help me deodorize the sub-floor

[minniecarousel]

So the carpet and padding has been removed from the "Cat's Room". There is now bare wood sub-flooring. We're assuming that the cat's pee soaked through to this wood. Before they put in the new padding & carpet tomorrow, I need to use bleach and baking soda to neutralize the floor. We want to make sure that the smell is gone. (the cats won't be allowed in this room from now on.)

Anyone have any idea how to apply the bleach & baking soda? One guy suggested making a paste, then when it dries, just vacuum it up. How would I apply both? Sprinkle the baking soda, then spray diluted bleach? It has to dry overnight, so I don't want to use too much liquid.

HELP!

 

[lakelandgal70]

I would recommend OdoBan. I can get a big jug of it from Sams but I think Walmart sells them in smaller spray bottle in the pet section. We used this to clean our cement floors from some pet stains before we put down vinyl flooring. Worked great!

 

[kirstenb1]

I have a couple of thoughts, but I think you'd have to reschedule the install by a few days.

Could you replace the subflooring in the affected areas (our cat would only mark his favorite corner, not the whole room)

Secondly, you know the paint primer KILZ? I'd heard you could paint over smells and it would block them. So if you didn't replace the subflooring, you could paint over it with KILZ instead.

We dealt with this issue several years ago with our cat. I was really paranoid that the smell would come up through the new carpet, so dh pulled out the affected subflooring and replaced it. It took very little time, and was cheap.

 

[cristit14]

At our old house we used KILZ on the floor and it worked great. The former owners had cats in the basement and it reeked. Pulled up the carpet and pad, painted the floor and then we never smelled it again.

 

[aaarcher86]

Did you guys use the latex or oil KILZ?

 

[NotUrsula]

Kilz will work on a concrete subfloor, but if it is wood there is only one product that will truly remove old urine: a crowbar.

You have to replace it -- there is no other option that will completely eliminate the possibility of odor coming back.

 

[tonilea]

Kilz will work on a concrete subfloor, but if it is wood there is only one product that will truly remove old urine: a crowbar.

You have to replace it -- there is no other option that will completely eliminate the possibility of odor coming back.

Sad, but true.

 

[bballmom56]

We just did that this past summer. We used an odor neutralizer, let it dry, then painted over that with 2-3 coats of shellac. We have had no odor and no problem since then.

 

[minniecarousel]

geez - I can't even tell if the cat pee soaked through to the sub-flooring. I'd hate to pull it all out if it's not necessary.

The carpet guys just said to use bleach & baking soda. I'm getting overwhelmed with the suggestions. Some visitors to our home even said they couldn't smell the cat pee at all (but we knew it was an issue).

hmmmm....I may have to put the install off 'til next week.

 

[arieltoo]

I second or third or fourth the paint suggestions. We had this in family room with a home years ago. We used latex semi gloss paint that was "leftover" to paint the subfloor. The paint "fixed" the problem. No one mentioned it and we had this house for 12 years after we painted and recarpeted. Good luck! Make sure to paint well where the wall or molding meets the floor--often male cats will "mark" there--but honestly when we pulled up the carpet it was fairly easy to see where the previous owners' cats had gone.

 

[MrsToad]

I've always been told to use products with the special enzyme that breaks down the cat urine. I did have good luck with a product from Petco, but Walmart has these cleaners, too. I had to soak the area, let it dry, then soak it again, but it was worth the effort - no hint of urine smell remains.

I don't know if bleach and baking soda will really break down the urine. Some websites even tell you NOT to use bleach for cat urine.

 

[karenos]

When we bought our house we had a mudroom that was soaked through to the subfloor with cat urine. I tried everything to mask the odor (candles, cleansers, etc) but ultimately it had to be replaced.
GL!

karenos

 

[DMickey28]

Now that the carpet is out and everything can you even smell the urine anymore??

If you can't and you can't even tell if it's there anymore, I'd probably just do the paint to be on the safe side and move on. If there was part of the wood that was soaked through you could probably even see some staining on the wood.

Good Luck. Nothing worse than that smell. I am so sensitive to it. I do miss my kitties but not that.