I'm considering buying an older house that has some noticeable dog odor.
I assume I could get rid of it by pulling up all the carpeting, is that right?
The carpeting is otherwise in good shape. Could a professional steam cleaning be expected to eliminate the odor?
Thanks
"John D99" wrote in news:Q6ydnaYQGqoEYm_XnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:
Carpets, underpad and sometimes subfloor removal is needed. Steam cleaning only gets the surface. I just went through this, though the home was only
8 years old. Previous owner had a sick dog and I had to rip everything out to get the smell out. Fortunately, the dog was too sick to climb stairs and only messed up the first floor.Sometimes it gets rid of it and sometimes steam cleaning makes it a fresh smell. If you do, do that, put vinegar in the water (assuming there's no bleach in the cleaner). Vinegar tends to get rid of smells. Problem is, it has often times gone into the wood underneath. In which case you will need to pull the carpet and paint the wood with a smell sealing paint.
Is it dogs smell or dog urine smell? Big difference. If it's just the smell of dogs then a good carpet cleaning could clean that up, but if it's urine, then you probably have to replace the carpet. Urine smell is pretty obvious and you'd probably also see stains, it you don't think it's urine, I'd give a good cleaning a try, then wait a few days and see if the smell comes back.
You could start there but it might not work. Can you figure out where the dog went? Then you could work on those areas. Pad probably will have to be replaced. You might salvage some of the carpet.
Personally, I'd never live on someone elses old carpeting even if there was no previous pet, but thats just me. Nothing beats hardwood (or hard surfaces) for a truly clean home.
No. A better idea is to find another house.
If all other proposed remedies fail, a next-to-last option might be an Ozone generator. These are used to recondition REALLY bad organic-caused odors, like the smells that emanate from very dead things.
Caution: Commercial Ozone generators can create fumes that, when breathed in sufficient quantity for sufficient time, have been found to not be compatible with life. [I put this warning in to appease those who worry a lot about dunderheads operating anything more complicated than a spoon.]
I knew if we went long enough, there would be something we'd agree on.
Yes, if it is that bad and recovery costs are that high, pass on it. The OP ain't gonna know until all the carpet and padding is pulled up as to just what they are dealing with. It could be far worse, and layers deeper than they suspect. Get the recovery costs before making a bid, if you choose to bid at all after you have all the facts. Might be a cheap fix, might be buying a nightmare.
Steve
Not completely. What is the sub floor (wood / concrete)? I would wash / rinse all the walls with a TSP solution and fresh paint. Trash the carpet and pad. My house had two dogs from the first owner. I even pulled all the base board out. Granted I had time to do this work over six months, so the house was vacant, windows open and fans running.
I'm sure the old appliances had odor in the them ( replaced).
Pull the carpet away from a wall corner - see how many pet stains exist?
I'd start there after a good shampooing. Do a room at a time and crank the thing all the way up when you're not in the room.
Don't buy any old piece of junk- get a used Alpine Air on ebay for $75 or so. The XL-15 is worth the $250 or so they go for new-- but a couple used ones can be moved around to do more than one area at a time.
My son uses them at a car dealership to kill the odors of pets, spilled milk & rotted meat that they find in the used cars. [oh- and a cheeseburger that a salesman left in a new one.
Also supposed to be bad for rubber things. I suppose I would use some moderation.
Jim
What is the nature of the soil and/or odor? Just doggie dander from skin problems or years of urine? Have you asked the seller to have the problem corrected?
LOL!
Can you write-up a "dunderhead" disclaimer "warning"?!
Apologies, phisherman, I had you confused with another poster I joust with regularly, and pushed SEND before engaging brain ..........
duh ........................
odor can be elkminated 100%:)
you do what the fire restoration industry does.
remove ALL carpeting and padding!!!
discard, its not worth the hassle and cost to clean, plus it shrinks if you send it out, for power washing at a speciality carpet cleaner. just toss it all, get the color and style you want.
scrub all walls, floors etc.
lightly sand floors, then coat with OUTDOOR POLYURETHANE, multiple coats. it doesnt have to look good, urine stained areas on hardwood will be black, but if your covering with carpet it doesnt matter.
paint all walls with BIN or KILZ primer sealer. 2 coats, then regular paint.
you cant remove urine and pet odor or even tobacco smoke stench.
all you can do is seal it in so you cant smell it anymore.
done like this the odor will NEVER RETURN:)
any attempted scrubbing or other odor masking will come back every time the weather is moist:(
this is what fre restoration companies do after home fires, another hard to remove odor.
tell the sellers you must have a discount to cover this cost.
been there done all this, its not hard just grunt work
You can buy odor bombs at janitorial supply places. Worth a try.
He can buy Febreze Air Fresheners at a 99 cent store. It will not mask the pet odor.
Perfume on a pet pig won't look much different. (yes I worked on a place that previously had a pet pig)....
In my life time I have never sent home "carpet" out for a "power washing"?
It must be task intensive?
I did. the carpet was just a few months old and very urine soaked.
we pulled it up and took the smelly mess, to the one shop in pittsburgh that has the equiptement usually used to clean oriental rugs.
multiple immersion baths, in shampoo, bristle brushes, sprayed on foam and anti odorant. it cost near 1/2 the cost of the carpet new.
but it was worth it, except the cleaning made it shrink. which caused reinstallation troubles.
company had to do it 3 times to get the odor out. thankfully they didnt charge extra.
my mom, step dad and 3 dogs were all incontenient.
house turned out great, but was a LOT of work.
If urine it has probably gone through the carpet into the flooring. When we bought our current house 18 years ago the former owner had a cat that had peed a lot in certain places. We removed the baseboard in the kitchen and found thick dried urine deposits. We replaced the baseboards and found it had gone down covering the joists in the basement ceiling. We removed the basement drywall ceiling and painted the affected areas with KILZ to seal in the odor. Problem solved. Don't underestimate the work involved. Presumably you are getting this house for a good price.
Remove all carpet and try to get an ultraviolet light that will show where the urine concentrations are.
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