I am thinking of buying a home with an odor problem. Actually it’s more than a problem. It smells of extreme dog and dog poo. Is there anything or any service that would take out the smell? I think they (the bank) already tore up the carpet, but who knows.
Any help would be great!
I’ll enter this admitting that I am not a air purification or an enviromental santitation, but I know enough about sh*t as the next guy…
It could be as simple as removing all fabrics, clothes and synthetics that are foul that came in immediate and close proximity contact with doggy arse.
I was at a tradeshow a few weeks ago and I bumped into the Oreck booth…Skeptically, I purchased one of their air purification units (the same one you see at 3 am) with the full intention of returning it before the guarantee expired.
Well, I’ll tell ya…if this thing doesn’t work as advertised, I’ll buy it…Well, maybe I am getting overzealous (it has only been about 4 weeks), but I love it!
This things nuetrualizes everything…from diaper poo, kitty kaka and daddy dodo…it might work for you (if not, return it).
Regards,
Scott Miller
If the odor resulted from long standing issues, then the odors would have sunk in everywhere, the walls. floors (beneath the carpets) etc.
I got such issues when South Asian (Indian) tenants vacate, and the rental smells of curry, and non-Indians, get nauseas going thru the place, which made it impossible to rent out. Sometimes the smell is so strong, it nearly knocks me out too.
First, the ceilings and walls would have to be painted, and I would use a coat of primer that would help seal in odors, that would leak thru latex. Then, if need be, seal the floors, if you got floor boards, use polyutherune. There are other sealants out there by different commercial names.
And for curry, I would give the stove a thorough cleaning.
The problem I found in doing rentals though, is often a week or two goes by after a thorough cleaning and painting, I still smell a whiff a “curry”, and renters looking are still bothered by it, sniff and ask “what’s this”??? What I do is I would come by with a can of high gloss “oil based” white paint, start two hours before showing, doing baseboards, window frames, radiator covers, while showing the place. Renters would smell the paint, rather than the curry.
I find oil based paints emit a very strong odor.
Baseboards and frames look much better trimmed this way, and renters often compliment me on the extra touch and care when I do this. Better have complments on how nice the place looks rather than how smelly it is. Most of the time though, if not for the smell, just a coat of latex paint would do.
I find that strong smells would go away after two or three months time, oil based paint, curry and all.
I love curry but don’t think I could stand high daily doses of it.
I use a product called OdorX. You can spray it on just about everything and it works. Google it.
Mike
I came close to buying a house from a cat hoarder. Animal control said there was 150 live cats and 250 dead cats in the house (maybe 900 sf). They also said in one room (the kitchen) that the floor was covered with 4 inches of feces and urine. Every other room was blanketed with the same along with decaying cats. Some things are just unsalvagable…
Danny,
I know you’re the rehabber and I’m the newb but I do have a solution for you…
LOL
Saying I came “close” to buying the house was an overstatement. My Investment Analyst refused to go inside and instead peaked through the windows where he was still close enough to smell every cat that ever lived and died in there. After the horror storied told by the Animal Control officers, I couldn’t of paid anyone enough to go inside to throw gasoline everywhere. I’d need Joshua to drop one of these on the place:
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/weapons/control/gbu43-grid-fin.jpg
Pour the gas on the outside then throw a molotov cocktail throw the window. Or when in doubt homemade napalm. Can you imagine being downwind as it burns? :flush
Thanks Danny… I just threw up in my mouth a little. I thought I had seen and heard it all when I looked at a house a few summers ago. 90 degrees, house had been sitting vacant a while. The neighbors told us that the lady that lived there got hooked on drugs and went nuts. She also had 30 + cats that lived in the basement. When we got down there it was about 2-3 inches solid of slimy gooey cat crap that covered the entire floor. My partner almost slipped and fell in it. You could smell it in the driveway. That was my worst inspection.
