Turning over a rental for the 1st time in 6 years - pet odor

[Megan Moody]

hi BP community - Happy new year! My husband I became accidental landlords 6+ years ago when we moved to a single family home and rented out the townhouse we had outgrown. We've been blessed to have no vacancy over the 6 years, steady rental income, however, we made the mistake (as many do) of not checking on the property and as a result the tenant must have acquired a cat that used multiple parts of the home as a litter box. 

Ughhh - we're replacing carpet and painting. Kilz has been a god-send for sealing in (or out, I  guess) pet urine odor on baseboards and subfloors under the carpet we removed (disgusting)...wondering if anyone else has proven remedies for getting pet odor out, particularly in stairwells (formerly carpeted). We've taken care of 90% of the odors with the steps I mentioned above but I still get a whiff every now and then and am hoping to get the property re-rented in the next 30 days.

Many thanks~

Megan

[Kyle Campbell]

I've rolled kilz complete oil base over subfloor before laying new carpet or laminate. It works well enough. A lot more cost effective than taking up and relaying the subfloor.

[Paul Camuto]

Megan you didn't make any mistakes. This is part of the game. Just a pet odor. No big deal. By you checking the place there would have been nothing you could have done. You had the place rented for 6 years no turnover. That is awesome. Now you are ready for your next place. Build off that success.

[Ashley Childers]

Definitely agree with Kyle, get something down on the subfloor (hopefully the new carpet isn't installed yet). Kilz is good, even a deck sealer or just paint will help. The excretions have seeped through the carpet and into the subfloor, and you will be plagued by that 'faint' odor for the long term if it isn't dealt with now (I learned the hard way). Good luck!

[Gail K.]

You've done all the right things.

Consider scoe-10x.  We've had very good luck with this product for both dog and cat urine odors (and I do cat rescue).  If directions are followed carefully it has worked well for us.  Do a "google" search on this product.

Gail

[Megan Moody]

Thank you all so much. You’ve made me feel a ton better. I was down at the house for two hours today cleaning baseboards, doing a light sand, and spraying Kilz on them. New carpet is not in yet and I’ve been holding off the carpet installer because I wanted to be sure the subfloors were completely addressed. 

Good to know I can just get a gallon of kilz and roll it on the subfloor and hopefully that will take care of the rest of the odor.  I wasn’t sure I could be used in that manner  and the subfloors are still in fine shape just stinky. Thank you all. And if that doesn’t work I will look into the SCOE 10x. 

 And last – yes – once this is done I definitely want to pick up another rental. After dealing with this pet odor stuff I feel like I can conquer anything! 

[Rob Wilcox]

Have you tried renting or buying an ozone generator? We have a rental that had a long-time smoker and after much research we bought the generator and it worked well. This is a hotel and car detailing trick. Odor Free has a good one that we got through amazon. We bought the commercial version.

Good luck!

[Anna M.]

@Megan Moody, I regret having allowed tenants with a cat to rent out the basement unit.  Funny when I did inspections, I never caught wind of the smell, but who knows, they may have been spraying some pet de-odorizer (sp) or stuff before I got there.  When doing unit inspections, there was no mistaking this smell and I have since been cautious about allowing pets.  I love pets and I know I am cutting out a huge demographic, but I think I just first need to get over this cat pee thing which the carpet was professionally cleaned but you can still detect that odor.  I have tried vinegar and looking to do another professional carpet cleaning and if that does not do it, then just have to replace.

[Carolyn Trepper]

I am a HUGE fan of SCOE10x.    But I believe that you'd need to do it before sealing the floor with the KILZ.   There is NO pet condition that I can't cure with the SCOE10x.     Good luck.   

[Robert Naini]

We've used Odoban disinfectant to help with pet odors in the past

[Jim S.]

I had the same problem this spring. 2 coats of Kilz and it still had a faint odor. My carpet guy suggested carpet padding called Pet Mate, IIRC. It has a plastic backing that helps prevent future accidents from soaking into the carpet padding. It also helps keep the odor under the carpet. The odor is gone. A sheet a plastic might do the same and an inexpensive test run before the carpet goes down. Maybe put up a sheet of plastic to isolate the rooms to help figure out where the odor is coming from??? Good luck.

[Megan Moody]

Originally posted by @Jim S.:

I had the same problem this spring. 2 coats of Kilz and it still had a faint odor. My carpet guy suggested carpet padding called Pet Mate, IIRC. It has a plastic backing that helps prevent future accidents from soaking into the carpet padding. It also helps keep the odor under the carpet. The odor is gone. A sheet a plastic might do the same and an inexpensive test run before the carpet goes down. Maybe put up a sheet of plastic to isolate the rooms to help figure out where the odor is coming from??? Good luck.

 Thank you! We’re going to work on the kilz on the subfloor tonight but if that doesn’t work we will try to isolate the smell. Great feedback… And if all else fails will look at the plastic backing. You guys have been great with input. And I truly appreciate it.

[Michael Noto]

@Megan Moody Don't get down on yourself. To have a place rented for 6 years and for this to be your biggest issue is a win in my mind. 

Repainting, replacing any carpet, and using the Kilz like you outlined should take care of most of the smell. If people mention the smell during showings then I would take more in depth measures. Get the place up for rent and take it from there.

[Joe Splitrock]

@Megan Moody cat urine is the worst. I had a similar situation recently. We did Killz and all new carpet / paint. I also purchased and ozone machine from Amazon and ran it multiple times. It cost me less than $100. I ran the machine, then opened the windows and aired the place out. Then ran the machine again. I did that several times and it kept getting fresher.

My advice is work on fixing the smell before you spend any time showing the property. 

[Jim Shonts]

I have used OdorXit. It is a concentrate that goes a long way. It worked really well through a small spray pump that you would use in your garden. It got rid of pet odor that soaked into hardwoods for me.  It has been years since I bought it and only had to use it that one time.  I just walked into one unit the other day and well being in Colorado, the "green" smell is pretty strong in a unit, so I will probably be using it again this summer!!!

[Maryanne Flynn]

I have had great luck getting bad smells out by using a product called Anti-Icky Poo by Mister Max. Now I know that sounds like a fake commercial from Saturday Night Live, but you can get it on Amazon and it works *wonders* with cat urine and other odors.  On your floors, I suggest spraying it and letting it set.

Good luck!

[Thomas S.]

Killz works well but you must get to all contaminated surfaces. The urine will be behind the baseboards and soaked into the dry wall. You will not get rid of the oder 100% and I would advice trying the ozone machine.