Huh. I have never smelled a Cattleya that smelled like urine. I would not like that at all. I am quite sensitive to smells- I had to give away my Oncidium ornithorhynchum because of the smell. My Cats smell like all kinds of things; citrusy, rose-like, sweet, powdery, I like the sweet/hinkey smell of the walkerianas and their crosses- but sometimes the hinkeyness is a bit much. What is this cattleya's name? And are you sure that maybe a kitty-cat didn't just spray it? They do that sometimes.

Treating pet odors is what I do for a living and I see situations like this on a daily basis. I am going to asume your basement subflooring is concrete which is porous and will absorb urine and its odors. Bleach is the strongest household disinfectant you can use to kill germs and odors and it will do good as a initial clean-up on the surface which is the key word. After the bleach has dried the concrete still has wet urine and odor below the surface that is still off-gassing. The next step is get the concrete as dry as possible by using air movers and dehumidifiers together this equipment will also dry the walls if the cats have been spraying on them. Finally we use a industrial sealer that has a moisture barrier and a odor barrier once applied we guarantee you will never smell any pet urine odor from any area we treat. Kills is designed for smoke odors, as cat and dog urine acids will eventually weaken the product and the urine odor will be back. Enzymes are temporary fixes or are for minor problems per the manufacturers instruction the area has to stay wet for up to 3 weeks for best results and @$20-40 gal do the math bleach is better and stronger. Besides you have already cleaned the area now you have to get it sealed. Oh! and toss the carpet It would cost you more for a pet odor treatment then replacement. Here is a link that might be useful: thepetodorspecialist.com

We have a flat roof on top of our 500sf garage apartment in Austin TX. We had the following done to it on March 31, 2022, as a preventative measure. 1) Thoroughly clean and prepare roof surfaces receiving material; 2) Apply ARC DynaShield liquid rubber with polyester embedded to all flashing details including sheet metal drip edge; 3) Seal all joints in sheet metal cap with Geocel 2300 tri-polymer sealant; 4) Apply ARC Alumiflex liquid rubber coating to entire roof surface; 5) Clean up job site. About 3 weeks later, we noticed a smell, which I can best describe as insecticide or pesticide. It's a very chemical-like odor. Around the same time, the mini-split stopped working, so we associated the smell with that. We ended up replacing the mini split in late May; however, the smell continued. After some trial and error, we determined it wasn't the mini split, as the smell returned after we opened windows, aired the place out, then shut the windows without turning the a/c back on. The apartment may have smelled prior to late April; we had not been in there for a while, so I can only date the smell to 4/22. We started thinking it might be the roof and that the smell was activated by heat, as April is when Austin starts heating up, and we cannot come up with any other possibilities. The apartment is unusable, and we are very worried we may be stuck with this smell forever. I cannot bear to be in there, as it smells like it is most likely toxic. It's an unpleasant smell regardless. toxcrusadr - do you know of these materials used and if they could be causing this smell? We've asked the roofer to come by this week and to bring these products with him. I'd like to smell them and see if they are similar. We're also ordering a carbon air purifier. Thanks

cmarlin - if we keep them, I'll clean them, but no paint, I think they look pretty rich and even though old, I actually like them. I think I'll probably put in something like Silestone in a mocha color and it would look great. What will determine whether we keep them is if I can find a good match that will appropriately fit. kelpermaid, I think they painted in the house recently, though I'm not sure - going to try and find out. I know they've lived there for 6 years, so if they are the only people who smoked there in the last 25 years since it was built, at least 19yrs of it had no smokers - but not sure how bad the last 6 years have been. creekside - now you've TOTALLY confused me! In some cases, homes need to dry to the interior. Kilz will prevent that. So will some other products. A spot of Kilz here and there won't hurt anything. Rolling it on all the interior walls may promote mold growth. So, if you are going to use Kilz after cleaning with TSP or something like it, you can't paint everything?? I'm sure I'm not understanding something here - I'll try to read the info on the link you sent - maybe call the co. next week. Carol_from_NY -thanks, I think my cleaning list is growing by leaps and bounds. The way I'm going, I may have to put my mother on the top of the car and tell her to hold on to the luggage rack for the trip up I'm going to have so many supplies to take! Thanks for mentioning the steamer, I have one and wouldn't have remember to think about taking it. I've never heard about putting gum in for smells, that's a new one. I'll try ANYTHING to get the house to normal. Thanks for all you suggested. Well, at this time we are in limbo. Inspections turned up a few problems, two problems that could be major, one that definitely is and has to do with a foundation failure. I am trying to get the owners to agree to fix what's on the repair list I sent them - which isn't everything that needs to be repaired, I took on the cheaper and more easily aspects of it. Will know more next week whether the deal goes through or falls apart. Wish me luck!! Thanks again to all - everyone has been extremely helpful, and it's all appreciated! Oh, one more thing - my Mom was there during the inspection and told me they had a machine running to take the stink out and she thought it smelled better in there - was probably an ozone machine. My nose will decide (if we close on it, that is) THANKS!!!!