Would you buy a house that smelled like cat pee...

[Beth76]

Thinking/hoping that replacing the carpet would fix the problem? We're not ready to buy, but we're looking at open houses. We saw an almost otherwise perfect house, but I noticed the smell as soon as we walked in the door--strong too. I could still smell it after being there almost 20 minutes. I've had cats my whole life so I'm not sensitive to the smell. It was all through the first floor and the finished basement. I couldn't smell it on the second floor though. The house was empty so I wonder if maybe that made it seem worse than it actually is.

 

[KariC]

no.

it probably has seeped into the floorboards, too. ewwwww.... so add that into your costs.

 

[Doesney]

We actually passed on a house that smelled of cat urine. My DH would even continue the showing. He was sure the smell wouldn't come out. FWIW, we are both non cat lovers and I am not sure if that had something to do with his decision. If I loved the house, I suppose I would have put up a fight and probably won. I would check with the professionals on this to make certain the smell can be neutralized.

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

If you replace the carpet you will also have to replace the padding. And you will have to treat the subfloor. Cat urine will even soak in to concrete - I didn't know this until I spoke with a carpet person.

I would get an estimate on all of this before buying to see if it is affordable for the price of the house or if the current owner would do it before you purchase.

 

[wendy46001]

No, my friends did just that....and it cost a fortune
they pulled up the carpet…and the place still smelled
ended up having to seal the concrete and then
rip out the bottom two feet of all the dry wall
throughout the whole house…

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Nope I wouldn't buy a house that had cat pee smell, other pet odor smell or the smell of smoke. I don't care how perfect it is otherwise.

 

[tiggersmom2]

NO WAY!!!

Also, just think how that smell will eventually impregnant all your clothes, and then your family will end up smelling like cat pee too!!!

 

[ducklite]

no.

it probably has seeped into the floorboards, too. ewwwww.... so add that into your costs.

It can also permeate into the wall boards--sometimes a coat or two of paint over them and the ceiling will take care of it, but not always--especially of the cats have sprayed the walls.

 

[cinmell]

NO WAY!! I would never buy a house that smelled like cat pee, any other pet odor or cigarette smoke.

 

[dcgrumpy]

Not unless it was really, really cheap and I could afford to rip up the floors if I had to.

When we bought our house we saw the house in March but didn't close until September. I don't think the previous owner cleaned in those months. When we got the keys after closing there was dog hair everywhere. When it rained the house stunk of dog. It took weeks of cleaning before moving in to get it clean and not smelling like dogs.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

NO.
I have cats but haven't had a problem with them spraying.

My girlfiend had a male cat that sprayed everything in the basement. They couldn't even put a box down there without him spraying it. And yes he was fixed. The whole basement reeked of cat pee.

Baboochka died a few years ago and there is still a reminder in the basement of him. There was no carpet, just a concrete floor but that bad kitty did his deed everywhere.

You could rip the carpet out but the flooring underneath would still be stinky. Plus who knows what the cat(s) had been spraying. If they were doing the walls etc. then you could have a big problem on your hands.

If you really like the home you could always get somebody in for an opinion and an estimate.

 

[DawnCt1]

Yes, if I could get a substantial reduction that would cover the cost of mitigating the odor. When anyone replaces carpeting, they should replace the padding anyway, because after a time it looses it effectiveness. Subflooring can be roller painted with Kilnz (sp) to seal the odor in. It is effectively an oil based sealant. Same should be true of cement.

 

[MareQ]

I would but ONLY if I REALLY loved the house AND the seller agreed to give back $10,000 at closing to take care of the cost of replacing all carpets and treating the flooring underneath. If not - no deal.

 

[christiane]

The smell can not be removed or mitigated. The source must be identified and removed.

As others said, carpet, subflooring, dry wall etc may need to be removed. I would also repaint all the indoor walls and refinish floors. If I loved the house I would get 3 estimates to have this done and have the cost (& a little inconvenience factor ) deducted from the cost of the house.

 

[lulugirl]

No, cat urine is a nasty, stubborn odor.
Even if I loved the house, the hassle of trying to remove the odor would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Like others have said, not unless we got a huge break on the price and otherwise, the house was in perfect condition. Years ago, when we were looking for our first house, we walked into a house and the second I entered it, I could smell cats (I'm really allergic to cats). We left almost as soon as we got there -- because as indicative of the smell, the whole house hadn't been taken care of. It would have required major renovations to make it even livable.

 

[KariC]

It can also permeate into the wall boards--sometimes a coat or two of paint over them and the ceiling will take care of it, but not always--especially of the cats have sprayed the walls.

i almost posted that. but, as i'm not a cat person, i was not sure, if anatomically this was possible. good to know.

op, maybe the house is not perfect...

 

[Beth76]

Interesting responses. Thanks everyone. We're not currently in the market for a home, just looking for now. But I could see this staying on the market for awhile. This is not something that I would take on myself either. I would make sure that the owners took care of the problem first. It's sad really. It was such a nice home otherwise. And they're already moved out, so I'm sure they need to sell it. Although I'm surprised the realtor didn't notice and try to do something to cover it up. Maybe it was just too strong for that though.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Nope we looked at ahouse that was the perfect floorplan but needed updating and smelled of cat urine in the basement. Passed the 1st time. it went to forclosure because they couldn't sell. A builder bought and did it up fabulous but could not get the smell out of the basement. He tried everything including sealing the concrete the smell stayed. It ended up being on the market for over 2 years and he dropped $200,000 off asking price it sold for even less than that. He sold for about $20,000 more than he paid but he put in new kitchen TOL w/ granite, baths, windows, roof, doors, siding, electrical,furnace but the smell couldn't be overlooked. So we passed the 2nd time as well.

 

[mickeyfan2]

No!!!!!!!!