Unfortunately, the products you've been using will not eliminate pet odors......they just mask them. You need to use an enzyme product made for cleaning pet urine/feces. I've used the one below and it works. Most pet stores sell these enzymes and they're also sold online. Look for anything recommended by dog/cat kennels! In addition to using the enzyme I'd recommend you seal the concrete after it's thoroughly dry. That should take care of the odor in the concrete. If the cat has sprayed the walls and the odor has seeped into the wood then that odor will be a little more difficult to get rid of. The OdorMute listed below can be used on wood also so I'd probably spray all the walls and the floor during the cleaning. I'd strip the basement bare since it's possible the wood and fabric on any of the remaining furniture has absorbed the odor. While showing the house you should move the cats and their litter boxes to a spare bedroom or the garage and let the realtor know that no one is allowed in those rooms during showings because of pets. If you have a serious buyer, they will return to see the room they couldn't see on the first visit. When showing a home, it's important to remove the pet and as much of its stuff as possible. It doesn't matter that you keep the litter boxes clean if the cat has decided to do their business right before a buyer arrives to view the home. Plus, people who don't own pets often are more sensitive to odors that pet owners are accustomed to. Here is a link that might be useful: enzyme cleaner

Barbarah, my cabs are painted maple in dove white, my kitchen is currently a pale butter yellow which I love but was considering a sage green for a change and I always wanted a creamy beige granite such as giallo ornamental, cinnamon sand or new venetian gold but was considering a dark green such as pavao butterfly. I wanted a shiny chrome faucet and glass knobs. I know the floor will be beautiful but what I'm afraid of is ending up with a yellow gymnasium like floor which is something I don't want but if I could be assured that it would come out more of say a honey color that would be great although it wouldn't be the darker oak color I was looking for (yes, I know oak and pine stain differently). I think we are going to do it and if it's really not to my liking, heaven forbid, I will tile the floor . . .thank you.

That is their standard response to all floors. Maybe the rare floor finisher uses waterborne poly. The answer depends on what kind of finish appearance you want, what expectations for wear you have, and how "historical" you may be willing to be. The list of potential finishes, least-durable (requiring frequent maintenance, but giving a unique and more historically-authentic appearance, to hard, bulletproof plastic-y and inauthentic): Bare floor: ages naturally, but will water spot and stain most easily. wood worn away by foot traffic, especially with a very soft wood like white pine. No color will be brought out except by passage of time and whatever dirt/patina builds up and as the wood oxidizes. Wax finish: low protection from water and wear, must be renewed yearly or more, potential to bring out some color in the wood; colored waxes are now readily available. Will be a very authentic soft finish showing much of the natural wood color and texture. Wax does not form a film. Oil finish: Lots of oils out there, most oil finishes do not form a film, so the wood still looks bare/natural. Colored oil finishes are possible, but may blotch a bit at first, this usually will fade when 100% dry. Water spotting still possible, and wood can still wear down. The wood's surface is still taking the wear, but it has been fortified because the oil has penetrated it. Some harder-drying oils, like 100% tung oil, Australian Timber Oil, and I think Landark, are fairly good at hardening the wood surface and are the most durable oils. Wear spots can usually be masked by the application of more oil as needed. Shellac is called a "spirit varnish" because it forms it's protective beautifying film by the evaporation of the alcohol solvent that liquefies it. As the alcohol evaporates very quickly, shellac is a fast-drying finish. Some shellacs contain wax as an impurity. It is added as an extender, and it does help somewhat to achieve a smooth rubbed-out finish when buffed with steel wool. The wax/impurity also shortens the shelf life and lengthens the drying time, while making the finish less water-resistant. In my experience, it's the wax that makes shellac get white water spots. I only use de-waxed shellac, which can be purchased ready-mixed (Zinsser Sealcoat) or made by dissolving flakes in alcohol. I use a lot of shellac for various things, including some floors in my house (and fine furniture finishes). The formula I use for floors is to sand to at least 120, with the grain, by hand, then apply two coats of de-waxed garnet shellac (the darkest colored shellac that really brings out the beauty and gives a base color that's very pleasing on old wood/old house context) and put on 4 coats of the Sealcoat for the wear layer. Six coats of garnet to reach the same film thickness would be awfully dark IMO. Scratches in the shellac floor can be easily touched up without the need to sand the whole floor. Shellac will always bond to shellac, so there is never any problems with blistering or peeling. Because shellac has no odor after the alcohol evaporates, and you can put on 4 coats in a day, it's really great for bedrooms or people with chemical sensitivity. Old-fashion oil varnishes are sometimes used, but the reasons poly is preferred is because it has more benefits for floors because it is harder, so people don't mess with non-poly oil varnish much at all. The only benefit would be that it could theoretically be removed by a chemical stripper so future refinishing would be possible without further sanding. Oil varnish gives a deep amber color to wood, especially your old white pine. Problems include long drying time, softness, difficulty to touch up without sanding. Easier to re-coat than poly, though, because it will stick to itself with lower risk of peeling. Film-forming oil finishes, like Waterlox, are sometimes the most appropriate non-poly floor finish for historic floors. The huge selling point (what sold me) is the need for no future sanding. As historic flooring fabric is a finite resource, and can only take so much sanding until it is worn beyond use, eventually one must consider replacement vs. conservation. Waterlox makes the case that since it can be scuffed and recoated there is never any need to fully sand the wood, so a stable condition on the old floor can be maintained for a long time. Waterlox is a thinner oil=based varnish made with tung oil (I can smell it!) along with other resins and solvents. It has a _very_ strong odor when being applied, as you are getting the effect of the solvent and the material all at once. You need an activated charcoal respirator made for VOC's, or you will suffer the effects. It stinks, OK? The curing time, during which the odor can be detected, will be about a month. The bad, toxic aroma is gone in a day or two. I chose Waterlox for my old kitchen floor. It has held up pretty well; it's now been almost 5 years and there are some scuffed-looking areas where the chairs sit. It's been great for spills, water, general traffic, etc. So I recommend it unless you have chemical sensitivities for aromatic organic compounds, or nut allergies (!) Tung oil is from a nut, BTW. We then come to Polys and other hard commercial-grade floor finishes, some of which are technically difficult to apply and have severe health threats if the proper measures aren't observed while applying. I have such limited experience with any of these that I cannot comment as to any particulars, except to state that they do not have it within themselves to be touched up, and any damage to an area however small usually calls for the whole floor to be re-sanded for a total refinish, or the spot would still be visible. These finishes last an amazingly long time, requiring only cleaning maintenance, and if the floor in question were a new hard wood, it would make the most sense to use the most long-lived finish you could obtain. But in your circumstance it's probably obvious by now that I would not recommend such a finish for your historic wood floor. Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to weigh all the characteristics within your specific context. Casey

Keep at it! I cant wait to see how this turns out. We have a 1897 farm house here in TX that has floors similar to you. We are not sure the wood, as it is painted, and has been since my folks bought it back in the 1980's. I have not yet had the time to start the stripping process but I would love to one day. This house has a lot of history, as 11 children were born and reared here. I am afraid of all the sanding, to get some boards even but I want to leave some of the wear, as it has character. One room at a time may be the way to go. The bead-board was once painted grey (by the previous owner) like the staircase the original was stained (one room upstairs still is)and we painted it white. The banister is original. The treads are all hand cut by the builders. I want to restore them first. Here is the house itself with new Hardie-board siding