Intense odor from pets, grease, and who knows what else... Best way to remedy situation?

Question

Thanks for reading my first post.

We are in the process of rehabbing a 2-unit house that is over 100 years old. The tenant that most recently lived in the first floor apartment was a bona fide hoarder. He had a little dog that would relieve himself in the house, and the kitchen looked like a dozen science projects gone horribly wrong.

The stench in the house is truly intense. I have looked through various posts and articles and seen some good suggestions, but I wanted to get some more specific advice. The main sources of the smell seem to be the dog's droppings, as well as a serious buildup of grease on the tile floor of the kitchen. We've already ripped out carpet, but now we're wondering what cleaning and sealing products to use.

Any ideas for:
-Cleaning thick grease off a tile floor
-Removing smells from floor, walls, ceiling
-Sealing agent to be used prior to painting or to be mixed with paint
-Any other general advice for getting stink out of an old house

Thanks for your advice!

Sam W. · Answer

Daniel E

Welcome to BP!  Looks like you've got your work cut out for you.

As a veteran of a few stinky rehabs, without a doubt I'm a huge fan of Zinnser's B-I-N shellac based sealer/primer to seal floors, walls and ceilings.  It has worked very well for me and has solved some pretty bad odor problems for me.  You apply it before you paint.  Roll it on with a roller.  I buy it in the 5 gal buckets (about $180 at HD).

For grease, I like "Greased Lightning".  I get it at Family Dollar or Dollar General, but you can probably get it other places too.   Works well for smaller areas.  For big areas (floors, etc), I'd go with TSP.  Harsher but works.  I use it on greasy kitchen cabinets before repainting.

Probably lots of other tips and favorites by other BP'ers as well.

Account Closed · Answer

I've never seen the single pet accident scenario. Or even where damage is limited to just one area.  I imagine in carpet cleaning you get those calls from people trying fix what was truly a one time event.  I've yet to see a house like that.  If there is pet damage, there has always been a lot of it.

Chad Ballard · Answer

I used to clean carpet professionally and there are ways to treat pet damage however we always made a pretty penny on those treatments cause they are not cheap and a pain.  It quickly becomes a very expensive job and the vast majority of the time it is better just to replace the carpet.  If there was a spot in the corner then yeah there are treatments.  Most times when you buy a hoarder/pet problem house at a discount you are not so lucky.

Ryan M. · Answer

X2 on the shellac, however if you are using it be sure to wear the correct mask and keep it well ventilated.

Ben Skove · Answer

Pet damage is no fun. My last rehab was one in which the dogs were kept inside the majority of the time.

I'm overly aggressive when dealing with it - washing, soaking with an enzymatic cleaner, then priming as needed. Zinnser is good, and I've also had good results with the oil-based Kilz.

Max is right about Bac-A-Zap...I did use it way back when I ran EMS. One tip from EMS when you're dealing with odors that nearly drive you out of the house, and you don't want to use a respirator: a dab of vicks vapor rub under your dust mask.

David Niles · Answer

Agree with Sam W on the Greased Lightning, you can buy it by the 5 gallon at Lowes.  Works great.

As far as porous surfaces like wood etc, Kilz Oil seals up the worst of the worst. I had one house full of cats...as in you couldnt walk in the door bad and you couldnt smell a thing when I was finished.

Account Closed · Answer

dUnfortunately the pet smell may be quite stubborn, even after you clean up any obvious feces.  Pet urine goes into wood and concrete and the odor stays there.  Get everything out of the unit, including any carpet and pad and then figure out how much floor damage you have.  Sometimes a concrete pad can be spot treated.  Sometimes you have to cover the floor with stain and odor blocking primer.  In the case of a wood floor, it can sometimes be damage past the subfloor into the joists.  If it's minimal damage, say spots where the varnish is damaged, sanding and refinishing will usually take care of it.  If you see lots of black stains (urine in wood goes dark over time), no amount of organic or enzyme products can get to the all places the urine is.

Do not believe anyone that says that carpet with pet damage can be saved.  It's always people with pets who say that, the ones who are living with some pet odor, however minimal.  That being said, there are tenants with pets who will be happy to live with pre-damaged carpets.

Pet damage can be a real deal breaker.  Do not underestimate the cost of replacing and repairing the damage, especially in a re-sale property.

Max Williams · Answer

Hello,

Bac-A-Zap is a great product that works great on organic odor causing substances (like poo.) It is popular with professionals in EMS, professional cleaning and pest control.  It is sold through Amazon in several sizes and here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_home-garden?_encoding=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=Nisus&node=1055398

Best Wishes for the smell of CLEAN!

Matt Devincenzo · Answer

Welcome to BP Daniel,

I haven't dealt with those smells, but my first rehab was a smoker that had live in the prop for 14 years, the white melamine cabinets are now a beautiful uniform beige color haha.

To clean the grease off I would look for something called "purple power" or "greased lightning". It's sold at auto places and I think Wally world as a shop cleaner and engine degreaser. I used it in that house diluted with some water. I just adjusted the strength depending on the level of grime I was cleaning.

http://www.clean-rite.com/purplepower_industrial_strength_cleaner_degreaser.html

For the tile I would consider ripping it out and replacing, or at least removing the grout and regrouting. The reason is because everything seems to soak into and be absorbed by the grout so the smell keeps coming back. If you do that then same thing the PP to remove the grease and then regrout if you decide to go that route.

There are a couple links below about smoke odor that mentions the primer to use to seal the odors. It's better than Kilz and I wish I had known about it when I did mine.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/78889-smoker-rehab-keys-to-success-with-tobacco-smoke--before-after-pics

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/11/05/getting-rid-tough-odors/

I know for pet odors there are some enzyme neutralizers, you may want to get some for the sub floor under the carpet areas help with that.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/74253-cat-pee-in-concrete

The biggest cheap first step is to just literally wash everything down. I left the carpet in and started by scraping the popcorn ceiling, then use a rag and washed the walls from top down and let the grime run down to get soaked up by the carpet before tossing it. After that I washed down the walls wil clean water prior to painting.

It really is amazing how persistent the smells can be. Again welcome to BP.

Bryan H. · Answer

Fun rehabbing a stink hole, isnt it?

My first rehab was vacant for 5 years before I purchased it. Animals got into the attic and made it their home. There were piles of feces and the urine smell was awful.

First - remove the source and anything contaminated by the animals.

Any type of degreaser should be fine for cleaning the kitchen floor. HD sells a bunch

A good primer to cover all the walls and ceiling should do the trick.  They sell an additive to help eliminate odors, not sure it works but I dont recall it being expensive. You just add it to the primer before application.

One product that worked wonders for me was 'Big D - Odor Control Fogger'. They are like bug bombs but for odors. Gets into places you cant reach. I put a couple in the attic, and a few throughout the home. The home went from stinking to smelling like the product. It took a while for the product smell to go away but when it did, the house didnt stink anymore.

Good luck

Intense odor from pets, grease, and who knows what else... Best way to remedy situation?

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