Urine smell remains even after new carpet and pad

[accomp]

We moved into a house recently where one room had a urine smell. The previous owners (the original owners - it's a four-year-old house) said that they didn't have pets and that no animals had ever been in the house. (I was wondering if an animal came in during a house showing or something ). Anyway, it was definitely only noticeable in one bedroom. We don't have pets, by the way.

This week we had new carpeting (and padding) installed upstairs. When it came time for the installers to carpet that room and the old pad was removed, my husband checked and said that there were no signs whatsoever of any staining. Now we have our nice new carpet, but the room is still smelling. Does anyone have any ideas of what could be the reason?

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I'd get one of those little blacklight things and start checking around the house -- walls too.

 

[auntpolly]

Very interesting you should ask that! At this very moment, carpet guys are laying down new carpet. And for the same reason.

They told me the only way to get rid of the smell was to put a seal over the wood and we did. I'm sorry to tell you this at this point, but you may have to take the carpet up and do that. At least if you know where it is, then you could just do it there.

 

[gallaj0]

It could be on the wall. Dogs can get pretty high up there, and cats will spray right on it.
Go to a pet store, and pick up some urine smell eliminator. You may even want to pick up a blacklight; they sometimes have them there, too. You can find the spot (think CSI) and treat it, then seal the area with paint if it's on the wall, or if it sunk into the floor under the carpet, pull the carpet up, clean it, and seal the wood with a polyurethane or varnish, then drop the carpet right back over it when dry.

 

[Blondy876]

When we bought our house the only way that we could get rid of the urine smell was to rip up and replace the subfloor and the bottom half of the drywall. Good luck, I hope you find a better way.

 

[summerrluvv]

It may not have been an animal, but a child. I know when DS was little, he had an accident on the berber carpet and the smell will never go away. I've bought every possible type of solution (Nature's Miracle, etc.), had the carpet prof. cleaned and it still smells. It's 10 times worse when it's humid. I can't replace the carpet since we went and they won't do it until we move out. Thank goodness for air freshners

 

[ilovepcot]

I'd be suspicious of the padding material itself. I bought some rather pricy area rugs not long ago and had to get rid of them almost immediately. The padding underneath them smelled *exactly* like urine and made me sick to my stomach! Could be the padding that was removed had that very same odor and maybe it's lingering.

 

[Pop Daddy]

you sure it wasnt you who made the urnine smell

 

[ilovepcot]

you sure it wasnt you who made the urnine smell

Who you talking to????

 

[auntpolly]

you sure it wasnt you who made the urnine smell

Oh sure, and like that wouldn't make an excellent tag!

 

[damo]

If there were no signs of stains on the original carpet when it was removed, then the smell must be coming from somewhere else. Can you do a sniff test of the baseboards? Perhaps giving the room and trim a fresh coat of pain would help.

 

[RachelEllen]

I can't believe I'm admitting this, but try this website.

http://www.planeturine.com/

My dog was a bit, um, difficult to housetrain, and I had to rely on their products for a while. I use the carpet kit with blacklight and have had great results. You could start out buying their blacklight to scan the walls (Yes, my 10 lb dog could get urine about 3 feet up the walls) and floor. If you find spots, you can then buy the appropriate kit for any given surface. They sell small 'starter' kits for one time jobs.

 

[GeorgeG]

Years ago we moved into a house where the previous owners had several large dogs who were home a long for extended periods of time. Even with a professional cleaning, the smell wouldn't go away.

We ripped out the old carpet and before having new carpet put in we scrubbed the floors with either amonia or bleach (I don't remember which) and that did the trick.

I recently watched a show on TV where it was mentioned that urine odors can last decades unless they are properly treated.

Good luck!

 

[bumcat]

I'd be suspicious of the padding material itself. I bought some rather pricy area rugs not long ago and had to get rid of them almost immediately. The padding underneath them smelled *exactly* like urine and made me sick to my stomach! Could be the padding that was removed had that very same odor and maybe it's lingering.

We had the same problem with a ceiling fan we bought at Walmart. Could not believe how badly it smelled plus my son started having more asthma attacks every day after it was installed. We took it down after 4 days, no more smell and no more asthma attacks.

 

[milkabum]

If you had movers, I'd be careful of cats who accidentally peed on the sheets, or perhaps a box containing items in the room. Maybe the smell is coming from a neighbours house..?

 

[Spinning]

Friends of ours had the same thing happen. It was a fairly new house. Under the carpet was sub flooring not sealed wood. The pee had gone through the sub flooring into hte insulation below. They had to have the sub floor cut out and new insulation put in to get rid of the smell.

 

[accomp]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think that maybe one of those blacklights will be our next step.

 

[HOGFAN]

we had a dog that took a long time to train. it liked to pee in my sons room.
we bought a carpet machine and it took years(doing it every 3 months) for the smell to go away. It was especially bad in summer

 

[Cantw8]

you sure it wasnt you who made the urnine smell

you nut.