nyla
Shy Member
Posts: 23
Jun 28, 2014 20:15:34 GMT
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Post by nyla on Jul 11, 2014 14:36:01 GMT
The owner was taken to the hospital by ambulance & died. The cats were left in the house for who knows how long, unattended. It stinks worse than anything I've ever smelled. So far, we've ripped out all of the carpet, pad & tack strips, cleaned the floors with vinegar, then bleach, and then doused them with this odor remover, plus dumped 5 lbs of baking soda on them, sprayed a whole can of febreeze, etc. It has not helped at all. Next we will be painting the sub floor with Kilz but I'm worried the smell is not going to go away. We've had the doors & windows open as much as possible for a month to air it out & it's still sickening. The home is vacant but we need to get rid of the smell. Any products, techniques or ideas? TIA! |
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095 
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Post by raindancer on Jul 11, 2014 14:42:17 GMT
I would go to a local janitorial supply and buy an enzyme cleaner that works for skunk odor. It works a thousand times better than natures miracle (not even close to miraculous IME ) and waaaaay cheaper.
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Post by Pahina722 on Jul 11, 2014 14:45:04 GMT
This is the product we use where our cats mark: Nature's Miracle. It seems to work really well at eliminating the odors (at least that I can smell!) The cats might think differently, but they aren't coming back into the house, right? |
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Gravity
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,230
Jun 27, 2014 0:29:55 GMT
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Post by Gravity on Jul 11, 2014 14:48:35 GMT
Does the home have a concrete slab foundation or is it wood? If it's concrete, try sealing it. If it's wood, I don't have a clue.
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Post by PinkPrincess77 on Jul 11, 2014 15:12:49 GMT
The owner was taken to the hospital by ambulance & died. The cats were left in the house for who knows how long, unattended. It stinks worse than anything I've ever smelled. So far, we've ripped out all of the carpet, pad & tack strips, cleaned the floors with vinegar, then bleach, and then doused them with this odor remover, plus dumped 5 lbs of baking soda on them, sprayed a whole can of febreeze, etc. It has not helped at all. Next we will be painting the sub floor with Kilz but I'm worried the smell is not going to go away. We've had the doors & windows open as much as possible for a month to air it out & it's still sickening. The home is vacant but we need to get rid of the smell. Any products, techniques or ideas? TIA! When we moved into our new house, the previous people had dogs that urinated in the front room. The previous owner, it was a rental, tried EVERYTHING to get the smell out, except replace the carpet. We had the carpet replaced and when it was pulled up, we painted the flooring with Kilz. However, we apparently did not do a heavy enough coat because then my two cats started marking in there. It took is a couple of weeks to figure out what the hell was going on, but when we did, we immediately pulled the new carpet out. We went with a thicker coat of Oil Based Kilz this time and it seems to have done the trick. We laid down hardwood instead of carpet and they haven't marked in either front room since. So I would go with Oil Based Kilz. We've tried all of those enzyme cleaners and they just didn't seem to work at all. |
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Post by sisterbdsq on Jul 11, 2014 15:26:54 GMT
Please come back with what the subfloor material is. That's a major factor in answering. What PinkPrincess says is true, for concrete, you need an oil based Kilz type product (Kilz is the brand and you don't need that one specifically, it's just common). However, if it's wood, you will need to remove it and replace with new wood. You cannot get urine out of wood that has been saturated.
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nyla
Shy Member
Posts: 23
Jun 28, 2014 20:15:34 GMT
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Post by nyla on Jul 11, 2014 15:36:04 GMT
Thanks so much for the thoughts & ideas! The subfloor on the main level (where is smells the worse) is wood, the basement floor is cement. I actually wonder if a cat died in the house.  It reeks! |
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Post by keknj on Jul 11, 2014 15:39:38 GMT
Oh that sounds horrid. I hope you are able to figure out what to do.
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scrapngranny
Pearl Clutcher
Only slightly senile
Posts: 4,765
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Post by scrapngranny on Jul 11, 2014 15:40:39 GMT
I would call some place like Coit, who does professional clean up from fires and such. It's way too big of a job for DIYers.
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nanaterry
Junior Member
Posts: 67
Jun 26, 2014 20:05:34 GMT
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Post by nanaterry on Jul 11, 2014 15:47:17 GMT
Our DS bought a house where the cat's went everywhere. He finally had to rip up the sub floor around the outer edges of the room and replace it. It was bad, but after he replaced the wood subfloor the smell was gone.
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Post by **Angie** on Jul 11, 2014 15:56:04 GMT
I hate to say this but other surfaces can absorb the smell. Our oak table was being stored at mil's house, and she let her dog use a room on the other side of the house as his bathroom. The whole first floor smells bad, and when we brought the table to our new house, it smelled like urine for weeks.
I'd suggest taking a black light in. If they were alone for any length of time, they could have peed/sprayed everywhere, not just the floor.
So sorry, OP!
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Post by miominmio on Jul 11, 2014 16:27:53 GMT
I would call some place like Coit, who does professional clean up from fires and such. It's way too big of a job for DIYers. That! A former neighbor of my sister's owned 10+ cats, and when they sold the house, they managed to hide the smell temporarily. The buyers had to gut the house completely! The cats had not only urinated on the floor, but also on the walls. |
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 11, 2014 16:31:47 GMT
Thanks so much for the thoughts & ideas! The subfloor on the main level (where is smells the worse) is wood, the basement floor is cement. I actually wonder if a cat died in the house. It reeks! Is it possible there is a dead animal in the wall or is it "just" urine that you are smelling? |
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Post by Merge on Jul 11, 2014 16:56:23 GMT
Rip out the wood subfloor and use the oil based kilz on the concrete and a couple of feet up the basement walls if they are concrete. You may also need to tear out/replace the baseboards and the bottom part of the drywall.
Good luck. My BIL has dealt with this and it wasn't a cheap or easy fix. And TBH, though they don't smell cat pee in their house any more, the rest of us still do, albeit faintly. You will start to get used to the odor, so make sure to have fresh (and honest) noses come in when you've ripped out/primed everything to see if they can still smell it.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 11, 2014 17:07:04 GMT
Absolutely rip out the subfloor. You will waste time, energy and money and never get the smell out of the wood. I would also rip out all the base molding and evaluate the drywall. If they repeated used the corners or near walls the bottom 2-3 feet of drywall might also need to be replaced.
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Post by moosedogtoo on Jul 11, 2014 17:42:18 GMT
Rip out the wood subfloor and use the oil based kilz on the concrete and a couple of feet up the basement walls if they are concrete. You may also need to tear out/replace the baseboards and the bottom part of the drywall. Good luck. My BIL has dealt with this and it wasn't a cheap or easy fix. And TBH, though they don't smell cat pee in their house any more, the rest of us still do, albeit faintly. You will start to get used to the odor, so make sure to have fresh (and honest) noses come in when you've ripped out/primed everything to see if they can still smell it. This is exactly what I was going to say. The cats may have urinated on the walls as well. Good luck!!  |
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It reeks!
