Pets - How Do You Handle Pet Odor?

[EddieB]

It might not work on cat pee but it would take care of the cat...

 

[EddieB]

It might not work on cat pee but it would take care of the cat...

 

[timd354]

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

I used about 10 gallons of bleach in a 1200 sf home with a 600 sf basement....poured the bleach all over the floors after I had removed the carpets and left the house for 3 or 4 days in the hot Maryland summer with the A/C turned off. After it dried out I then painted all of the subfloors with oil based Kilz...it really worked well

Remember to wear some sort of breather/filter with an activated charcoal filter as the bleach fumes can get pretty noxious pretty quickly and do the basement first as the chlorine gas from the bleach is heavier than air and the basement will get pretty much uninhabitable if you do the upstairs first

 

[DTB]

I used about 10 gallons of bleach in a 1200 sf home with a 600 sf basement....poured the bleach all over the floors after I had removed the carpets and left the house for 3 or 4 days in the hot Maryland summer with the A/C turned off. After it dried out I then painted all of the subfloors with oil based Kilz...it really worked well

Remember to wear some sort of breather/filter with an activated charcoal filter as the bleach fumes can get pretty noxious pretty quickly and do the basement first as the chlorine gas from the bleach is heavier than air and the basement will get pretty much uninhabitable if you do the upstairs first

Did you pour it on the floors or user a garden sprayer?

 

[timd354]

Did you pour it on the floors or user a garden sprayer?

I just poured it right out and used a rubber squegee in a few places (like the ones used to re-coat asphalt driveways) to make sure it covered everywhere. I suppose a garden sprayer would work too, but just dumping it out over the floors seems like it would be quicker to me.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

If it smells so bad usually carpet or floors/baseboards have pee soaked in to them. Apply C 4 condition adjust/for the condition.

If it was truly bad re a health hazard, have a friend report them to animal control.

Please don't call animal control, as the authorities would probably remove and kill the dog(s) once this property is on their radar. Sounds like these folks have cared for this old dog most of its life, and now are trying to cope with incontinence. Easy to put the dog down in theory to solve the problem; but would you euthanize granny who has Alzheimer's and is incontinent? Gotta have a heart for the elderly, as their days are numbered, and though we love them, the incontinence issues are very challenging to cope with. It can all be cleaned up later.
(I currently care for my incontinent 88 y/o mother with advanced Alzheimer's, and have done dog rescue & fostering for years)

 

[timd354]

I currently care for my incontinent 88 y/o mother with advanced Alzheimer's, and have done dog rescue & fostering for years

God bless you

 

[residentialguy]

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.

It also deteriorates some materials horribly.
http://www.ozonesolutions.com/info/ozone-compatible-materials

 

[timd354]

It also deteriorates some materials horribly.
http://www.ozonesolutions.com/info/ozone-compatible-materials

True, but when used on a vacant home for only a couple of days, that is not a big deal

 

[Vermonter]

While I have been in my share of homes that smell from pets, I wonder how other appraisers handle this. I went in a house with 5 dogs and that smelled like dog pee. Owner said one old dog was having trouble and he was confined to kitchen. The whole house smelled and as a dog lover and owner, can not understand how people can live with the overwhelming odor. Recently my 11 year old dog had his first ever accident. I tried everything to get rid of the smell from one small area of carpet but I smelled it everywhere in my house. How do you handle a house where 5 dogs live and smells so bad. Could be from one area but who knows.

Impacts the condition rating.

I did an inspection for a refi in one of the worst condition houses I've ever been in last year (posted about it somewhere on AF). Pet odor was extreme from the multiple dogs and cats in the house, but only one of many issues. House was a solid C6 aside from new vinyl siding. Client cancelled after I forwarded some pics.

Fast forward to this summer and now it's an REO. Same client sent me back for the purchase assignment. Same condition, however junked out and had been vacant for 6 months. While it still smelled like an old musty house, I was surprised the pet odor was completely gone. It was even a warm rainy day which is usually when those underlying smells resurface. So I'm not so sure how permanent pet odors are.

Cigarette smoke is a whole nother story.