# Will Painting Cover Up Cat Urine Smell?



## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> Nothing has worked.


Right, there is no way to remove it. Gut the closet.


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

Try some Coverstain. Its oil based primer. Might wanna do a couple coats of it. Before that however, dump on a vinegar and baking soda mixture. Try that, then slap on some coverstain. Its oil based. If coverstain doesnt work, nothing will.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Coverstain is excellent..... but I still believe BIN white pigmented shellac is the very best stain and odor blocker.....

pricier.... but the very best shot at it.

Good luck.... if two coats of Bin can't get it.... you are tearing it out


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Why waste 3 days with Bin & Coverstain? Gut & rebuild it in 5.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Guap0_ said:


> Why waste 3 days with Bin & Coverstain? Gut & rebuild it in 5.


GUOP...... Maybe drying time is not MORE important as $$$$$;....

(There might be a slight difference in cost $50 versus 5 days of tearout plus material)

tHAT MIGHT BE ONE REASON.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Pigmented shellac like Zinnser's BIN is excellent for sealing in odors. You do have to apply it liberally to insure that all of the wood with urine is completely covered. 1 heavy fluid coat of BIN is often sufficient.


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## christoff (Feb 26, 2008)

I have used this product a few times and it does work
http://www.naturessecretweapon.com/


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## askbob (May 30, 2018)

I will definitely either try the shellac or the Coverstain at some point. However, I'm also willing to try cleaning again with something new. Will the vinegar/baking soda or Nature Secret spry do much better than this Resolve I've already tired? Don't wanna waste any more time (and I used like three bottles):


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

vinegar/baking soda/hydrogen peroxide is super cheap, so worth a shot. https://pets.thenest.com/make-cat-pee-remover-hydrogen-peroxide-11638.html

As far as the primer, I would actually pour some of it on the floor, and squeegee it over the area.

BIN will dry MUCH faster, BTW.


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## CodeMatters (Aug 16, 2017)

No suggestions but the thread reminds of a book I read a few years ago 
about house flipping. The author said something like....."to me, cat piss 
smells like money". Thought that was a pretty funny line -)


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

CodeMatters said:


> No suggestions but the thread reminds of a book I read a few years ago
> about house flipping. The author said something like....."to me, cat piss
> smells like money". Thought that was a pretty funny line -)


VERY VERY TRUE.....

It scares off any buyers and seller's (either primary or bank owned) are scared of it secondary only to mold.

And a $50 can of Bin will fix it..... although I usually hit it before with a $20 bottle of natures mirical and give it a few days before Bin.

Simple repairs scare many people......


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

askbob said:


> I will definitely either try the shellac or the Coverstain at some point. However, I'm also willing to try cleaning again with something new. Will the vinegar/baking soda or Nature Secret spry do much better than this Resolve I've already tired? Don't wanna waste any more time (and I used like three bottles):


I don't think that resolve is necessarily intended/designed/formulated expressly for odor embedded in subfloor.

I think it is intended to remove stains from carpet.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> I don't think that resolve is necessarily intended/designed/formulated expressly for odor embedded in subfloor. I think it is intended to remove stains from carpet.


It might remove the stains but cat urine odor isn't going anywhere. I once lived next to a older couple who had cats up the wazoo. The young guy who bought the house gutted it. That was the only choice.


Another time, I was working for a floor installer & refinisher. The lady across the street said, "I think I need a new floor. I have 28 cats." The boss just looked at her & didn't say a word.


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## siffleur (Aug 19, 2013)

christoff said:


> I have used this product a few times and it does work
> http://www.naturessecretweapon.com/


This reminds me of a product I used back in the 1990s on an old apartment oak floor where there was blue and green mold (from lots of dog urine) that was all over the floors when the carpet and padding were pulled up.

I went to my janitorial supply house and got a solution that had bacteria that actually would digest the urine and break it down. The directions said to apply it liberally to the floor, then cover it with a plastic tarp to prevent it from drying. The instructions said that the urine smell would increase and become very strong, but after a while it would start disappearing as the bacteria digested it. This is what did happen.

I would consider a trip to your nearest full service janitorial supply house and ask what they have along these lines. I would also do a search for cat/dog urine bacterial solution or enzyme solution.

If you do use Natures Secret Weapon or other similar product, I would think of taping paper towels up the wall as far as you think any urine was sprayed, then spray the paper towels with the bacterial product of your choice, then tape plastic wrap above the paper towels and cover them so the solution does not evaporate. Do the same thing on the floor. If one treatment seems to work, try another and see if it helps more.

