All
We are working for a client who bought a very nice 2 bedroom house buildt in the early 60s. His 1st house. He is 26 YO.
Old lady that lived there before this cut a hole in the back door and let cats into the basement.
The basement is pretty oder free(Service Master and paint), but the landing and the door area at the top of the basement stairs is still bad.
Cats did not get into the rest of the house.
We have removed the flooring , underlayment, baseboard, one interior door, jamb, casing and sheetrock/plaster from the landing
We have treated the framing and the subfloor with clorox, hydrogen peroxide and commercial pet odor remover and yet we still have the smell.
Tomorrow I am going to remove a recent exterior door and replace the wood underneath.
Anybody have any good ideas for killing the smell?
Thank you
Rich
Replies
I suspect your heart is in the right place, but your aim is off.
Cat's don't just pee; they also 'spray' to mark territories. The spray is dispersed horizontally, striking as much as 3 ft. off the ground. This is probably what you're smelling.
The spray, like skunk odor, tends to be reduced by peroxide, or ammonia. Probably the best way to degrade it is with sunlight and time - it seems to have a 'half life' of about a week.
FIRST you must start with the cat! I hear Remminton makes a few products that will do this job!
cudavid
I have always had cats.
But I have also seen enough ferral cats to like your idea.
Rich
renosteinke
I think you are right about the spraying.
We have the sheetrock removed up about 20".
Ammonia seems to be the choice in the responses.
Thanks
Rich
I have told this story before but it really works. I bought a house that the tennants were mad at their land lord and they locked their Rottweiler in the house for 3 weeks, stopping by daily to feed and water it. He peed in the same place most of the time. Big, big puddle.
Anyway I mopped up the mess and then slopped a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water over it and let it dry for 3 days. Then rolled 2 coats of Bins Zinseer sealant over the whole floor area. No smell and it has been 7 years and 4 tennants since. No complaints, no issues and I have never smelled #### or poop for that matter since.
We have used that method a number of times in lesser cases since both as a business and personally. Works great every time. DanT
we had a cat get sick right after we bought a brand new mattress.
killing the cat wouldn't have solved the problem ... and we'd spent enough on the mattress to try anything before throwing it out ...
so took it out on the back deck ...
had 2 one gallon bottle of vinegar.
slowly poured one on the top ....
let it soak thru ...
then flipped it and slowly let it soak thru again.
original stain was maybe 6" round ....
new vinegar stain was aound 24" round.
left it out there and flipped it ever day.
about a week later it was dry enough to bring inside.
dumped febreze and everything else on it to get rid of the vinegar smell.
about a week later we could sleep on it.
took a good while for all the salad smell to disappear ... but never once had a hint of cat pee odor.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
You know Buck salad is a ghey term.....kind of the the tea bag area.....NTTAWWT
Dan
Thanks for the story and the advice
Rich
vinegar.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff
Vinegar seems to be the choice.
Thanks
Rich
Polyurethane
Pelipeth
I assume the poly is to seal the surface, just like others have recommended a Kilz type product.
Rich
YUP, Has worked for me on more than one occasion.
Try this link http://www.cozycatfurniture.com/cat_newsletters/catnewsletter10.html
Google cat pee and variations. All kinds of stuff. It is usually a territorial marking and does go horizonal--males especially bad. Might even have to remove gypboard to 3' and replace. If original is 1/2" use 3/8" and shim out to match surfaces at cut joint. Luck Tyr
Fire......
If original is 1/2" use 3/8" and shim out to match surfaces at cut joint.
I know this is off topic, but I'm curious. Why shim out 3/8" when he could just use the same thickness?~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netMeet me at House & Builder!
Tyr
Actually the house has 1/2" dry wall with 1/2" plaster. This was quite common in the early 60's.
I will check out that link. Thanks
Rich
1/2" dry wall with 1/2" plaster.
that half inch plaster sounds like "rock lath".
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff
I guess we don't have a name for it.
Just plaster over sheetrock.
It's more like 7/8" thick (total) because the jamb thickness is 5 1/4"
Rich
"Just plaster over sheetrock."
