Pet Odors

Pet odors in a home can be one of the toughest deal killers in scaring off Buyers. Sellers must realize that not every Buyer is a pet lover. Even if they are, not many people care to walk into a house and be hit in the face with the smell of cat urine! And, in this day and age of highly allergic people, reactions to pet dander can be violent. Best to remove the odors and dander before putting your house on the market. Don't wait until you receive comments from potential Buyer you lost due to the odor that you should replace carpet and pad from pet urine. You can't afford to miss any Buyer in this market.There is a professional group I belong to called ePro. In a discussion on one of the forums today was the question on what to use to get rid of pet odors on concrete floors. There were comments about contacting professional cleaners to all kinds of products available on the market. My years of experience in construction and damage restoration have found that the answer is very basic.Remove the damaged carpet and pad and discard them. You'll never get the smell out of the fibers, backing or pad. These are all synthetic products made from petroleum and possibly some natural fibers in the backing. Clean the floor with an industrial cleaner. Be careful about using bleach because of the caustic nature of the chemical. Let the concrete dry for a day or so. Then, use any of several brand products named Kilz, Bins or Zinsser. Most of these are alcohol based. The alcohol kills the odor and the sealer in the product helps keep the latent odor from telegraphing through after the initial cleaning.Let the sealer dry for a day if possible and off-gas the fumes. Open the windows and doors if possible. Try to keep traffic off of the floor and get the new carpet and pad or laminate floor installed over the top of it as quickly as possible. You're one step closer to selling your home.