Pets - How Do You Handle Pet Odor?

[J Grant]

Its a huge turn off to buyers and for good reason, if floors /sub floors are urine soaked or have absorbed odors ( or walls with heavy smoking)., it's more that a coat of paint or killz, could mean stripping away, remediation etc)

 

[Noreen]

I had the same thing yesterday.. I love dogs but The Homeowners' have owned this house for three years and Man, I don't think they have ever soap & water cleaned anything!! AND they are laminate floors, I suspect it's in the furniture and bedding too. Struggling with the PC approach to this dilemma...

In my case, the entire house smells like a wet dog... overwhelming!!

 

[timd354]

I have found that most times a top stanley steemer type service can remove odors almost 100%. Cats that pee on walls may be a different issue. But even so many buyers will remove the carpeting and a layer of Kilz may be necessary even then. I have seen it rehabbed when I thought there was no hope though.

I bought a house out of bankruptcy estate that was a cat pee house that smelled terrible...tore out all of the carpets, poured bleach all over the floors and left the house for a week then painted all of the floors with oil based Kilz...the smell was permanently removed (still own the property as a rental 10 years later)

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

...the smell was permanently removed

Over the years I became leery of calling for new carpet in a pet odor house because they kept sending me back after rehab and the same carpet was there but looked and smelled very different. When it soaks into walls and floors it can be a difficult fix, but many times there is a solution... Baking powder and other bases will counter the acidic cat pee. And Kilz can cover it up. One builder/repairman who was buying REOs did that on almost all his homes. I don't think he replaced a single carpet if it wasn't worn through.

 

[timd354]

Its a huge turn off to buyers and for good reason, if floors /sub floors are urine soaked or have absorbed odors ( or walls with heavy smoking)., it's more that a coat of paint or killz, could mean stripping away, remediation etc)

I bought a house last year that had been occupied by a chain smoker for many years...I bought an ozone generator (ozone breaks down the smoke molecules that cause the smell) and left it on the house for 48 hours and that plus repainting all of the walls and ceilings completely eliminated the smell.

Over the years I became leery of calling for new carpet in a pet odor house because they kept sending me back after rehab and the same carpet was there but looked and smelled very different. When it soaks into walls and floors it can be a difficult fix, but many times there is a solution... Baking powder and other bases will counter the acidic cat pee. And Kilz can cover it up. One builder/repairman who was buying REOs did that on almost all his homes. I don't think he replaced a single carpet if it wasn't worn through.

The other thing that works very well for getting rid of most smells is an ozone generator as ozone breaks down most molecules that cause offensive smells (I wish I had known about this 10 years ago when I bought the cat pee house). I bought a house last year for my primary residence that had been owned for decades by a chain smoker and after two days of the house being closed up with an ozone generator that I bought running inside, the smoke smell was almost completely eliminated and the very small amount of smell left was totally eliminated when the floors were refinished and the ceilings and walls were all repainted.

 

[Mr Rex]

FWIW, the hotel chains use ozone generators in the "smoke free" rooms after folks smoke in them. Used car dealers use ozone generators on cars with heavy smoke smells or have been flooded etc.

 

[timd354]

FWIW, the hotel chains use ozone generators in the "smoke free" rooms after folks smoke in them. Used car dealers use ozone generators on cars with heavy smoke smells or have been flooded etc.

Very true and they work amazingly well...I could not believe how well it worked in the house I bought that was owned by an old chain smoker who had lived there for decades. That extra oxygen atom that is part of the ozone molecule apparently quite easily attaches itself to many noxious odor causing molecules (such as nicotine) which causes the odor causing molecules to become oxidized and break down very quickly.

 

[DTB]

Very true and they work amazingly well...I could not believe how well it worked in the house I bought that was owned by an old chain smoker who had lived there for decades. That extra oxygen atom that is part of the ozone molecule apparently quite easily attaches itself to many noxious odor causing molecules (such as nicotine) which causes the odor causing molecules to become oxidized and break down very quickly.

+1 but don't think it would do anything for cat pee.

 

[timd354]

+1 but don't think it would do anything for cat pee.

I don't know...never tried it but bleach and oil based Kilz did the trick with the cat pee

 

[DTB]

I don't know...never tried it but bleach and oil based Kilz did the trick with the cat pee

I will try that on the next one that isn't too horrible., thanks.