Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Cat urine
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Mildewy
09-26-03, 02:27 PM
I recently bought a duplex and the carpet needed to go. So I ripped up all the carpet in my duplex, and aside from a GIANT rash covering my body, everything came up pretty good and I decided to keep the hardwood floors. Everything looks great except where apparently some cats had a field day in a back bedroom. The floor looks like it had been burnt in the one spot where there was a litter box when I was looking at the place, and the carpet reeked ungodly. Like I said, the rest of the house looks great so I don't want/need to redo the entire house...nor can I afford it right now. What is the best, easiest, cheapest way to fix this spot? Can I spot sand/finish, or will that look ridiculous? Or are all the boards pretty much ruined and need to be replaced? Thanks...
A tip for anyone doing this for the first time like me...cover up, and wear some kind of mask...this rash blows...
A tip for anyone doing this for the first time like me...cover up, and wear some kind of mask...this rash blows...
Seacow
10-14-03, 04:15 PM
Mildewy-
I'm by no means an expert on the hardwood floors, I have however, done extensive research on the topic of removing (or better put, permanetly masking) cat urine odor. I have made mistakes and wasted lots of money before getting it right. Below are simply my suggestions, others may have success stories of their own.
Basically, it boils down to this. If you do not either completly remove everything "contaminated" or properly seal it, the smell WILL return. You can clean till your fingers bleed, and think you have removed the smell, but it will be back the first warm humid day that comes along.
Regarding spot sanding it, if you think pulling up the carpet was bad, just wait until you try that. In other words, don't.
Like I said, I'm no expert in hardwood floors, but if it was a bad case, most likely, the stains have reached the subfloor, and while I don't want to make it worse, the urine has most likely (if the cat was male) made its way into the drywall or plaster behind the baseboards as well. My suggestion, and what I would certainly do, would be to pull up the flooring in the entire room, or if you are confident that the urine stains are in a small area, just pull up those boards.
Now, in regards to actually fixing the problem. Once you have pulled up those boards, asses the level of damage to the subfloor and the wall material behind the baseboards. Option 1 is to replace them if it is real bad, but most likely, you will be able to seal the stains.
My post is alrady too long, so here is a link (make sure to cut and paste), that was something that really helped me:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=In+severe+odor+situations+(*strong*+cat+urine+odor),+throw+out+the+carpet,&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=6ojfea%24j2q%40bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net&rnum=1
Hope that helps!
I'm by no means an expert on the hardwood floors, I have however, done extensive research on the topic of removing (or better put, permanetly masking) cat urine odor. I have made mistakes and wasted lots of money before getting it right. Below are simply my suggestions, others may have success stories of their own.
Basically, it boils down to this. If you do not either completly remove everything "contaminated" or properly seal it, the smell WILL return. You can clean till your fingers bleed, and think you have removed the smell, but it will be back the first warm humid day that comes along.
Regarding spot sanding it, if you think pulling up the carpet was bad, just wait until you try that. In other words, don't.
Like I said, I'm no expert in hardwood floors, but if it was a bad case, most likely, the stains have reached the subfloor, and while I don't want to make it worse, the urine has most likely (if the cat was male) made its way into the drywall or plaster behind the baseboards as well. My suggestion, and what I would certainly do, would be to pull up the flooring in the entire room, or if you are confident that the urine stains are in a small area, just pull up those boards.
Now, in regards to actually fixing the problem. Once you have pulled up those boards, asses the level of damage to the subfloor and the wall material behind the baseboards. Option 1 is to replace them if it is real bad, but most likely, you will be able to seal the stains.
My post is alrady too long, so here is a link (make sure to cut and paste), that was something that really helped me:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=In+severe+odor+situations+(*strong*+cat+urine+odor),+throw+out+the+carpet,&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=6ojfea%24j2q%40bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net&rnum=1
Hope that helps!
Evan M.
10-15-03, 12:46 PM
Like Seacow said, there really is nothing you can do about pet stains other than removing the boards, matching the wood and installing. Good luck