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Hardwood floor and pet urine odor removal

9 years ago

We bought a house with pet (previous owners had cats and dogs) urine odor issues. We used vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide before sanding and after approx a month the floor was sanded and we applied enzimatic cleaners followed by hydrogen peroxide.
The baseboards are removed; there was one stain that is gone with sanding but a narrow and long black stain on a side of the room did not go away and to fix it we would need to replace a big area of the hardwood floor. We need to move in the house in 10 days and need the floors finished asap.
Would the water based polyurethane seal the smell? We are going to use AFM safecoat's Polyureseal BP. Anyone has experience with this situation?
Thanks!

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Comments (4)

brickeyee
9 years ago
"Would the water based polyurethane seal the smell? "

Maybe.

But you will not know till it does not work.

Pull up the affected boards and replace them.

Look at the edges of the boards to see how deep the stain penetrated.

If it appears to have gotten all the way to the sub-floor, paint the no exposed sub-floor area with shellac to seal in the smell.

Major urine stains from pets (or the plant that overflowed every week when watered) often require some boards to be removed and replaced.
gregmills_gw
9 years ago
Brickeye is correct. Theres a good possibility that the finish coats will not mask the smell. If the stains have been there long enough and by the sound of it they have then its probable the stain made it to the subfloor in which case theres no way the finish would work masking any smell.
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Urine off is suppose to be a very good product. All the products like Urine off may have to be reapplied a few times if it is really bad. Very important to pour a lot of the product on so it will soak. Must air dry. Many people put plastic over it so the product doesn't evaporate. Should be soaking for as many hours as possible. These products don't work within a half hour. Nature's Miracle is also highly rated. Same principle as Urine off. If you have used Urine Off correctly and tried in a few times, try another product like Nature's Miracle. It is actually more important to get rid of the odor. Depending on a number of factors, you may or may not get rid of the stain. If the stain is only on your hardwood finish, sanding will remove it. If the stain goes down to the wood, it would have to be sanded and then try these products again. Last resort, use wood bleach or replace the boards.
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I pulled up very old carpet in my parents old home, which was laid over pet-stained hardwood floors that looked just as bad as yours currently do. I was rehabbing the house to sell it (my parents had died) and a home with hardwood floors in my area sells better than a home with carpet in it. I talked to a competent floor refinisher who told me exactly what yours did - that he could make it better, but it would likely not be "perfect." I decided to give it a try and I'm so glad I did. When he was done, it looked great. Some spots he was able to make completely disappear. The worst ones were still visible, but over all it looked (to me) exactly like an old floor in an old house should look....if that makes any sense at all. It fit with the patina of an older home way better than a perfect/new hardwood floor would. Buyers LOVED the floors. So my advice is that if you can find a really good floor person who knows what they are doing, AND if you have reasonable expectations you should be fine. You're in the same boat I was. Your house is not new construction so as long as you don't expect perfection in the floors, I hope you're as happy with them as I was with mine.
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Adac
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you so much for your responses.
Someone recommended zinsser shellac seal coat wax free (sanding sealer) before applying the polyurethane. I dont know if it'll work because as you mentioned the urine may have penetrated in between the boards into subfloor but we don't have the time and money to replace anything now. I guess if by next year the smell persists we will remove the hardwood floor and replace it. When the AC is on it doesn't smell, but if the AC is off for a while the odor is there. It is not very strong but enough that it bothers us.
bestbuyfloor123
4 years ago
Immediately blot up the urine with paper towels. Press firmly on the towels to draw the urine out of the wood. You may need to repeat this step multiple times to soak up as much as possible.

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