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MrsRivera
2 under 2...whew!!
Member since 2/07 9876 total posts
Name:
Beth
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Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
Ok, so this weekend is the big weekend that we are going to try to "rehab" our future  's nursery.
Some of you might remember that we raised 7 kittens in that room, and they had accidents allllllll along one of the walls. We pulled back the carpet and saw that many of the accidents had soaked down into the subfloor.
After doing a LOT of research and talking to contractors, carpet installers, etc., here's what we've decided to do:
1. We already cut out the damaged portion of carpet and padding. DH removed the tack strips that were holding down the old carpet, they were SOAKED in cat pee.
2. We tried using baking soda overnight to soak up any residual wetness. Too little too late--all the urine was dried and the baking soda did nothing.
3. We're hearing that if we spray white vinegar onto the spots with the dried urine, it will soak into the subfloor and will actually help to neutralize the ammonia smell from the urine. THEN we'll use baking soda to soak it up. This is what we'll be doing tonight (yes, at midnight--we're night owls).
4. Sunday, once the subfloor has had adequate time to dry, we'll be applying 3 coats of Kilz oil-based primer, which we're told by many people we spoke to that this is the ONLY product known to seal in odors. It's commonly used after house fires to seal in the smoke smell.
Then, if all goes well, we'll have the new carpet installed on Monday, prime all the walls/baseboards in that same oil-based primer, paint the room, cross our fingers and hope for the best!!
I fought for just replacing the subfloor, but DH REALLY wants to avoid that. So, we're going to try this and  very hard!
Wish us luck! I will update in a few days to let you know if it worked out!
UPDATE (SATURDAY):
So, we sprayed the damaged area of the subfloor with while vinegar, let it soak in for about 1/2 hour, and then covered the whole area with baking soda.
When we came back this morning, the areas that we had covered were CAKED with yellow baking soda!!!  I never thought I'd be so happy to see pee in my entire life!  We used a shop-vac to vacuum up the baking soda and it smelled SO much better! We decided to do a 2nd treatment of the vinegar and baking soda today, just to be on the safe side. Then tomorrow, when it's all dry, we'll apply the odor sealant and see what happens.
I NEVER thought this smell was going to come out, but I'm actually starting to feel optimistic about this!
Message edited 11/8/2008 5:53:23 PM.
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Posted 11/7/08 11:55 PM  |
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Long Island Weddings
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Goobster
:)
Member since 5/07 27557 total posts
Name:
:)
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! (a little long)
OMGosh...what a project. All for these little kittens and their mama. You are the best, I your plan works out!
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| Posted 11/8/08 7:30 AM |
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CaseyGirl
Mommy to 3 Boys :)
Member since 5/05 19978 total posts
Name:
Jen - counting my blessings...
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! (a little long)
Good luck.
My house's previous owner had 30 cats  We had to rip out every floor and replace the hard wood. But - he had them here for years, hopefully since yours were only there a little while you will have better luck!
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| Posted 11/8/08 10:42 AM |
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LI-Joy
Member since 10/07 2910 total posts
Name:
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! (a little long)
Good Luck ! ! !
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| Posted 11/8/08 10:53 AM |
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MrsRivera
2 under 2...whew!!
Member since 2/07 9876 total posts
Name:
Beth
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
Posted by CaseyGirl
Good luck.
My house's previous owner had 30 cats
OMG...30??!!!!!  The smell was enough to knock us over with FIVE cats in that room! I can't even imagine.
Our stains were at most 3 months old, so I'm hoping we can get away with our plan to leave the subfloor intact and "rehab" it. 
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| Posted 11/8/08 5:55 PM |
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MrsRivera
2 under 2...whew!!
Member since 2/07 9876 total posts
Name:
Beth
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
bumped for encouraging Saturday update!
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| Posted 11/8/08 5:55 PM |
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
Yay for yellow baking powder!!!!!
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| Posted 11/8/08 6:00 PM |
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LI-Joy
Member since 10/07 2910 total posts
Name:
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
Posted by MrsRivera
bumped for encouraging Saturday update!
So happy to hear that it worked. I am going to try that.
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| Posted 11/8/08 9:45 PM |
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Goobster
:)
Member since 5/07 27557 total posts
Name:
:)
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
Posted by MrsRivera
When we came back this morning, the areas that we had covered were CAKED with yellow baking soda!!! I never thought I'd be so happy to see pee in my entire life! We used a shop-vac to vacuum up the baking soda and it smelled SO much better! We decided to do a 2nd treatment of the vinegar and baking soda today, just to be on the safe side. Then tomorrow, when it's all dry, we'll apply the odor sealant and see what happens.
I NEVER thought this smell was going to come out, but I'm actually starting to feel optimistic about this!
How did you find out about this? This sounds great! I too can't believe it's working!
Our cats growing up, two of them, would pee in a few spots in the house (naughty kitties). Once my mom pulled up the rugs, and had the floors finished and sealed, we never smelled anything at all. I think with what you are doing, plus refinishing the floors (if you do this), you stand a good chance of getting rid of the smell.
Are you going to finish the floor or just carpet? Or finish then carpet?
Message edited 11/9/2008 7:54:03 AM.
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| Posted 11/9/08 7:52 AM |
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Shanti
True love
Member since 6/05 12653 total posts
Name:
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
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| Posted 11/9/08 9:51 AM |
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MrsRivera
2 under 2...whew!!
Member since 2/07 9876 total posts
Name:
Beth
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
Posted by Goobster
Posted by MrsRivera
When we came back this morning, the areas that we had covered were CAKED with yellow baking soda!!! I never thought I'd be so happy to see pee in my entire life! We used a shop-vac to vacuum up the baking soda and it smelled SO much better! We decided to do a 2nd treatment of the vinegar and baking soda today, just to be on the safe side. Then tomorrow, when it's all dry, we'll apply the odor sealant and see what happens.
I NEVER thought this smell was going to come out, but I'm actually starting to feel optimistic about this!
How did you find out about this? This sounds great! I too can't believe it's working!
Our cats growing up, two of them, would pee in a few spots in the house (naughty kitties). Once my mom pulled up the rugs, and had the floors finished and sealed, we never smelled anything at all. I think with what you are doing, plus refinishing the floors (if you do this), you stand a good chance of getting rid of the smell.
Are you going to finish the floor or just carpet? Or finish then carpet?
I was DESPERATE to get this to work, so I spent hours on Google researching different ways to get cat urine out of subfloor. I saw all sorts of strange responses (hairspray?  ), but one thing that kept coming up was the fact that vinegar neutralizes ammonia and turns it into salt water.
Most places suggested wetting the area with vinegar from a spray bottle (but not soaking it) and letting it sink down into the subfloor for a few minutes. Then, once it's had time to sink down, use the baking soda to pull it back up.
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!!
DH and his dad applied 2 coats of the odor sealant last night and left a fan exhausting out the window. I went in there this morning and the smell is completely gone!!!!!!!
Once the new carpet goes in on Monday, I think we'll be in business!
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| Posted 11/9/08 10:11 AM |
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HoneyBadger
YourWorstNightmare.
Member since 10/06 15979 total posts
Name:
BahBahBlackJeep
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Re: Wish us luck!!!! with a small Saturday update!
Beth this is great news!!! I'm glad it's working out for you guys...
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| Posted 11/9/08 11:53 AM |
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