How to remove smell and bugs from unit?

Question

One of the units I recently closed on is in need of some touch up work.  It is now vacant, but the previous tenants lived there for over a decade and had no concept of personal hygiene.  I don't think they ever bothered cleaning the place during their time living in it.  That said, the carpets are filthy, cockroaches are running rampant, there are probably fleas due to a pet, and I'm concerned about bedbugs.  The place also smells bad.  I plan to do the following:

*Rip out and replace carpets*Cockroach treatment (spray along baseboards)*Fumigation to take care of any other pests*Wash / wipe down the walls*Deep clean by maid service

Do you think this is sufficient to make the place live-able again? Could it be necessary to also re-paint the walls and remove the acoustic ceiling to completely eliminate the smell from the previous tenants?

Marcia Maynard · Answer

Address the pest issue first. Be aware the pests may hitchhike onto your equipment and clothing, so take precautions. Treat professionally or DIY, depending on your interest, time, budget, and capability.

Vacuum the entire unit. Use a heavy duty vac that has disposable bags. When you dispose of the carpet and pad, make sure to do so in a way that prevents harboring pests from infesting another area.

Remove electrical fixtures/appliances and clean/dispose of carefully, as pests may be harboring there.

Give the entire unit a good initial cleaning. Wipe down all hard surfaces surfaces with a disinfectant product. Our favorite is  OdoBan (we buy the concentrate by the gallon at Home Depot). Be sure to  wipe down inside and outside cabinets and closets. OdoBan can also be used on some fabric and as an air freshener.

For the walls and ceiling, wash them down with a mixture of vinegar and water. Follow this by cleaning with TSP (or TSP substitute). Follow this with painting the walls and ceiling and sub-floor (where the carpeting was) with a stain/odor blocker such as Kilz or Zinsser. Put an attractive top coat of paint of the walls and ceiling. This is our method for addressing homes damaged by smoking and/or pets. If dirt and odor and stains are not present, you may be able to skip the TSP and/or the Kilz steps.

Replace or paint the acoustic tile if it is stained and/or has a bad odor.

James DeRoest · Answer

Why is everyone so determined to get a pest guy in? You will have a local seller of pest control products, which is where the pest control guy gets his stuff from.

Buy one of those plastic canisters that you pressurize (can't remember what they are called), some good old Cyper WP or Permethrin, and have at it. Think they have slightly different uses, but they are off the shelf.

And for heavens sake, don't get dragged into the "it needs to be sprayed monthly/quarterly" rubbish. Maybe 2-3 sprayings over a quarter and then it's good for a long time.

To give you some idea, the house I live in was sprayed religiously every month for years. Last time we sprayed it was 7 years ago - roaches still walk in occasionally (it is Florida after all) and are dead in 15 paces.

You can also buy roach bait. Looks like earwax. A tiny drop of that on top of door moldings, doors, inside cabinets, places where you don't ever touch. But be careful with it, if you get it on your hands, you will feel like crap in minutes so wash it off or use disposable gloves. Took out some old plumbing once, got it on my hands, wiped it off, took the rest of the day off, felt like death warmed up.

The key to getting bugs out of the property is ensuring that there are no holes in the house, eg plumbing fixtures, under the toilet, doors have proper sweeps that fills the gaps, electrical covers that cover the drywall, behind dishwasher, and so forth. Sealing up holes goes a long way. Poison does the rest.

Joel Owens · Answer

From what you have said it appears not. For every cockroach you see in the unit there are hundreds to thousands behind the wall. A pest control company is needed to do a treatment. Depending how bad it is you could be looking at 4 to 6 months to knock down the population levels.

I had a unit one time from an inherited tenant that was evicted. The front door opened when we checked the unit and ( not kidding ) a waterfall of roaches came falling down. Pest control came out with bio suits and filmed everything they did for a company video to show training in the future.

It was a unit in a 4 plex. In those cases you have to treat all 4 units connected as the roaches will move to the other units fleeing from the poison.

In addition to what you mentioned you probably need to have the vents cleaned and returns through the whole system.

Account Closed · Answer

Good riddance.  It hurts my head that some people are ok living like that.  I don't think mine is *quite* that bad although it is certainly not livable currently.  They seem to be concentrated in the kitchen, and swarm out of one cabinet in particular when you disturb it.  We set off bug bombs 2 weeks ago and just did again a few days ago.  I'm laying roach traps this week.  Next I'm going to have a pest control company come out this week to inspect and spray, and then fumigation.

Luckily the unit is standalone.  No AC so no vents.

Don Meinke · Answer

Boric acid is what you want for residual roach killer.  You poof it into every crack and crevice you can find.

Another all purpose creepy critter spray for inside OR outside is Tempo SL or SE something like that.  It is made from flowers and sprays smelling just like spraying water.  It is the bees knees for hard to handle pests like spiders.  It is VERY safe to be around.  Its labeled for INSIDE  food processing and restaurants.  (If you have ticks in your lawn before, you wont after  )  A friend sprayed a heavy dose 4 YEARS ago and it still kills some stuff.  It needs a respray now cause I see a few.

Tyler C. · Answer

Patrick...there's some good advice here, but let me offer one more (just in case).  If the smell is really bad and there's a chance of pet urine or other really strong odors, when you paint consider using a shellac (oil-based) primer first, at least on the floors (before re-carpeting) and up part of the walls.

We bought our current home from someone who let their cats "go" wherever they wanted (it was nasty).  We researched everything on removing cat urine smells and the only sure-fire way (other than ripping out everything) was to seal it in.  It wasn't that much of an additional expense, but it ensured all of the odor was gone.

Shannon K. · Answer

I would rip out the carpets first. Have the roaches professionally treated cause then most companies have a clause that re-sprays are free if they don't get them all the first time. Wipe/wash the walls, have the maid service come in...  Like @Donald Howaniec said, if the smell is quite bad, rent an ozonator from Home Depot, set it for a few hours and get out of the house til its done (it can cause respiratory issues with people and animals/wilt plants).

An ozonator machine will produce O3 (ozone) which when plugged in, utilizes electricity to sanitize the air. Normal oxygen (O2) you breathe in your house is transformed into ozone (O3) via the electric current. Ozone is basically "activated oxygen" and because it has a 3rd atom, its now capable of pulling odors and junk from the air. When the ozone (O3) breaks back down into normal oxygen (O2) that we breathe, the extra oxygen atom of O3 leaves with the odorous junk trapping it in the filter of the ozonator machine. It "oxidizes" the pollutants leaving you with fresh O2 to breathe and no smells!

Oh goodness, I guess I did pay attention in organic chemistry class, lol.

Jim Adrian · Answer

If the tenant has been in there in there for 10 yrs, its time for an upgrade. Repaint everything. Make it look fresh and new again.

Charles Clayton · Answer

I advise you, should fully treat your unit with the help of an experienced pest exterminator before performing any other activity like re-painting, washing of your unit. After cockroach extermination and removal of another pest from your unit, you can perform all the pending activities as a pest control activity will leave behind pest traces and used chemicals all over the unit.

How to remove smell and bugs from unit?

Most Popular Reply