Cat ****. Smell. Ugh. Fix?

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Everything Offends Me
My wife has like 50 cats. One of them went through a phase where she peed in the corner of our walk in closet.

We are trying to sell the house but the closet smells like hot death. We have used enzyme cleaners, a bunch of home made solutions, and I tore up the carpet and pained the subfloor with kilz. All with no effect.

How do I get the smell out? No one is going to buy the house with that smell in there.
 
Cat **** is like cigarette smoke. It’s nearly impossible to completely eliminate.

If the new carpet and paint didn’t do it, than I dunno what else to tell you. Ammonia is a sickening smell.
 
A local vet might have an idea, but if it’s permeated the subfloor or drywall it could be tough to remove.
 
To be clear, we don’t really have 50 cats, just 3. 4 more than we should have (yep, we should have a dead cat somewhere just to make it negative)
 
Yes, if it's in the drywall, or anything else, you have to remove it pretty much. Just flipped a house this summer that had this problem.
All baseboards in that area, flooring, etc., were removed.
Pulled up old linoleum, scraped the concrete with razor scrapers, scrubbed clean with cleaner...then rubbed baking soda into the concrete and let it set for a few weeks while we did other things. Then vacuumed/mopped...febreeze, dry, baking soda, new floor over the top.
Worked for me.

I have seen one person seal over the concrete with a clear sealer. Not sure if it helped long term but it did help right off.
 
There is a special sealant for wood subfloors to seal in pee smell, its shellac based.
 
If it was a male cat, it’s probably in the drywall (they spray like a drunk ****ing on a car door handle). You could try painting the closet walls with the smell killer paint too, short of replacing the drywall.
 
Next thing I’m going to try is to douse the entire room in white vinegar and paint the walls.

Any idea how long the vinegar smell will stick around?
 
If it was a male cat, it’s probably in the drywall (they spray like a drunk ****ing on a car door handle). You could try painting the closet walls with the smell killer paint too, short of replacing the drywall.
Never ever blame the wife's cat, that is if you plan on keeping the wife.

When it is decided to keep the wife, soak the entire area with clear lamp oil toss in the match. go on vacation and wait for the insurance check.
 
Bite the bullet, cut out the ****ed on sections and be done with it, won't take much longer than screwing around with stuff that won't work. I'm willing to bet it's more than one spot though.
 
Vinegar is suppose to neutralize it, I think the trick is finding the spots more than it is effective cleaning methods.
 
I also don’t know for sure where the pee was. I know one area but the smell is so strong it can’t just be there
 
I believe using a "black light" will show the pee spots. Keep the cats. They can do no wrong.
 
I believe using a "black light" will show the pee spots. Keep the cats. They can do no wrong.

This. You are probably missing other spots and that's why the smell is still strong.
 
I have a slightly damp basement. I run a humidifier down there all the time yet there is a slight damp odor. A friend suggested I get an ozone generator to cure the smell. I did. It worked. I got one way, way bigger than I needed. I ran it for one hour in my 1500 sq ft basement and now two weeks later it still smells fresh and clean. Here's the one I got, you can probably go smaller. Don't over do it either. I've also heard stories of excess ozone causing other bad smells. Just a little is all you need.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M7VOSH1/
 
Never ever blame the wife's cat, that is if you plan on keeping the wife.

When it is decided to keep the wife, soak the entire area with clear lamp oil toss in the match. go on vacation and wait for the insurance check.

I didn't know Henning moved on to home sales...
 
After all the time and money you’ve spent already you could have cut the drywall, subfloor and baseboards in that closet which is the only hope you have of getting rid of the smell... also remember that it likely seeped into the studs and bottom plate (2x4).which also might be the reason you have been unsuccessful so far. You can be sure that cat has sprayed there many, many times so assume everything is soaked in pee.
 
My last neighborhood had a feral cat problem. I trapped a dozen cats for Animal Control in a period of about 8 months and still had cats everywhere. At least one of the idiots across the street was broadcast feeding them in the front yard, until an Animal Control officer threatened them with animal cruelty charges. Then the feedings moved to their back yard.

One of these little *******s sprayed my front door when the glass storm door was propped open. This meant that when you closed the storm door, at certain times of the day, the sun would heat that pocket of space up to about 130 degrees. You can imagine how that smell hit when you opened the door. Nice.

I scrubbed that door several times with various detergents of increasing strength without success. I solved the problem by moving.
 
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Next thing I’m going to try is to douse the entire room in white vinegar and paint the walls.

Any idea how long the vinegar smell will stick around?
Use wintergreen oil from your pharmacist. That's what they used on wooden cargo floors after flying KIA's in Vietnam. I diluted it in water and sprayed with an airless sprayer where mice had peed in my basement.
 
You need to remove all the removable material you can (carpet, padding, etc...). Make sure you keep all the cats away from the area while you use Nature's Miracle. We follow that (once dry) with Clorine Bleach and then Kilz.
 
Repeated soaking and scrubbing with a mix of cold water, peroxide, baking soda, and citrus Pinesol picked up with a wet vac.
 
I'd try OxiClean. It works for everything else, so why not that?

Rich
 
I stilled beer in the carpet and the house now smells like a dive bar. Now what? ;) ;)
 
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