Removing cat urine smell from floor boards?

[bella_again]

Hi all,

Previous owners of my house had pets that urinated all over unsealed floor boards in my bedroom (yuck!) I managed to get rid of most of the smell except when its damp it all comes back.  Now my cat has taken to urinating on the carpet which has soaked through to the floor boards. Short of ripping them up which is becoming more and more tempting, does anyone have ideas on what I could try?

So far I have tried bleach, washing powder, bicarb and vinegar, using citronella after to stop puss going back there but its to no avail.  It stinks.  I am considering ripping up the carpet completely and painting the boards with enamel then placing more flooring on top (rug). The only other option is Urine off but going by the reviews its not always successful and a lot to fork out to find out it won't work.

Any ideas are appreciated 🙂

[fourandsixpants]

hi bella:)

Eesh arumba!.......I like the idea of vinegar then an enzyme cleaner as per link above with suggestions of how to clean urine affected wooden floor boards.

Your floorboard varnish maybe (?) is old and crazed and cracked and maybe lifted in parts so any urine would have soaked into wood in some parts and is trapped under varnished areas. Underneath boards on reverse/underside of boards would definitely be 'stinky' and unless you completely saturate boards through when 'rinsing' you are going to keep getting the urine smell.

Before taking on the job of fully sanding the boards back I would try following:

White vinegar is cheap and has neutralizing effect. Depending on the area we are talking about I would buy 8 litres of it. Supermarket brand does come in 2 litre plastic bottles (you'd need 4 bottles x 2 L).

Enzyme cleaner I suggest supermarket equivalent of Napisan or Napisan. Large tub of it

To prepare area/boards for maximum saturation/absorbtion I would pre-dampened/soak the wooden floor boards initially with a solution of water and detergent-from say 2 buckets using a plastic jug to gently pour/slosh over the area .

After half an hour I would pour 4 litres of vinegar over the whole area and repeat an hour later, using a further 2 litres (leaving 2 litres).

After a couple of hours and boards are just damp I would dampen area progressively as you work across boards using remaining 2 litres of vinegar. Sprinkle the enzyme/napisan into the vinegar, use a scrubbing brush to work everything into a paste and gently scrub. Leave to dry for a day or so. Wipe boards with a vingar dampened cloth to remove any residues.

If this helps but smell not completely gone I would repeat process.

IMO I do not believe that just sanding the boards will get rid of the recurring urine smell from the underside of floor boards.

Good Luck!!

[bella_again]

Thankyou Paints 🙂 will def give it a go.  OH is going to look under the house and do the sniff test (I imagine there would be some visual evidence as well) but I fully suspect you are right.  The boards are unsealed and there are gaps so its likely to have gone right through. When I moved in I cleaned it and put carpet over the top as we didn't at the time have the resources to do a great deal more.  However because my cat started urinating that has reignited the smell as you can imagine and created another issue!

 I need to completely treat the boards before considering any other course of action. I should imagine the boards even if sanded would be quite discoloured all the way through. But I am tempted to seal before even putting any other kind of material cement sheeting/paricle board  or other wise over the top.

Anyhow it is a job for tomorrow now, will let you know how it goes 🙂

[b3llag1na]

When we bought this house the previous tenant' s cat had repeatedly peed on the carpet in the dining area. We riped up the carpet and where trying to wash the smell off the cement slab but nothing seemed to work - and we needed the smell gone before moving our own cat in or she would have started in the same spot.

Next door neighbour (a brickie) was bricking up the hole where we had removed an old oil heater right next to the spot, and told us to use the hydrochloric acid wash (for cleaning the bricks) on the cement as well.

When I poured it on it fixed up like crazy! I mopped it with old rags and let it dry, then repeated it (much less fizz this time). 

No smell!

I don't know if you can use acid on the wooden floor boards, but it definitely works on cement slabs.

[fourandsixpants]

If you applied hydrochloric acid to wooden floorboards you would definitely have to sand them back afterwards to make them smooth again as the acid will 'feather' up the wood.

I would not recommend using hydrochloric acid on wood. 

[bluecat*dancing]

I am using a Feliway diffuser and a spray called Wee Off. Feliway is a synthetic version of feline facial pheromones that tells the cat that is well in their world. The WeeOff masks the smell and leaves an odour, that humans can't smell but cats can, that stops the cat from wanting to pee there again.

[***super_nova***]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

I recommend Nilodor from the supermarket or the chemist....it is magic for removing all smells.

Just dont put it directly on the floorboards as it will leave an oily stain that is almost impossible to remove.

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To me "Nilodor" smells as bad as the pee.  It is sickly sweet and I can still smell the urine through it - friend uses it in her kennels. 

Both vinegar and chlorine = bleach kill the bacteria that cause the smell.  That is why hydrochloric acid would also work , but it is bit of an overkill.  But good strong bleach, such as "Domestic" allowed to soak in should do the trick.

Just do not breath the fumes, they are very bad for your respiratory system, so open all windows and go out for a while.  On hot day, preferably with the sun coming into the room, the chlorine will neutralise quite fast. 

[bright.ton42]

And I think if bleach is being used it shouldn't be mxed with any other product?   So it says on the label, it can be dangerous.

[bella_again]

Wow thank you so much for all the responses!! I have cleaned the area as suggested and put bicarb on it overnight.  It seems to have lifted the smell,  I am now ripping up all the carpet completely.  Will clean again and probably enamel them as a sealant before putting cement sheeting and possibly tiling.  Not sure yet.  I have to do some more research.

Wish me luck lol 🙂

[***super_nova***]

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@bright.ton42 wrote:

And I think if bleach is being used it shouldn't be mixed with any other product?   So it says on the label, it can be dangerous.

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No, it should not be mixed, but once the floor dries it is not mixing.  The chlorine is volatile and reacts with air and then once floor is dry it is OK to use other products.  However the bleach is alkaline and vinegar is acid, and they would neutralise each other.  There is no danger mixing them, but there is also no point, I did not mean to suggest they should be both used in the same time.   However, I would make sure that the wood is very dry before painting and/or covering it with cement sheeting; you do not want it to rot.

[bella_again]

Well I have pulled the carpet up, its smell from before as well as the cat.  But heres the thing I found a pile of used air gun pellets in the corner.  I am wondering what the hell went on in this room precious to us being here.  A lot of the smell is from old urine which is either from a large pet or person.

Any way now the room is clear, off to clean the entire floor.  I did the cat affected section yesterday but after removing all the carpet the whole room needs doing.. *sigh*  What a nightmare!