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I'd like to hear your experience when it comes to viewing prospective homes that have a distinct cat or dog urine smell or even cigarette smoke. Recently I saw two homes back to back - one had the distinct dog pee smell and the other a killer cat/chain smoking knock out combo.
In regards to the former, I still like the house but I'm wondering how much scrubbing or work is needed to get rid of that smell, AND if that smell can ever be completely removed? For example, if I wanted to submit an offer on the house, how do I know that smell will be gone if they offer to clean it? Should I make it part of a contingency?
The owners are in another country and these are his wonderful tenants and I guarantee he has no idea that they let the dog pee all over the house. I'm thinking the carpets might need replacing too. I also worry that my cat will detect it and go crazy.
Anyway, I wonder who the onus is in to clean up that smell AND if it's possible to negotiate a lower price because of it. These tenants will have 30 days left before the buyer can move in and I wonder how much more of a smell will be left behind. That dog, after all, peed on my realtor's feet and somehow I doubt the lot of them will have that dog trained anytime soon.
And I apologize if I sound rude but I can't hide my disdain for those who let animals go to the bathroom all over the place. It's simply beyond my comprehension. Thanks.
You can get the smells out. That is what catastrophe teams handle all the time and worse! If you are really interested in a home that has one of these issues, negotiate the cost of carpet and repainting, new blinds, etc. depending on what issue you are talking about. The smoke would take a lot more like resurfacing of the ceilings, etc. Cigarette Smoke is nasty!! You can find some great companies that handle this in your yellow pages or through recommendations from a real estate agent that deals with HUD homes and foreclosures.
To be honest, I would hope that most people would take care of that before putting their home up for sale or rent...many people wouldn't go through the trouble of negotiating that stuff and just walk away regardless of how desireable the home is.
We have both a dog and a cat. When we sold our flat back when Doggie X was a pup, to ease prospective buyers concerns we made sure that we replaced the flooring in the kitchen which was laminate to tile to get the wee smell out. Now we own our own home and we have Kitty X on top of it. I made sure as heck that Kitty X does her business in the garage than within the home and we are currently changing out the carpeting to hardwood. I hate the smell of dog or cat absolutely find it foul as a pet owner. If someone was to buy my home, I would make sure to make it sellable ready by repainting, cleaning the walls, changing the floors and doing my utmost to make sure it doesn't smell and I don't mean by masking it with febreeze or a glade plug in. Any seller who doesn't do this can expect a long wait for a prospective buyer who can smell beyond it...
Well, to elaborate, I passed on the cat/smoke combo house. I'm only concerned with the dog smell house. I hope their realtor informed them that the tenants let their pet urinate all over the place so they understand why I might want to negotiate and/or ask for new carpeting.
Do you have to replace the tile on the floor if the dog urinates on it? I thought it was just carpeting that needed to be replaced. BTW, as far as I know, these tenants do not smoke for I didn't smell it. Oh please, I hope not. So it is just a dog urine smell.
Tile is a bit more forgiving and its my belief it doesn't have to be changed. But I strongly suggest when you place your offer, to place it to reflect the price of new carpeting and so forth, if the owner refuses to do much to it.
From experience, I will say that it is possible to get rid of the odors. My wife and I took over a house that had a perpetually overflowing cat litter box and a succession of dogs that never quite got housebroken. After ripping out the carpet, refinishing the hardwood floors (which had been hidden under carpet for 50 years), replacing all window treatments (even the blinds, as they tend to hold odors) and repainting all the walls and ceilings, the odor is gone. It's possible, just a lot of work
You will definitely have to replace the carpet and padding. And if the subfloor is wood, you will have to thoroughly clean it with something like Oxi-Clean to get the odor out of it. Tile doesn't hold odors very well, so a good washing with vinegar should do in the tiled areas. Plan on repainting the whole house, and make sure you wash the walls down with TSP or a TSP substitute before painting.
From experience, I will say that it is possible to get rid of the odors. My wife and I took over a house that had a perpetually overflowing cat litter box and a succession of dogs that never quite got housebroken. After ripping out the carpet, refinishing the hardwood floors (which had been hidden under carpet for 50 years), replacing all window treatments (even the blinds, as they tend to hold odors) and repainting all the walls and ceilings, the odor is gone. It's possible, just a lot of work
You will definitely have to replace the carpet and padding. And if the subfloor is wood, you will have to thoroughly clean it with something like Oxi-Clean to get the odor out of it. Tile doesn't hold odors very well, so a good washing with vinegar should do in the tiled areas. Plan on repainting the whole house, and make sure you wash the walls down with TSP or a TSP substitute before painting.
This is the right and pretty much only way to tackle the problem. The carpet will have to go, cleaning it will not do a thing and if it's soaked into the wood if hardwood, will need to be replaced or refinished. Pet urine is like acid on hardwood floors. Everything cloth will need to be tossed, EVERYTHING wiped down with heavy duty cleaner, repaint everything, etc,..
If the house is built on a slab and the urine has soaked into the concrete, good luck getting that out. Some friends had that problem in their basement and ended up having to jackhammer out some of the concrete and put in new.
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