I've got tons of papers down on top, and old towels on top of that).

Help!