Cat urine smell

[Chris]

We had a tenant move out of our rental property. He had one kitten for mayb e the last 6 months of his occupancy. The basement totally reeks of cat pis s.. we went over the basement with a black light to no avail. we saw maybe

1 or 2 suspicious areas. We mopped with Odoban twice. Sprayed Natures Mirac le 3 times.. The smell is less than it was, but it is still there.. most of the basement is linoleum tile, and one small area is bare concrete. But, w e can not find the definitive area(s) with the blacklight.. (Unlike the hou se we live in.. so it's not like we blind or something) There was urine so aked card board boxes when he left, but they have been removed out of the b asement for weeks.

any ideas? I have bee thinking of not spraying the natures miracle but just pouring straight on the floor and scrubbing it in and covering with plasti c to keep it working for a day..

[hrhofmann]

ybe the last 6 months of his occupancy. The basement totally reeks of cat p iss.. we went over the basement with a black light to no avail. we saw mayb e 1 or 2 suspicious areas. We mopped with Odoban twice. Sprayed Natures Mir acle 3 times.. The smell is less than it was, but it is still there.. most of the basement is linoleum tile, and one small area is bare concrete. But, we can not find the definitive area(s) with the blacklight.. (Unlike the h ouse we live in.. so it's not like we blind or something)  There was urin e soaked card board boxes when he left, but they have been removed out of t he basement for weeks.

st pouring straight on the floor and scrubbing it in and covering with plas tic to keep it working for a day..

Contact the tenant and ask him where the kitten went to urinate. Any closets or darkish corners??

[Chris]

contacting him is not really possible.. he is on the run from a collection agency and child support.. he bolted out with no notice.. the smell is conc entrated in the front room of the basement. its dark, and thats were we thi nk the cat was going to town. He was always hanging out in the window of th at room, and there is a ton of hair in that area..

[gregz]

Vinegar, clorox, oxiclean, ozone. It may be under or in the tiles. Wet the whole floor and baseboards.

Odoban will not neutralize cat urine.

Greg

[bob haller]

ybe the last 6 months of his occupancy. The basement totally reeks of cat p iss.. we went over the basement with a black light to no avail. we saw mayb e 1 or 2 suspicious areas. We mopped with Odoban twice. Sprayed Natures Mir acle 3 times.. The smell is less than it was, but it is still there.. most of the basement is linoleum tile, and one small area is bare concrete. But, we can not find the definitive area(s) with the blacklight.. (Unlike the h ouse we live in.. so it's not like we blind or something)  There was urin e soaked card board boxes when he left, but they have been removed out of t he basement for weeks.

st pouring straight on the floor and scrubbing it in and covering with plas tic to keep it working for a day..

its impossible to remove urine odor. or heavy smoke odors from a fire. or odors of something that died.

what you must do is remove any soft items like carpet etc.

remove and toss the floor tile.... it absorbs bad odors

paint all the walls cielings etc with kilz or bin oil base. then topcoat with whatever paint you care to use

seal all concrete with outdoor polyurethane, give it 2 or better yet 3 coats

what you do is seal the odor in since its impossible to remove it all.

I ha a home that stank bad, after this procedure which is what fire restoration companies do, its the ONLY REAL FIX!!

[hrhofmann]

Soak the floor so whatever you use sinks into all the cracks between the tiles and actually gets under them. You may have to refloor with a seamless material over the tile, or maybe put down a vapor barrier underneath carpeting.

[notbob]

....as will a .22 to the head.

nb

[nestork]

Chris:

Well, you're going about solving the problem correctly. Most people aren't aware that the urine of all mammals fluouresces under ultra violet light, but the fluorescence is not intense, like a 1960's Jimi Hendrix poster, but really quite faint. And, I've heard a lot of good things about Nature's Miracle, so you're using the right cleaner, too.

However, the problem MIGHT be that the black light source you're using isn't powerful enough to make the dried urine fluorecsce sufficiently to make it noticable. I would phone around to the places listed under "Janitorial Equipment & Supplies" in your yellow pages phone directory to see if any of those places in your area rents black lights. You should also try the Party Supply places because black lights are a popular item for Haloween parties. The tool rental places are worth a try, too. And, if push comes to shove, most professional carpet cleaning contractors will have a black light, and I'm sure that for a fee they will come out and point out the urine stains to you.

Just in the same way as this Q&A forum caters to DIY'ers, there is a web site that caters to the Janitorial Services sector of the economy, and it has a Q&A forum where you'll be able to talk with professional cleaning contractors who would be more knowledgable about removing pet urine stains and odors:

'Cleanfax - The #1 information source for carpet cleaning & restoration professionals.'

That web site is owned by CM Magazine, which is a trade publication for the commercial building cleaning industry, but the content of the web site is heavily weighted toward carpet and upholstery cleaning. Many carpet cleaning contractors hang around on that web site, and all of them would have had experience dealing with pet urine stains and odors. You may have to register on that web site to post on their Q&A forum.

