mystery

[BPS. LLC]

There are many possible factors and solutions, depending on how involved you want to get and how much you want to spend. We moved into a house that had a cat and even after three years, you could still smell the urine in the spare bedroom at certain times(the last one we gutted).

Water infiltration (mold) and pest infestation would be two other probable causes, which I think were previously mentioned. The most common place for hidden water infiltration would be around the window, causing mold and rotting the wood, and perhaps aiding in pests.

This time of year mice are looking to find a home. Our house backs up to a 440 acre farm, and we have mice problems from time to time. When one dies in a trap and I forget to check it, the odor can be overwhelming. You may have an easily accessilbe area there for mice, but they get in, perhaps get trapped and die, creating a bad odor.

If you're handy, cut out a section of drywall under the window. Check for mold, rot and signs of infestation. If that's not the problem, how old is the carpet? Keep in mind the different kinds of carpet pads. Many people go cheap on the pads to save money and pay with odors in the long run. You can do a great job cleaining the carpet but the stains and odors are still embedded in old foam pads. Even in my rentals and rehabs, I spend the extra money on the good sealed pad. Generally you should be able to see a roof leak in the ceiling. Other ideas, but less likely are an infestation above the room in the attic, or the same situation in the basement or drop ceiling below the room.

In my experience, which includes owning 70+ rentals, it is one of those problems 98% of the time....trust me, I've rehabbed some nasty ones. I bought a rowhome in the City of York for $2800 that had 18" of pigeon :censored: on the second floor. I could post some crazy pictures if I knew how...

Other pets could be a problem. My neighbor had a 3 year old boy that would hide behind their recliner and pee, not saying that you're daughter does that, but just throwing it out there.

Solutions to a problem...KILZ is a great odor eliminator as someone mentioned. However, be careful not to cover up a problem, like a lot of mold and/or rot. Mold is a big health concern, and remember its your daughter's room. Even though KILZ is great, I don't cover an enourmous amount of mold. Caulk windows, even pull back siding to check for open areas. Foam walls such as Celotex can be a pain if say they were struck with a baseball. It may not have seriously damaged this siding, but could have busted old Celotex. Many possibilities...I could go on and on....good luck.
PM me or let me know if you figure it out, I'm curious.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

The house i been fixing up had a bad piss smell on the top floor and it got worst when i tried to sand the floors so i primed the floors will a good primer (kilz) and the smell went away for good. Maybe its time for new capet and prime the floors under it befor you put the carpet down.

:agree2:


Cat pee is VERY hard to eradicate!

 

[cnice_37]

Ooh I like mysteries.

I'm going to place a 3rd vote for stink bugs or something like that. If the door is open, no smell --> the smell of these things isn't that potent that it wouldn't air out quickly. They have such a sweet pungent smell, could be similar to cat piss.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

There are many possible factors and solutions, depending on how involved you want to get and how much you want to spend. We moved into a house that had a cat and even after three years, you could still smell the urine in the spare bedroom at certain times(the last one we gutted).

Water infiltration (mold) and pest infestation would be two other probable causes, which I think were previously mentioned. The most common place for hidden water infiltration would be around the window, causing mold and rotting the wood, and perhaps aiding in pests.

This time of year mice are looking to find a home. Our house backs up to a 440 acre farm, and we have mice problems from time to time. When one dies in a trap and I forget to check it, the odor can be overwhelming. You may have an easily accessilbe area there for mice, but they get in, perhaps get trapped and die, creating a bad odor.

If you're handy, cut out a section of drywall under the window. Check for mold, rot and signs of infestation. If that's not the problem, how old is the carpet? Keep in mind the different kinds of carpet pads. Many people go cheap on the pads to save money and pay with odors in the long run. You can do a great job cleaining the carpet but the stains and odors are still embedded in old foam pads. Even in my rentals and rehabs, I spend the extra money on the good sealed pad. Generally you should be able to see a roof leak in the ceiling. Other ideas, but less likely are an infestation above the room in the attic, or the same situation in the basement or drop ceiling below the room.

In my experience, which includes owning 70+ rentals, it is one of those problems 98% of the time....trust me, I've rehabbed some nasty ones. I bought a rowhome in the City of York for $2800 that had 18" of pigeon :censored: on the second floor. I could post some crazy pictures if I knew how...