Looks the same, once in, but the paper is different for rocklath, so the plaster sticks better. It used to come in small sheets, 48"X16", but now it's 4'X8' ("blueboard"), just like DW.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
Mike
Thanks for the education.
I have tore walls out, and you are right, it was small sheets.
I thought 2' x 4' but that was a long time ago.
I didn't know that the paper was different.
No experience with cat pee?? LOL
Rich
No cat Pee experience. But I did see something on one of those fix-it shows that said to use one of the enzyme products another poster mentioned. The show did say you could see where the offending "stains" were with a black light. That might help a bit.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
Mike
Why use a black light when I can crawl around sticking my nose into cat pee infested corners? LOL
Disgusting. What I won't do for a buck.
Rich
"Why use a black light when I can crawl around sticking my nose into cat pee infested corners?"
Hey, cool! Now that I know you have a built-in pee detector, I can toss out my black light then? (Or better yet, install it over my Hendrix shrine!)
;-)Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
You should be cautious about using those black lights. They may reveal things you really don't want to know about. You probably would never be happy with any hotel room again.
sometimes being happy in a hotel room is what leads to those hidden stains ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
There has been a quite bad outbreak of bedbugs in Vancouver which for the most part was confined to the seedy Downtown Eastside. Recently the Medical Health Officer began to get calls from distraught women in more tony districts who couldn't understand how their houses got infected. He suggested they ask their husbands...
is the official fix to spray said husband with vinegar or cat pee?
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I heard divorce lawyers are actually councelling wives to stick with their husbands until the economy improves, because the value of their shared assets is depressed right now.
Talk about cold.
Pet stores sell enzyme sprays formulated to neutralize cat pee. They work.
fingers
I will give that a try if the vinegar does not do the trick.
Vinegar is cheap and very available.
Thanks for the reply
Rich
Since no one else has, allow me to interject some "old skool" BT:
Flamethrower! <g>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Hope vinegar works. No harm trying anyway.
When I was first married I was still in school and things were very tight. The one big wedding present we had received was a duvet for our bed. While we were away one weekend our cat used it several times as a huge convenient litter box. Nothing we tried from dry cleaning to various deodorizers made much difference and we were on the verge of throwing it out until we tried the enzyme, which worked so thoroughly we couldn't detect any residual smells. Psychologically it was still difficult to get under that duvet, but cold nights are cold nights.
fingers
Psychologically it was still difficult to get under that duvet, but cold nights are cold nights
LOL
Rich
Buck has it right on the vinegar. Pour it on, full strength.
I usually use apple cider vinegar.
Absolutely soak the entire area. Let dry, soak again.
Once the vinegar smell dissipates, the cat smell is gone as well.
For clothes, (like that duveh someone mentioned...), lemon fresh ammonia. Put at least as much of that in the wash, as you do, detergent. (use the detergent as well.) No bleach. I usually put in 1 1/2 to 2 times as much ammonia, as detergent.
Never has failed yet, to get even the worst cat smell out of cloth.
I've never tried regular ammonia, so I don't know if it works as well as the lemon fresh stuff.
Luka
Sounds like another vote for vinegar.
Thanks
Rich
Cargin-
I've had excellent results with Anti-Icky-Poo. It's expensive, but when my cat went through some pizzing incidents and the house stunk of cat pizz, this was the only thing that I tried that really worked. It completely nuked the smell, even on old spots that were a month or two old and had been treated with everything else in the book.
Also, cat #### fluoresces under UV light, so you might want to check the area out with a blacklight to see what you're missing.
Z
Just a general caution is in order here ....
Lots of chemicals have been suggested ... vinegar, peroxide, bleach, etc. ... be aware that these things can react with each other, and either make the problem worse - or actually create a dangerous situation.
Bleach, in particular, needs to be applied ALONE.
Cargin,
what fingersandtoes said is correct. Pet stores sell enzyme product that will completely eliminate the smell over the course of a few days.
About $10.00 for a spray bottle. http://www.naturemakesitwork.com/home/index.php
I've used it. It works. Vinegar????? Never tried that, but I suspect it would ultimately smell like the basement of a winery.
WSJ
Nature's Miracle. Enzyme chemically destroys the stink component. Works very well. Cat pee will flourese (sp) under black lite.
