I’ve picked up a property and the prior owner had multiple cats that made the whole 2nd floor a litter box. The floors look to sand up well for refinish, but the smell still is throughout the house. How to get rid of the smell. I’m at a loss. Its been over a year since the cats have even been there. Any advice is appreiciated.
Sincerely,
Reman
Good luck Reman! There is a chance that the urine got down between the floor boards and is in the subfloring…
Unneutered cats (mostly males) are most always the problem! I have 2 cats (well, I have one and my wife has one…) and a very sensitive nose. Both are neutered and fastidious. We have no smells.
The smell is next to impossible to get rid of…the cat(s) may have actually sprayed the walls and it’s in the sheetrock, too…
There are some commercial deodorizers. Try the Home Depot and a commercial carpet cleaner that does residential work an see what they use…
Keith
When I was a RE agent, I sold a house for a friend of mine who was a true ‘cat lady’. 30 inside cats. :o I went to cleanteam.com and got an enzymatic cleaner that ‘eats’ organic material. We also put Kilz on the walls after they were repainted. I couldn’t detect any smell afterwards.
After that, a lady came in and loved the house. I disclosed about the cats, and she replied that her son was highly allergic, so he would need to come by to see how he reacted. When they came by the next day, as soon as he walked in, his eyes started to swell shut.
The house was eventually sold to someone who wasn’t allergic to cats, but just know, you may never get completely rid of that stuff.
Didn’t they say the first thing the excavators noticed when they started digging up Egyptian tombs was the 5000 year old cat urine smell? :o
Good luck with your house!
Paula
put down carpet or another layer of flooring; if it in the floor that will do the trick
I had a similar problem but it was dog urine. In my case, I pulled the carpet, then used a water sealer (such as Thompson’s water seal) and mopped that on the floor.
The water proofing/sealer kept the old odors from the porus concreate from soaking back up.
I knew another landlord who painted the concrete under the carpet with an exterior enamel paint. That also sealed the concreate.
Then put down new carpet. Of course, if they’ve sprayed the sheetrock, then you’ll either need to seal that as well, or replace it. (KillZ does wonders on the sheetrock but sometimes even it’s too thin a shield).
Yah cat urine is rough. My mom put in a new floor in her house, after having a cat for only 2 or 3 years? They ended up having to scrub the concrete for quite some time to rid the smell off the slab.
I’m scared, I have 4 ferrets who have a room to them selves. I covered the carpet in 6mil plastic, stapled it up the trim, duct taped it together, then stapled crappy .40 carpet over that, to the top of the trim. Hopefully when its time to sell I can get rid of the smell easily.
A new trick for stuff I found… use Boat primer and Boat Paint! They are made for wood surfaces, made for deter damp/wetness and probably odors too. After that, I believe they put polyurethane on top of it to seal it off. Try a little in a small area.