trance
08-30-04, 08:45 AM
Hello, I am cross posting this in heating, cleaning, flooring and plumbing because I don't know the cause of my problem.
Here's the problem. I am refinishing a wood floor outside my bathroom. (Hallway). After sanding the floor, it released a noxious odor. The sanding revealed a bad stain in the wood too.
Now, this house is a forclosure and was abandoned for 2 years before I bought it. The spot where the stain / smell are at are immediately adjacent to a covered over heating vent. This vent has assisted with rotting out the crappy plywood subfloor of the bathroom, assisted by water, I assume. The rot does not seem to have spread to this stain / smelly area, but you never know. There don't seem to be pipes leaking.
The smell smells like pee. My wife has smelled the same smell elsewhere in the house, near heating vents. It is possible, given the history of the house, that it is in fact pee, from people using corners (YUK!).
I don't think the smell is coming from the vents (since I replaced them last year) but it is possible. It does not seem to be coming from all vents, just near certain ones, leading me to the pee diagnosis.
The smell has lessned since it started, I'm assuming I released it from the wood by sanding.
Ok, so my questions:
1) What could this be? Could it be coming from the vents or from old pee? Or something else?
2) How do I get rid of pee smell in wood floors, short of replacing the boards?
note that the boards do not have any finish on them right now, since I sanded them.
3) How do I get this stain out of the wood? It's darkened the wood in an area, which does not sand out. Can I bleach the wood? If so, how?
thanks, and sorry for all the cross posts.
Here's the problem. I am refinishing a wood floor outside my bathroom. (Hallway). After sanding the floor, it released a noxious odor. The sanding revealed a bad stain in the wood too.
Now, this house is a forclosure and was abandoned for 2 years before I bought it. The spot where the stain / smell are at are immediately adjacent to a covered over heating vent. This vent has assisted with rotting out the crappy plywood subfloor of the bathroom, assisted by water, I assume. The rot does not seem to have spread to this stain / smelly area, but you never know. There don't seem to be pipes leaking.
The smell smells like pee. My wife has smelled the same smell elsewhere in the house, near heating vents. It is possible, given the history of the house, that it is in fact pee, from people using corners (YUK!).
I don't think the smell is coming from the vents (since I replaced them last year) but it is possible. It does not seem to be coming from all vents, just near certain ones, leading me to the pee diagnosis.
The smell has lessned since it started, I'm assuming I released it from the wood by sanding.
Ok, so my questions:
1) What could this be? Could it be coming from the vents or from old pee? Or something else?
2) How do I get rid of pee smell in wood floors, short of replacing the boards?
note that the boards do not have any finish on them right now, since I sanded them.
3) How do I get this stain out of the wood? It's darkened the wood in an area, which does not sand out. Can I bleach the wood? If so, how?
thanks, and sorry for all the cross posts.