[harry]

maybe the last 6 months of his occupancy. The basement totally reeks of cat piss.. we went over the basement with a black light to no avail. we saw ma ybe 1 or 2 suspicious areas. We mopped with Odoban twice. Sprayed Natures M iracle 3 times.. The smell is less than it was, but it is still there.. mos t of the basement is linoleum tile, and one small area is bare concrete. Bu t, we can not find the definitive area(s) with the blacklight.. (Unlike the house we live in.. so it's not like we blind or something)  There was ur ine soaked card board boxes when he left, but they have been removed out of the basement for weeks.

just pouring straight on the floor and scrubbing it in and covering with pl astic to keep it working for a day..

Yes, do the above. You might also consider steam cleaning the floor when you have taken up the coverings.

Catpiss was designed by nature to have a lingering smell. Works well don't it?:-)

[HeyBub]

Rent an ozone generator for a day. Smell will disappear, as well as roaches, small mammals, some paint.

[Jim Elbrecht]

the last 6 months of his occupancy. The basement totally reeks of cat piss.. we went over the basement with a black light to no avail. we saw maybe 1 or 2 suspicious areas. We mopped with Odoban twice. Sprayed Natures Miracle 3 times.. The smell is less than it was, but it is still there.. most of the basement is linoleum tile, and one small area is bare concrete. But, we can not find the definitive area(s) with the blacklight.. (Unlike the house we live in.. so it's not like we blind or something)  There was urine soaked card board boxes when he left, but they have been removed out of the basement for weeks.

pouring straight on the floor and scrubbing it in and covering with plastic to keep it working for a day..

My son details cars at a dealership. The get some real interesting cars on trade.

They've killed cigarette, rotten cheese, dead critter, and pet urine odors with an overnight [or two] of ozone. They just turn a 'New Living Alpine Air' ozone generator on high and shut it up in the car for a day or two. [there may be others that work as well-- I just know that *this* one works]

We had a mattress fire in the house and an overnight in a bedroom 'cured' the nasty odor that generated.

There are health concerns about occupying a room where it is running- so read up on it.

Jim

[Home Guy]

Isin't it too bad that you now have to spend hundreds of dollars and a lot of time and effort to get rid of the smell, when for only $100 (at most) the cat (probably male) could have been neutered and the urine smell would have been drastically reduced...

[Stormin Mormon]

I'd call animal and pet stores. And the local humane society. There are also a couple cat related usenet groups. One used to be active, called "rec pets cats anecdotes" I think it was. I'm sure the active pet and cat groups can better answer your question. I'll copy them in, for you.

any ideas? I have bee thinking of not spraying the natures miracle but just pouring straight on the floor and scrubbing it in and covering with plastic to keep it working for a day..

[bob haller]

all of these issues are why no pets is often in the lease......

pets are fine but can do lots of damage to your property.....

Again you CANT clean the odors out what you do is seal them in. this is how pros mitigate odors.

while ou might temporarily get rid of the stink, in awhile theres moist weather and it returns:(

Its far easier to solve the problem permanetely than doing a halfway fix and have the new tenant complain because the odor returned and have to work around all their possesions:(

I had a rental property my rule was no pets and no smoking. When the elderly lady who rented got ill I did let her keep her daughters dog there for company. the tenant was awesome and i was very sad when she died.

so exceptions can be made.

[Home Guy]

Your reply did not address the point I was making..................

[notbob]

Interesting. Perhaps one can rent an air purifier. Here's another thing you might read up on:

nb

[Art Todesco]

agency and child support.. he bolted out with no notice.. the smell is concentrated in the front room of the basement. its dark, and thats were we think the cat was going to town. He was always hanging out in the window of that room, and there is a ton of hair in that area..

As you probably know, you really have to find "ground zero". Nature's Miracle works very well but it has to be on the exact spot. We have a stupid cat that "likes" to anoint certain things. Look for plastic things like grocery bags, etc. Also, rubber that is smelly. BTW, a 6 month old kitten is already a (stupid) cat.

[bob haller]

I agree getting the cat fixed will help but not necessarily prevent the problem entirely:(

We have a male dog named Jack who got fixed by 6 months old, and he is marking stuff...:(

[Jim Elbrecht]

From there- "a federal judge had ordered Alpine to stop claiming that its machines provide relief from any medical condition or that they effectively remove or reduce a wide variety of air pollutants from indoor environments. "

I've bought a couple on Ebay and though I don't expect any health benefits-- and don't know *how* they work--- I can say for certain that they eliminate a wide variety of odors, and I've never noticed any harm to rubber, paint, or fabrics in the rooms where I've used them.

They might leave the 'pollutants' that cause the odors, but they take their smell away, which works for me.

Jim

[Doug Miller]

Chris wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Activated charcoal does a pretty good job of absorbing cat odors, if sprinkled on the affected areas. Note that it's much cheaper when labelled as filter medium for aquariums, than when labelled as odor remover -- but it's the same stuff.