If most of the odor is gone with this method, but some smell still lingers, try running a small ozone machine into the closet. Get a long tube so you can have the ozone machine in another room while you pump ozone into the closet via the long tube. Running an ozone machine in the area you are treating can damage the ozone machine. Run the machine for several days if it is a small generator and 1 or 2 if it is industrial sized. Do a little research on using ozone machines before you use one.

After all this if there still is odor, you might consider tearing out the drywall up a foot or 2 or to wherever you think the cat urine stopped.

Or

If there is still a bit of odor and you want to seal it in, I would use BIN. I spoke with Erik Jannusch at Rustoleum about primers that cover smoke odor and he said that while Cover Stain is 95% effective in sealing off odors and preventing outgassing of their molecules, BIN is in the 99% range at doing this. I would imagine that the same would hold true for cat urine odor.

siffleur


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Guap0_ said:


> It might remove the stains but cat urine odor isn't going anywhere. I once lived next to a older couple who had cats up the wazoo. The young guy who bought the house gutted it. That was the only choice.
> 
> 
> Another time, I was working for a floor installer & refinisher. The lady across the street said, "I think I need a new floor. I have 28 cats." The boss just looked at her & didn't say a word.


Guop.... I've never had it fail.... ued maybe 6-8 times....

BUT, I am sure there are really bad cases where the urine is such that it can't really be covered / contained that do require complete RR.

If it were my property, I'd try it first, even if I waste $50. 

JMHO (pretty good for an ol F ...hunh...:wink2:


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

I had a recent bout with toddler urine in the registers at one of our rentals. Seems the little whizzer was too lazy to find a bathroom. I guess what ever floor register he was closest to was the target. I use "target" loosely because he was horrible with his aim. Replacing registers and ductwork was the easiest part. Getting the smell from the oak hardwood floor was the issue. We tried various bleach, peroxide and other solutions for about a week and a half to no avail. Finally ran across a product called Odoban. After the first treatment, huge improvement. Repeated 3 or 4 more times with daily treatments and luckily was able to save the floor. The finish was shot and required sanding and refinishing but avoided the tare out.


Toddler pee isn't the same as cat urine but might be worth a shot,
not terribly expensive.


https://www.walmart.com/ip/OdoBan-D...75035&wl11=online&wl12=50019051&wl13=&veh=sem


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

I'd never used ODABAN for urine specifically, but in remodeling I use it liberally around anything that may tend to smell or musty.....old framing/toilet flanges/crawl spaces/ insulation that has gotten wet/old carpet not being replaced.

The stuff seems very good at first masking the odor and in a few days somehow getting rid of the odor.

Just leaves an unobtrusive fresh/clean odor.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

The real expert would be a cat. Do you have a friend with a calm cat? The cat will smell affected areas.

I've thrown out things with any cat detectable urine odor, not because I can still smell it, but because a cat & sometimes dogs will pee on it. Territorial.

The enzymatic & bacterial cleaners say not to use them if other cleaners have been used. They can kill the bacteria or hydrolyze the enzymes.

The baking soda & vinegar works thru carbon dioxide produced. Like Chem Dry carpet cleaners.


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## h22lude (May 10, 2013)

I had two cats that peed on one stair. It was bad. I removed the carpet and used BIN primer. I believe I did 3 coats. Couldn't smell a thing after. I wouldn't use anything but that...if you plan on going that route. Nothing else will work to get down to the wood. The professional cleaners do well on the carpet but still don't touch the wood underneath.


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## mpmp2121 (Jul 17, 2015)

BIN got rid of cat urine and what I swore to God were cat blood stains in a rental years back. Good times. 
Prior to that, you may want to seal the area up as tight as possible with as much cat litter and baking soda as economically feasible. I've used both to eliminate odors from furniture prior to painting it. That, however, took many days.


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## Solomonius (Mar 26, 2021)

It is very difficult to get rid of the smell of cat litter and everyone tries to clean it up very carefully so that later there would be no such consequences as you describe in your post. If you use paint, then there is a great chance that the smell will disappear, but if there is dampness in that place, it will reappear. When I just bought a cat it was difficult to train him to the litter box, and I thought of a method using escape proof cat harness. I use the harness all the time to keep my pet in check. And as soon as I noticed that he wanted to go to the toilet, I immediately pulled the harness to the tray. It was very difficult at the beginning, but luckily I got it.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I wonder why the outside woods smell so good with all the animals in them?


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Nik333 said:


> I wonder why the outside woods smell so good with all the animals in them?


plenty of fresh air ventilation


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## AveryMolly (Feb 2, 2021)

*Solomonius, Could you tell me some more information about it? Let’s talk in PM *


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