This works for skunks and cats both (think there's a resemblance?)- get a bucket, dump in a handful of baking soda, then add a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a couple of drops of dish detergent, then fill the rest with water. I've used this on dogs who chase those black and white cats, and it works really well.
All
We tore out the door in the back entry way on friday, and liberally sprayed and poured vinegar on all surfaces.
We put a fan on it and then doused it again. Before it was all over we put 1 gal of vinegar on the area.
After lunch I thought I would speed things up and heat gun a couple of areas that still needed a little drying. This was in the sun with a fan so it was drying pretty fast.
Then I was going to get some Kilz on it.
One spot in particular smelled worse as I dryed it. By the baseboard
So I tore it up and found what you will see in the pics.
We put a piece of OSB over the opening and today I will get some enezme stuff, because there is no hurry in getting the door back in now.
Thanks to all for the advice.
More pics in the next post.
Rich
View Image
Edited 5/2/2009 11:12 am ET by cargin
all
More pics
Rich
View Image
Cargin
Had the same problem a while back. Old house, and the cats had been there forever. Can't remember the name of the stuff, but it was an enzymatic cleaner that I picked up from a local janitorial supply. Worked pretty well, but whenever the weather got cool and damp the smell came back. Not nearly as bad though.
Might be worth a try.
Alfalfa
I bought some enzyme stuff from the vet today.
Now I just need to find time to swing by today to apply it.
Thanks
Rich
As a land loard I've had the same problem with a tenant keeping 5 cats in one small apartment very personally unkept and feeding all local strays on back stoop.I'll try to convey the severity here quickly, sat empty for 6mo. during littigation, full tyvek suite to littlerlly run in drop bug bombs run out. Undress, resume other work, have heby gebe feelings of grossness just from being in there. (and I've worked waste water treatment plants even.) Scratching and what not, settle my mind, there's nothing there, pull pant leg up to find 5 fleas around my ankles. How she lived there I don't know, flea bits are worse than mosquitoes and last longer. 1st step set a live trap every night outside and called animmal contol to pick up every morning for a 2wks strait.2nd gutted the place.3nd soaked the place top to bottom with a biocide agent from a pump sprayer from a janitorial supply place. Same enzyme type stuff others are talking about but a lot cheaper bought in this form over a "specialty" pet spray at 12oz. a pop and a thousand times stronger. Type I got also used by sanitation departments and crime scene clean up crews. It was explained to me that the enzymes will work better than the vinegar because it doesn't have to come in contact with the source of smell directly. What we smell is food for the enzymes and they will continue to seek it out eating away at the source so if the smells have penetrated flooring, woodwork, framing even, the enzymes remain active doing their job. Friends and I joked about going back in a couple weeks latter and finding giant human sized blob amoebas roaming the place we'd have to get rid of next, because they'd had so much nutrition to draw from.
nc
I am sorry for the bad tenant.
I am a landlord too.
Thanks for the input.
We sprayed the place today with enzyme spray from the vet.
Rich
nc and All
We sprayed the area with the enzyme over the weekend.
Came back on Monday and painted kilz on affected area. Rebuild the floor, and installed the door.
I couldn't smell the cat pee any more.
They are running a big ozone machine in there on purify so the ozone smell is pretty strong.
The owners mother came in the door at 5:30 and she thought she caught just a wiff of cat odor as she went thru the door but not after she was in. I think she smelled the ozone.
Anyway I think the enzyme worked. And getting rid of most of the wood that was cat treated.
I took some garbage to the dump truck today, and the minute I opened the gate I could smell that cat treated wood that we had thrown in there.
Project successful. Thank you all.
Rich
Glad it worked. What was the name of the stuff you used?
alfalfa
View Image
http://www.urineoff.com/Cats.php
Rich
wow, no doubt about it's use...
get rid of the cat...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
IMERC
Customer's house.
He just bought it from estate of crazy cat lady.
This is not a joke. LOL
Rich
someday i'll get it straight....
ROAR!!!!!!
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Anybody have any good ideas for killing the smell
I was going to tell you about putting the cats in a burlap bag and throwing the bag in the pond, but I see that isn't the help you are after!>G<