how to remove smell from oak floor?

[Matt Crew]

My Step son is looking at buying a house with actual oak flooring in the living room.
The problem is that it smells from cat urine.
It appears that there was a carpet over the wood floor, but they removed it before trying to sell the house.
I was wondering if anybody in this vast wealth of knowledge might have a way to get rid of the smell?
It's a nice little fixer upper, in a nice neighborhood, and this will be his first house.
There is another house, but I believe this is the one he wants.
Thank You in advance.
Matt

[Doug Shepard]

I'd start with some stuff you should be able to get at any pet store before you get too industrial strength. It's got enzymes in it that break down the ammonia smell and usually does a good job of taking care of stains and smell. Not sure how well it's going to work when the accident isn't fresh but it's worth a try.

[Randy Cohen]

refinishing the floors might work...sanding and applying new finish. he can ask the sellers to bear the cost to bring the house up to snuff....or sniff in this case.

[Matt Crew]

Thanks,
My wife has used some stuff called zero oder, she got off the the web.
Might try that first.
But first the seller needs to take care of some other stuff first.
Thank You.
Matt

[Joe Jensen]

There is an enzyme called "Nature's Miracle" that you can get from Petsmart. It apparently digests the urea in cat urine. We had a huge problem with a concrete floor. Tried many things and nothing worked. I went overboard by flooding the floor for a few days. When it dried the odor was completely gone.

[Joe Jensen]

One more thing. I knew a guy who specialized in buying "cat lady" houses from the cities and renovating them. He said the only thing that worked to get rid of the odor in the walls was to competely remove all drywall and insulation. Spray all wood with several coats of shellac based cover up (forgot the brand name) and then re-insulate and drywall. He had done like 30 of them in the Phoenix area.

I can absolutely guarentee the Natures Miracle. But, I think one would have to sand the finish off the floors, flood the floor and make sure the product soaked in, and then resand and refinish...joe

[Eric Larsen]

I'm almost done with my oak floor (pix coming soon)... my problem is the whole house smells like a bourbon barrel.

Well, that's not THAT big of a problem, but those of you who have toured the Jack Daniels distillery know what I'm talking about.

[James Suzda]

I'm almost done with my oak floor (pix coming soon)... my problem is the whole house smells like a bourbon barrel.

Well, that's not THAT big of a problem, but those of you who have toured the Jack Daniels distillery know what I'm talking about.
My reply is a little OT, but years ago a guy I know bought a van load of used whisky barrels. He said it was a good thing he wasn't stopped by a Traffic Officer or he wouldn't have been able to pass the sobriety test from the fumes coming out of the barrels!

[NICK BARBOZA]

You will NEVER loose that smell. it gets into everything. short of replacing the floor...

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Pull the floor or offending boards up and replace them.
Period.

Anything else is going to present to the problem of being a half measure with the risk of unintended consequences.

Example: Any fluid you use will have to penetrate at least as far as the cat piss did (and you haven't any idea how far that may be). These fluids will all be water based. The enzyme that de-stinks cat piss, bleach - all of 'em are water based and to get the penetration you need you are going to have to get a lot of whatever fluid in the wood and undoubtedly under and in-between the boards too.

The flooring will almost surely warp.

[Tom Hargrove]

I have to agree with Nick and Cliff. If the urine has oozed into the tongue and groove joints, and possibly the subfloor below, any liquid used to remedy the situation will have to follow the same path, and to the same extent as the urine, or it will not be effective.

The problem with pet odors is that they are often sensitive to humidity and atmospheric conditions. If you fix the problem in the summer, the smell may come back in the winter, and vice versa.

There is no "purrfect" solution.

[Matthew Voss]

Pull the...offending boards up and replace them.
Period.



100% agreed

[Peter Quinn]

My guess is the stink has probably and at least possibly reached the sub floor which will be difficult to fix with a topical application of Natures Miracle, plus its really meant for immediate application after an incedent, not to remove years of abuse.

If a price for floor replacement can't be negociated with the seller I'd look into gas masks or another house.