Urine Smell
 

I purchased a house 2 months ago. Express purpose: buy/fix/flip. It had been broken into prior to purchase. Some zero percenter's and/or their pit bulls had pis**ed on the then existing carpet. Despite the fact that the place is now gutted, the smell lingers. Apparently it penetrated the carpet in some places and got down to the wood floor underneath. Anyone have a clue how to neutralize the smell? I'm concerned that when it comes to installing new carpet, this problem will come back to haunt me. Some people here who have run into the same thing have reassured me that once I close things back up/paint, etc. The smell will go away. I'm not sure... Thanks.

We had a similar situation. I ended up using shellac on the floor to seal the smell in. It worked fine.
(although with the pad and carpet on top, we probably would have not smelled it any more anyways, but.... better safe than angry wife.)

DM

That's a great suggestion! I've used shellac for years as a furniture refinisher to serve as a inter-medium layer to keep contaminants from bleeding through the lacquer top-coat. What do you recommend: a gallon of Zinzler's maybe cut 50% with denatured alcohol and just pour it over the floor?

There's an enzyme cleaner that works wonders. I use it on my rental properties when a tenant has a wayward dog or cat. Sometimes 2-3 applications are required.

http://www.odorgone.com/

http://www.odorgone.com/images/pet-products.jpg

Available at Costco and similar products are available at Janitorial supply shops.

I've also painted wood floors with Kilz, to seal out the smell.

We tried (I believe it was called) Urine-B-Gone but the smell of THAT about made me sick, so I went with shellac.
I just used Bullseye, full 'strength' with a roller.

DM

Thanks for the link to this product. I also have rentals and will check it out. In the meantime, I'm gonna also take Danger Mouses's suggestion and slather the exposed areas with a shellac based material. I think I have a gallon of Bullseye in the shop. If not, I'll pick one up at a box store. I can't stand the smell. You'd think after being in the space for over a month working one would get used to it... But it ain't happening.

My house had the same problem, there were actually areas of the subfloor discolored from the urine. Nasty. The house reeked even after all the carpet had been removed. We primed the entire subfloor with kilz and the smell was totally gone. It sucked to do, but was worth it! The smell was so bad the first time we viewed the house we went around and opened the windows!

Evan

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LOL about opening the windows. It was 27 degrees here today and I opened a window. I'll try sealing off the floors that are now exposed. I can see stains on the wood that must be from the piss leaching through the carpet. Thanks.

I typically just remove the subflooring that is covered in urine.

No sub-flooring to remove. I'm staring at tongue and grove pine..

You can "cover up" a smell but it doesnt mean its gone. Wood soaks in odor and its hard to get it out. Least thats my experience.

You haven't said what you have done other than remove a sub-floor? Two suggestions that have worked for others on this list: sealing off odor with a shellac based sealer, and using a product like Odor Done.

Other than removing the flooring, I would get an enzyme to kill the acidity of the urine.

There's a company nearby that specializes in professional cleaning products to the trades like Paul Davis and the like. One time, I had a furnace puff in one of my buildings. I wouldn't wish the consequences of one of these on an enemy -btw.. I was able to purchase some chemical sponges and a special solvent that dealt with the oily soot residue, which migrated up into all of the apartments. What a deal that was! Anyway, I'll call them and see what they are selling to the Trades.

We had this problem with our rental, the urine was even in the dry wall. We ended up spraying the enzyme stuff AND repainting. Worked like a charm.