Other pets could be a problem. My neighbor had a 3 year old boy that would hide behind their recliner and pee, not saying that you're daughter does that, but just throwing it out there.

Solutions to a problem...KILZ is a great odor eliminator as someone mentioned. However, be careful not to cover up a problem, like a lot of mold and/or rot. Mold is a big health concern, and remember its your daughter's room. Even though KILZ is great, I don't cover an enourmous amount of mold. Caulk windows, even pull back siding to check for open areas. Foam walls such as Celotex can be a pain if say they were struck with a baseball. It may not have seriously damaged this siding, but could have busted old Celotex. Many possibilities...I could go on and on....good luck.
PM me or let me know if you figure it out, I'm curious.

thank you for your great reply, (thanks everyone)

I am now convinced the smell is not coming from the outside. I searched the attic above and the basement bellow to no avail, being that the surrounding rooms don't smell it has to be the carpet or padding. I will be ripping the carpet and padding out and painting the walls with Kilz and a good latex. the floor underneath is oak hard wood but it needs refinishing and everyone wants carpet in there. should I paint the floor???

 

[flewism]

Yes, but you will know when you pull the carpet and padding if this is the area of the problem as you will see the stains and the smell will be extremely strong. If this is the problem you will also what to scrub the floor with a strong disinfectant prior to painting with Kilz. I had this problem in my very first house and I used straight bleach on the stained areas of the sub floor prior to painting with Kilz. That was more than a couple of decades ago hopefully there is some better disinfectants out there now for such problems.

 

[volks-man]

any updates?

 

[woodman6666]

Pull up carpet and pad Kilz entire floor with the oil based Kilz but make sure the floor is clean and dry first. My guess is this will help.

 

[mga]

you aren't alone. apparently many others are experiencing the same smell, even tho they don't own cats.

one person said it was box wood, others said it was bad dry wall, paints, etc etc.

read about it here:


http://forum.doityourself.com/painting/295308-sunroom-smells-like-cat-urine-but-no-cat.html

 

[Dok]

We had a similar problem with this house. After taking out the carpet and pad upstairs we found patches on particle board underlayment that stank. One of the previous owners kids were peeing in the corners. No stains on the carpet, so that was replaced later. We put down new particle board and then had new carpet installed. Problem solved. I have also been in a house that had bad chinese drywall and that also stinks. Good luck and let us know what you find!
Dok

 

[hammercore]

we had a stink problem at our house as well. we bought our house last summer and it always smelt like piss in the living room, it turned out to be the shrubs that were growing outside the living room windows. it took us a little while to figure out where the smell was comming from because (1) it really smelt like piss so we figured it was the carpet somewhere, previous owners had pets and so do we (2) standing outside next to the shrubs you really didn't notice the smell at all until one day i put my nose right up to the shrub and it was the same smell we would smell inside the house. the smell just accumulated and intensified in the living room. needless to say the shrubs have been relocated and no more smell

 

[Wood Scrounge]

pulled the carpet and padding up, mystery solved, at least part of it. the padding was wet in a few places and it stunk. now I can understand why it was wet the last week, I must not have sucked up the water good enough with the carpet cleaner, but why did it stink before. My only thought is my daughter spilled something and did't tell us (shes 6). I am going to paint today and see if the smell comes back before we lay carpet. I think it's solved, thanks everyone for the great ideas.

 

[wampum]

If the problem is the floor,you may want to seal it after it dries. One thing they use in a home with fire and smoke damage (to stop odors)is Gym seal. Its the varnish they put on the floors of Gyms. The brand I know of is McCloskey's. But there are probably others.

 

[ArborAg]

 

[D&B Mack]

We had this problem in our office. Found it it was the glue in the carpet,smell comes out everytime it rains...why? There was a slight leak in the door frame. To test the theory, we dump a cup a water of water on the carpet on a nice day, no smell, an hour later, stunk like cat piss. One of our guys worked for a carpet installer and thats how we found out. On to your issue, maybe turning the burner on is somehow attracting moisture into the room or maybe just coincidence at the time of year as house walls expand and contract, you are getting a minor leak. Just something to look into. Good luck.