Cat urine odor under hardwood floors

[Ethan Ross]

I have a rented apartment with hardwood floors. The previous owner had cats and there is a strong urine odor coming through the floors by the kitchen.

The tenant has tried applying a number of different deodorizes but all make the odor worse.

Is there anyways to eliminate or mask the odor without removing the hardwood floors?

Is it common for the tenant to ask for reimbursement for supplies they purchased due to the odor, or a discount off the rent due to the odor not being treatable?

[Christian Nachtrieb]

I had to deal with cat smells in my last BRRRR. We did what @Ryan Ingram suggested and ran an Ozone machine for a few days, in conjunction with scrubbing the ever-loving-you-know-what out of the floors with an enzyme based cleaner that's made for urine smells. You have to soak it. Like dump it on the floors, let it absorb in the wood, and then we covered the floor with a plastic drop cloth to keep it from drying out.

If that doesn't work, you may need to sand the floors.