HELP! My new house reeks!!

[AprilShowers]

We just moved into our dream home last weekend. We LOVE it. We're on the edge of town and it's soo peaceful!!

HOWEVER, the previous owners had two dogs. I'm not kidding when I say that I can't even relax on my own sofa in my own living room without my throat burning from the stench of dog urine.

It is soooo completely disgusting I can't believe it.

We had the carpets cleaned and deodorized before we moved in. They told us it wouldn't completely get rid of the smell, but it seems to be getting worse!!

PLEASE tell me there's some magical home remedy that will eliminate or greatly reduce this odor. We cannot afford to replace the carpets just yet. Besides, they are only 3 years old.

 

[happily single]

try putting bowls of white vinegar out around the house. That really seems to help with any odor in my house

 

[java]

Hate to tell you this but that urine has soaked through to the pad and that's why you are getting the smell.
Sorry but to get rid of it you have to rip it up. It's not that bad to do now_ I've seen tons of deals for it- like do one room get 2 more free!

Or are there hard wood floors under there?

Sorry but I don't know of any magic fix.

 

[Kit'smommy]

I hate to say this, but you will probably need to get rid of the carpets. Our kitty had some issues a few years ago and decided to go in the corner of the dining room a few times. Nothing we used to treat or clean it helped - you could still smell it. We recarpeted and no more smell.

Good luck!

 

[mrsv98]

We swear by this:

It may take several applications if the smell is set in but it will get rid of the odor and leave a nice orange-y smell.

You could also try

This too works over time but doesn't have the orange smell.

 

[Jennasis]

Sounds like the urine is in th underpadding as someone else pointed out. Only way to get rid of it now is to rip it all up.

 

[dejr_8]

Hate to tell you this but that urine has soaked through to the pad and that's why you are getting the smell.
Sorry but to get rid of it you have to rip it up. It's not that bad to do now_ I've seen tons of deals for it- like do one room get 2 more free!

Or are there hard wood floors under there?

Sorry but I don't know of any magic fix.

I second this. We had a dog that peed in the house (just in one room). When we replaced the carpet, we found crystals (which I assume were urine). I think your only option is to replace the carpet.

 

[Feralpeg]

Actually, having the carpets cleaned may have made the situation worse. By re-wetting the carpet and pad that contain the urine, it cause the smell to rise. Over time, it may get better. If you really want to get rid of the smell, there is only one solution. You will need to replace the carpet and pad.

 

[HunnyPots]

You may get rid of it temporarily but I promise it will keep coming back, especially on damp days.
The only fix is to rip up the carpet and pad and replace it all. Hopefully, it hasn't soaked into the subfloor as well.

 

[AprilShowers]

Thanks everyone! I KNEW that is what you would say. Rip up the carpet! I know that's what we need to do, but DH says no way!!

The house is only 3 years old, so pretty new construction. I'm sure there's not hardwood under carpet.

I just can't believe that two of the smallest dogs EVER could make such a mess!

mrsv98, I'm going to try the orange stuff. Even if it just makes it bearable, it would have been worth it until we can replace the carpet.

Anyone else?

 

[littleteapot]

www.planeturine.com

worked for us. Get a black light to figure out exactly where you need to work.

www.whatodor.com is the product that was on the Pitchmen show the other night...looks promising.

 

[ORMom2Four]

I second this. We had a dog that peed in the house (just in one room). When we replaced the carpet, we found crystals (which I assume were urine). I think your only option is to replace the carpet.

I have to agree.

When our dog was a puppy, she loved to use the carpet in the landing upstairs to pee.

We tried EVERYTHING to get the smell out. I mean everything. Spent hudreds of dollars on cleaners that were suppose to remove urine. Nothing worked. Not even the home remedies.

We pulled up the carpet and found the urine had soaked through the pad and into the subfloor underneath. That (the subfloor) had to be replaced too.

Can you identify if the odor is only in one area on the carpet? Maybe you could only replace that section since the carpet is not very old. You could get carpet from other areas of the house (closets?) to replace the urine runied carpet.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Even without dog urine, padding that gets wet gets moldy, and that leaves a putrid smell, too.

I made the mistake once of cleaning the carpet myself with our newly bought carpet steamer. Well I apparently put so much water on the carpet that it seriously wet the pad underneath (and the home machine didn't have enough power to suck it out) and the whole thing turned moldy and stunk. We had to replace it - but it was so nice to have a fresh smell back! For that reason, I only have my carpets cleaned professionally now. I tried to save some money but it wound up costing me in the long run.

ETA I do keep a little steamer for small spots (mainly from the kids ), but know now to use minimal liquid.

 

[KristinBelle]

I think the only way to get rid of a smell that bad is to get new carpet.

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Hate to tell you this but that urine has soaked through to the pad and that's why you are getting the smell.
Sorry but to get rid of it you have to rip it up. It's not that bad to do now_ I've seen tons of deals for it- like do one room get 2 more free!

Or are there hard wood floors under there?

Sorry but I don't know of any magic fix.

I agree. When we moved into our current house, the previous owners also had dogs. That peed in the house. The first night we got the keys and walked in after having been closed up all day in the middle of August, we instantly started ripping up the carpets and the padding. It was the only way to get rid of the smell.

 

[zumbergc]

simple solution. someone earlier mentioned it. The key is you have to put enough of the liquid down to saturate where all the smell is. Sounds like you will have to buy several gallons of the stuff.

Litterly, pour the stuff where the suspected pee areas are. Hopefully you have an idea where the peeing occured, or did it happend everywhere.

You pour the stuff on to saturate the carpet and the pad. You would probably have to do small sections at a time, if you have to do a large area. Then make sure there is a fan or something, to help the area dry. The idea with the enzyme type removers is it eats the urine stuff up. If you don't put enough on, and just get the top carpet and not the pad wet with the stuff, you will not get rid of the smell.

When i first started working out of college, had tons of overtime, and well didn't clean the cats box good enough, or often enough. Well, by the time i realized one of the cats was urinating on the outside of the box. For a good month or 2 i was using tons of different carpet cleaners, even ones that said they would get out urine. A friend at work mentioned the simple solution, was at one of those petsmarts, petco etc. Saw it there, grabbed a gallon and then saturated the area, and finally the smell went away.


Best of luck, it was a lot of work, especially after trying several different types that didn't work first.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

New subflooring, pad and carpet. I hope you built that into your offer.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Is it localized to that room or all over the house?

When we moved in we had one particular corner where the previous owners dog had done a number. The sun beat through a small window right onto the spot all afternoon so you could smell it as soon as you entered the home on warm months. We tried EVERYTHING. Finally the 4th set of carpet guys we brought out ended up peeling back the carpet from that corner of the room, removing the pad from the affected area, sealing with kilz the concrete foundation (which can absorb the smell). Then they laid down new pad (same brand and thickness as rest of room), cleaned the carpet from the back and then returned a few days after that had dried to clean it from the front and reinstall it.

That worked really well. The carpet looked good as new (visually you could not tell at all that anything different had been done to that area of the room) and the smell didn't come back. Cost was around $125.

Even if this won't work for you now, if the odor is that intense you will want to seriously consider sealing your foundation or subfloor when you get new carpet to prevent the old smells from seeping back in to your new padding.

 

[dchi]

No new cleaning advice to add but if you and the hubby get to the point where you do the ripping the carpet and pad up.....check out the subbfloor. If the dog urine sat in the pad wet for long enough that subfloor may need to be replaced too. I imagine if it happened during humid weather it might be worse. Good luck!