House odors

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by phonelady61

have you tried odo ban ? that I use because my vet suggested it . I asked him what he used to clean his office to keep it from smelling like animal urine . He said odo ban you can get it at home depot . I use it every time I mop . I mix a lil bleach with it too . it is great .

Odd Ban is great on pet odors.

Home Depot is the only place I've found it

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by metamorphosis

I don’t understand why you are waiting to pull up the carpet in the sunroom until spring. I’m thinking that pulling it up now can only help with the situation, because it would be one less smelly thing out of the house (and it doesn’t cost anything to pull up). And, I could be wrong, but I would think the smell of the carpet in that room would circulate when the furnace/AC kicks on whether the door is closed or not.

Good luck.

Definitely get rid of the carpet and padding in the sunroom.

While you are figuring out other measures, you may want to get some of the bamboo charcoal bags to hang around.

I have a strong sense of smell and these seem to be working in a room that smells like dirty slippers to me but that no one else seems to notice.

[AK-Cathy]

Just an update to address some things I probably left out. Our heat is hot water baseboard so there is no room to room air transfer. We have no air conditioning system.

The sunroom is cut off from the main house by an exterior door and has it's own separate electric radiant oil core heater in it. We keep that door closed. We had planned to rip that carpet right out but it's glued to a particle board base and we just ran out of good weather time to deal with that. Presently I have a lemon, lime, rosemary, and bay tree and a hibiscus shrub overwintering in there. As soon as the weather is such that they can go back outside, that floor is the first thing on our agenda.

Carpets: They will all eventually be replaced as time and cash allows and if there are stains, crystals or any sign of issues (odor) with the subfloor we will neutralize and cover with Kilz or like before we put a new floor down.

My biggest issue is with the plank floor. It's in very good condition but frankly the odors are worse in the hardwood rooms than anywhere else except the sunroom. Plank covers 3/4 of the main floor of the house and are in every public room except the kitchen. Replacing that would not only be expensive but terribly disruptive and seems pretty wasteful.

So it looks like I will continue to clean and scrub and will make the call this coming summer. If it's as bad as it was this last summer, the wood floor has to go. Sigh.

I was hoping for a miracle. Thanks everyone.

[NorthofHere]

Cleaning and scrubbing the hardwoods won't make a difference, it is in the subfloor. You would then need to remove and replace the hardwoods with either removing and replacing the subfloor or cleaning and sealing depending on extent of damage and smell; however, in most cases it is best to replace the subfloor. If there are plugs in the area you smell the urine you might just try and mask the smell with some plug-in deodorizers. You could also have the wood floor resealed and see if that masks the odor for a time. It won't work forever but might for a few years.

[metamorphosis]

Google “lime to absorb odors”. Lime the powder. Not lime the fruit. : D

[AK-Cathy]

I bought those area filtering bags and placed them in the rooms I'm most bothered by. Black light showed spots on the floors and woodwork that we've cleaned up with Odor-ban. It's definitely better. Warm humid weather will tell the whole story though.

Thanks folks.