I have a long term tenant who has been great… until I found out she got a male non neutered cat (without my permission) who has been spraying all over the townhome for months. I do accept an adult cat normally but ask for proof of it being spayed/neutered for this reason. The smell is seeping into the townhome next door and I gave her a week to try to clean it up and get her cat fixed. I went in yesterday and it’s worse. I very nicely told her the cat goes or they both go. She called me today and said she is looking for a new place. I’ve never had a smell like this to deal with. Any recommendations on ways to get rid of this smell once she is out? I know the usual paint everything with Kilz, replace the flooring, etc… but I literally can’t even stand to walk in there to begin all of that with the way it smells.
Recommendations to get rid of urine smell
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Jana Christo is a business owner, real estate investor, and property manager. She has 16 years of experience in most areas of real estate.
During the last recession, she was also the managing partner for a company that bought and rehabbed properties from the court foreclosure auctions. Today, she manages her own portfolio of rental properties and shares her experience on Rentce.com.
Replace carpets and padding. It doesn’t matter how much enzymes you put into the carpet, the dog/cat urine and the smell will not come out. Ozone machine will help neutralize odor. Likely walls will need cleaning and repainting.
I love animals, I personally have both dogs and cats, BUT I would never do what this thoughtless and selfish tenant did to you. I do consider animals on a case by case basis in my rental.
All my personal pets are spayed/neutered and UTD on vaccinations. I would recommend making this a requirement of tenants moving forward. This tenant needs to either help clean up or pay to repair. Take to small claims if necessary. It’s not the animal’s fault.
What a nightmare!
All carpet has to go. Probably some baseboard has to go also and areas where sheetrock was pee’d on will need to go.
Do you have concrete underneath carpet or plywood?
If it’s plywood, you probably know you can paint it with Kilz. Hopefully it is salvageable.
If it’s concrete, I would have the concrete stained instead of replacing with carpet or use luxury vinyl planks.
The product below is awesome and works really well for cleaning surfaces that dont need replacement. There is no product that will repair damaged flooring and walls – where urine has soaked through.
Get a black light to see and document all the areas affected. Consider getting a couple professional cleaners to document and estimate repair costs.
This is very inconsiderate. I would take her to small claims court.
I bought her a blacklight last week along with $60 worth of cleaning products. She claims she didn’t know her cat was doing this and she swears she cant smell it. It is so bad it made my husband gag and he had to walk out when he went in to do a repair. I didn’t gag when I went in but my eyes started watering from the ammonia smell. I’ve never smelled anything this strong and nasty in my life.
The cheaper way will be to just replace only the padding under the carpet and treat the carpet with enzymes. We’ve done it before and it works. If you carpet is older it’s probably best to replace it.