250 DEAD CATS??? You win!!!
:beer
It’s only 9:15am here…it’s WAY TOOOOOOO early for dead cats, dog poop, and throw up. :shocked
One thing that does work, but can be messy…
Look in the Yellow Pages under chemical companies or restaurant supply and order a 50lb bag of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Go to the 99 cent store and buy large bowls or small buckets. Fill them up and leave them in the house. Change them out every day or two. You can also spread it on the floors, but it’s a lot of vacuuming. Make sure that you put some inside cabinets, closets and vanities.
It takes a little longer, but 1) you don’t have to stay in the house while it does it’s job, 2) you’re not exposing yourself to chemicals and 3) it’s easy to dispose of.
Definitely remove the carpet, paint and prime all the surfaces with Killz.
Look in the Yellow Pages under chemical companies or restaurant supply and order a 50lb bag of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Go to the 99 cent store and buy large bowls or small buckets. Fill them up and leave them in the house. Change them out every day or two. You can also spread it on the floors, but it's a lot of vacuuming. Make sure that you put some inside cabinets, closets and vanities
This quote brought to you by the fine folks of Arm and Hammer and is a paid endorsement.
Didn’t they recently have a contest for creative ways to use their product?
:anon
There is a way to make the unfortunate demise of cats into a profitable proposition…
http://www.undergroundhumor.com/books/sneakapeek/101udc_sample1.htm
Nature’s Miracle should do it. It’s an enzymatic cleaner specifically designed for pet odors.
I swear by the stuff. Our cat peed on our couch, and I thought it was going to be ruined. Used a watering can to apply the stuff, and after it completely dried - no cat smell!
You can find it in pet supply stores.
You all crack me up! What a nerd I am.
What about an ozone machince? Do they work? Knew someone who grew an U.S.A illegal substance and they used an ozone machince to cover the smell. It worked for them. But the question is if it can help to get rid of the odors, or just cover them up temporarily?
You would need a mighty big ozone machine to do that much stench.
I bought a rehab last year and it had dogs and rodents running around in it. I agree remove all carpet, vinyl and any pee soaked underlayment. Kilz & paint help. I also found Simply Green to be helpful in cleaning up tubs, inside cupboards, and walls and trim before painting. It degreases and is a safe cleaner and leaves a mild clean scent. Graciez
monnchew,
I use “odor medic”. Just mix it with water in a deck sprayer and spray were you think the odor is coming from. If you don’t know where the odor is coming from buy a black light, it should help you find the source(s). You might have to apply a couple of times but it worked well for me. The web site is www.odormedic.com.
Steve
Well holy cat pee! If you get cat piss on any carpets, do not try to save it. It is now trash.
Our cat peed all over our extra room over a period of time. We’re not pigs but we somehow just didn’t smell it until it got warm in the house. Once detected, we went about inspecting with our professional uv light and saw glowing green cat pee everywhere.
We looked high and low for products to remove the pee and its smell. I wanted to save that perfectly good carpet! We found “Urine-Off” which DID eliminate the smell. However, Mr. UV light told the true story that the pee was all still there.
So we pulled the carpet and found the stain spreads to about 4 times the size as it is on the surface. We had to trash the carpet and pad. Don’t try to save that!
Even with the carpet gone and the floor scrubbed, there is STILL a smell!!! Oh where could it be? I know… it soaked under the baseboards since she peed on the wall. Yay! We removed the baseboards and cleaned thoroughly with the urine-off. It eliminated the smell. (had it not, we would have sealed it in with kilz) Then we put in wood laminate floors.
One note: Just outside contaminated room we found a small area pee (using the uv light) That area we just treated with the urineoff (including pulling up the carpet and getting the concrete beneath. Smell gone and it was just a little area. We reattached the carpet. HOWEVER, after a couple months, the area developed a bigger stain (conveniently the same size of where I sprayed the urine-off on the concrete). We had to replace that carpet too.
SO, bottom line. Urine-off works GREAT in removing the smell but does NOT remove the pee. No product does. It’s in the fabric, settled down in it. It’s just not a removeable thing. I would not recommend putting the carpet back over concrete that has been treated with the stuff.
Ok, I know that was overly long but It was SUCH a battle ridding myself of that pee stench!
2-3 inches thick? HELL NO! Run for the hills!