One of our most popular posts is a plea for help I wrote during a humid week two summers ago, when our hardwood floors started seeping cat urine. You can read the full post here. It seems that many, many people have similar problems in their own homes and are googling awfully hard to find the answers.
I wrote a few updates within the post, detailing the various chemicals and techniques we tried in an effort to get rid of the smell. When we finally got around to refinishing the floors and varnishing them, the smell finally disappeared completely – but if you’re not planning drastic measures like that, our latest commentor, Phil, might have the answer: hire professional cleaners, the type that know how to take out really nasty smells – like rotting corpse!
We never thought to hire pros. Not sure why… it probably would have been cheaper than the piles of worthless chemical treatments we bought if you added them all up.
Phil wrote:
I bought a house that was used as a rental…..the tenants had 5 BIG dogs that, after they were evicted, were allowed to stay in the house , only being fed & given water maybe twice a week….when they finally left & took their poor dogs , I had the biggest mess I’ve ever seen on my hands…..I pulled up all the carpets , but the urine had gotten into the pine plank subfloor……I tried everything to get it out until I found a local company that does restoration work that guaranteed me they could get the smell out , never to return again ( unless I let a dog pee in there again )……they used the same method on my house that they use when cleaning up after a human corpse had been in a house for a long time………they put their guarantee in writing. & I was told nobody has ever in 20 yrs. called & said the smell came back……….they’ve done the work for $480 + tax……..
Had to share this idea, since so many people are looking for the magic bullet. Thanks, Phil!
On a related note, we’ve had our beautiful oriental rug for almost a week now and neither dog has defiled it. Could they know they’ll be locked in the basement if I see them even scoot across it?
(A note for all the animal lovers of the blogosphere who may feel the need to report me for animal cruelty – I am kidding. I don’t lock my dogs in basements. Often. The sweaters and christmas outfits, however, could be considered torture.)
Comments, Thoughts, and Feedback
FYI, we’re big fans of Oriental rugs (I grew up in a house full of them) and they’re the best rugs we’ve ever had as far as not retaining pet-related funk. Our cats have puked and pooped on them more times than I can remember, and the mess just cleans right up. I don’t know what urine might do, but everything else rinses off with plain old water.
I wonder if those smell-removing guys would also be able to get the STAINS out of the floors. That’s the problem we have. No smells, just dark blotches. Sanding did nothing to them, and staining the floors with a dark stain just left us with even darker blotches. *Sigh* At least the floors look like they’ve been around forever ;)
We love to hear from you, dear readers.