How do you convince a cat lady that her apartment stinks horribly

Question

I just bought this building last month. My twenty something year old tenant had 2 unapproved cats and her apartment smelled horrible. I sent her a letter to get rid of the cats. She decided to give her notice and move out. She and her mother "steam cleaned" the carpets, thinking that would get out cat pee! She's convinced that they're clean and fresh. All I smell is cat yuk. I even asked the neighbor to come and do a sniff test. I'm planning on keeping her $300 deposit for cleaning and probably new flooring. How do I convince her of just how bad it is? I'm going to use Odoban in my shampooer and see if I can get it out. Also thinking about rolling up carpet, kilzing the floor, and then laying the carpet back down. It's nice carpet and I think the floor under it is going to be the problem.

Bryan Reid · Answer

Fortunately, you really don't have to convince her of anything.  Just follow whatever your locale's rules are for keeping the deposit.

If you're concerned she might sue, it would be prudent to have a few other people do a 'sniff test' so you have a couple witnesses in small claims court that you're not making it up.

But it's unlikely anyone would sue for $300 anyways...

Unfortunately, that $300 likely won't he enough to cover your damages.  Cat stink can be hard to get out.  Carpet is likely history.  I've even seen it where subfloors stank even after carpet was gone.

Account Closed · Answer

I would send a certified letter (usually has to be done within a certain amount of time (two weeks) depending on state statute) explaining why you are keeping the deposit, provided landlord tenant laws allow for it. Some states utilize separate language for pets and pet deposits.

It took me a month to get the smell out of one of my purchases. All the carpet had to go because, of course it had gotten into the padding.

It isn't that she is insensitive, she actually and really can't smell it. My brother is the same way as she and yet I have extra sensory smell. I can detect smells most people just don't notice.

Use an Ultraviolet light in the dark and animal pee will glow. I think I bought mine at Best Buy. There was pee on the window sills and on the walls. I ended up repainting to reduce the smell. Home Depot carries a couple of good products for that problem too.

Max T. · Answer

No doubt about it! That carpet is ruined. No way you can re use it. If the flooring underneath stinks, how do you think the stink got there?

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

I had a friend refer a seller to me to list his home for sale.  The stench of cat pee hit me like a sledge hammer the second I opened the door.  I can't shake the memory of that ammonia smell...

There was no convincing him.  As Account Closed said, he couldn't even smell it.  He was completely nose-blind.

I tried to run a couple of open houses.  Watching people walk in, take two steps, spin right around and walk out the door was almost comical.

I talked to ServePro and Service Master about treating for the smell.  They both said they had no solution and that the seller would probably have to replace the hardwood floors and possibly the sub floors too.

Thomas S. · Answer

I would throw out the carpet to begin, there is absolutely no way to get rid of the smell in it. Remove and replace the base boards in effected rooms, do a ozone treatment, seal the subfloor with kilz and install new flooring. You may also need to remove the lower portion of drywall to insure you get rid of all the urine. Your ultra violet inspection will show you what to remove. Do not try to seal in the oder on anything that can be removed.

It is to late now but you should have built the cost into your purchase offer.

Deanna McCormick · Answer

You don't convince the tenant, she had unauthorized cats, and the cat pet caused the damages, are her expense,  You will never get the cat pee odor out, you may even have to get the sheetrock replaced about 2 feet up from the floors if the cat spray was that bad.

after the sub floor is up, I would use Kilz and paint the joists before putting down new subfloor. and use kilz as primer before you do any painting.

We flipped a cat pee house, had to remove the subfloors, and sheetrock for 2 feet from floor, the base molding, and door frames and doors the wood was so permeated with cat spray it was not an option to save.. we kilzed the entire area with this primer before painting..

Unfortunate you purchased the building with the unit in this pre condition and basically have very little recourse for prior damages to your possession so move on and get it fixed. Trying to prove this damage happened in just the short period of time you have owned the building is not going to be worth your trouble.

Melissa McGuire · Answer

back in my youth I ran a cleaning service called cobwebs to carpets, as the name implied we specialized in cleaning cobwebs off vaulted ceilings ( with pop corn ceiling) and high traffic areas or whole house carpet cleaning.  I got really good at cleaning carpets, there a trade secret that should have made me rich but alias it didn't.  Here it is get the hottest water you can get and add 2 large scoops of all fabric bleach and KOSHER SALF, SEA SALT, OR THE KIND OF SALT YOU PUT IN A WATER SOFTNER a couple of heaping scoops.  Then with your black light look and see if you can find any left over of the offeneding offering.  The bleach will sanitize any left overs and the salt stop the suds from previous cleaning from coming up.  It's those suds that make a new cleaned carpet look dirty only weeks after cleaning.  What concerns me is the padding, you may think about removing and replacing the padding otherwise it could turn out to be the gift that keeps on giving.  As for the 300.00 if it were me I would take a small piece of carpet and or padding in a zip lock baggy and keep it to bring to court as exhibit A ( after all 300.00 dollars buy a lot of kitty litter or one of those fancy kitty boxes that cleans itself!!!)  Best of luck to you.  As for the smoker use the same cleaning solution on the carpets wash the walls down with tsp you may have to replace the curtains but that smell is easier to get out than what you've been dealing with.  Puuuurrrrffffficctttt sorry I couldn't help myself

Jennifer Rysdam · Answer

I shampooed the carpets twice with 1/2 water and 1/2 Odoban. Now it just smells like Odoban. I'm going to rinse them a couple of times and see how it smells. Then I can decide what the next step is. I'm really hoping it turns out ok. I'm thinking most of the smell was from the cat box that was WAY too full of litter and not cleaned out. Lots of ammonia from the pee in the bottom that she couldn't reach because it was so full of litter. Crossing my fingers.

My next unit is someone who has been living there and smoking in it for 25 years. Fun times! :)

LuAnn Vigen · Answer

I also had a cat hoard issue. I learned that any water based product will reactivate the cat urine. Make sure your Kilz is lacquer base. The only good cat removal product is called UPS, I found it at a janitorial cleaning company. Don't waste your time on any products from pet stores, they don't work for situation like this. I tried the ozone treatment and didn't notice any improvement, but my house was a giant litter box, so maybe it works, if it is not as severe as this. I tried the black light, but the house was so dirty just about everything glowed. Even had spots on the ceiling, so I don't think that was cat urine. Just moving out a tenant with two unapproved cats, they shredded the carpets, I asked her about it and she said she didn't have the heart to declaw them. I agree she doesn't have a heart or she wouldn't have let them shred my carpet either :)

Gil Pang · Answer

Send her some Frebreeze

How do you convince a cat lady that her apartment stinks horribly

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