Any help with urine hardwood stains? (hardwood floors, how much, laminate, refinishing)

[KatieClush]

Hey everyone - I have a problem that I fully own up to. We live in a rental in New York - a very badly maintained rental (constant problems that are ignored, rarely do we have heat, etc) but it's an affordable place in a very expensive city so we put up with it and fix many things ourselves. We're moving in a few months into a house and today we found when we lifted a carpet that our elderly dog has left black stains in the wood. She's been ill for weeks, and we had a tarp and puppy pads down whenever we left home, but somehow some urine got under it. The floors are already in bad shape (we have pictures from move in) with black spots all over the floors, scuffing and we don't believe they've been sealed or treated for years which means even a wet shoe leaves a mark after a half hour. Either way, this is our fault and we take full responsibility. We tried the hydrogen peroxide trick one application and it's lightened but it's turned kinda grey.

Any suggestions for the best way to fix this? The right way is to rip up the wood, but if we can make the spot look better, we don't believe the landlord will care (this is just given how badly kept up the rest of the apartment is), but we want to do what we can. We also realize we may lose our deposit (1850), but should we attempt to sand and refinish this ourselves to see if we can recoup some costs?

Here are pictures before and after one application of hydrogen peroxide.





I know this is bad and I know it's my responsibility - I just want any advice on how to deal with this going forward.

[Brian_M]

Hey, you have nothing to lose in trying the thousand and one different DIY options posted on the internet. When I asked the older gent who refinished my floors (started his own business 40 years ago), he said there was no fix. You simply can't sand it out because it gets too deep and you sacrifice the flooring stability (meaning it'll split if you get too thin).

But try more peroxide, soak the area, put a soaked rag on top and then plastic wrap on top of that and tape it all down to form a seal for over-night. Not like you're going to make things any worse.

[KatieClush]

I figured that's my reality. Any one have any idea how much replacing a few boards and refinishing a 150Sq ft room would cost?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by KatieClush

I figured that's my reality. Any one have any idea how much replacing a few boards and refinishing a 150Sq ft room would cost?

If you were in a lower cost area you MIGHT be able to find something that would do this for just a few hundred dollars but in NYC (or other high cost areas) you might be locating at thousands.

The damage seems severe so it might make sense to make a poultice of oxalic acid, laet is set for a while and see how much it "bleaches out" the stain...

[gentlearts]

Just do the best you can, then kiss your security deposit goodbye.

[JanND]

An OldHouse web link....and there were several more that came up when searching how to remove dark urine stains from hardwood, including youtube videos. Good luck.

Best Solutions for Removing Old Pet Urine Stains from Hardwood Floors | Old House Web

[Stymie13]

Sand and stain several shades darker.

[harry chickpea]

I think you may have two main choices, lose the security deposit or make repairs on your own. The room is only 150sf (10' x 15' or somesuch) and the floor is a treatment and non-structural, so you may not need permits. (Check first.)

You can try this, in hopes of removing the bad sections, re-laying the existing good ones, and then trying to find a close match for use as a few strips on the most unobtrusive side.
How to Remove Laminate Flooring Without Damaging the Boards | Home Guides | SF Gate

The ones that are stained and damaged are toast. Don't waste your time on them. A complete re-do is the proper repair, and there may have been some leakage under the strips that needs to be addressed, which can't be done with the damaged strips in place.

[KatieClush]

Thanks everyone. At this point we decided to try a couple more lightening techniques because we have nothing to lose, and prepare ourselves for a lost security deposit.

[ocngypz]

Oxalic acid is the only thing which works decently. Not perfect, but it's the best.