Cat/human pi$$ carpets

[SOULFLY3]

Hey guys,
My gf has just moved into a unit (renting brissy)
And at the time of inspection the STRONG cat ****
Smell was masked by candles and what not.

Today I have spent the day moving her stuff in
and the smell is Absolutely vile. Almost like human ****
Is there some sort of cooling off period or rights she has
To break lease? it is day1 today.
The young punk at the real estate is pathetic no returned
Calls emails etc
So I want to know her rights before I ring him up and give
Him a piece of my mind

Thanks shes so upset & annoyed and I am too for her

(So much for the no pets clause)

 

[Perp]

If she turned up and the smell was horrific and she didn't want to move in, she might have had cause to break lease, but now that she's moved in it's more complicated. (Though I get that it's hard to turn up with a truck full of stuff and then not move in.)

I think that you should invite somebody from the agency to come over and smell it, and if they are decent, they may want to impress on the owner the urgency of having something done - and hopefully the owner still has recourse against the last tenant.

I suspect the problem probably was that the previous tenant had the carpets professionally cleaned, and they did the exit inspection immediately afterwards. A good clean can keep the smell down for a day or two, but unless it's been properly treated, it will come back.

If they're not willing to do anything to fix it, the best she can hope for is for it to be noted on the condition report.

If she has to fix it herself - and unfortunately I have experience of this issue with dog urine - I tried bleach, UrineFree, several brands of carpet shampoo, vinegar, all sorts of things. UrineFree works but you need a lot and it ends up being quite expensive. And at least as effective - in my experience - is shampooing with an enzyme-powered laundry detergent. (I used liquid Omo, but I've heard BioZet is also good.) Don't be afraid to get the carpet quite wet; as long as you suck up all moisture that you can and then get some sun (if possible) and fresh air over it, it'll dry up a treat. If really wet, or if the suction isn't great on your shampooer, then stomp on some old towels over the wet patch to get rid of excess moisture before air drying.

Some also recommend re-doing after the urine smell is gone with plain water, or vinegar and water, to get rid of the detergent residue in the carpet, because 1) it can attract new dirt to cling to it, and 2) the optical brighteners can make it look visually different.

 

[INVSTOR]

Yes, it's gross, put me off cats for life! I used to wonder why people didn't like them!! I had issues living in two different properties with cats coming in through doggy door as my tiny dog wasn't a very good deterent. Biozet washing detergent is the only thing I found would remove the smell.

 

[EN710]

EEEKKKK. This is why most landlords don't like tenants with pets while so many good owners out there

I have a small dog... and several pee and diarrhoea accidents on the carpet . I use UrineOff (buy 3.5L ish for $80 dollar or so), treat with some vinegar, then generous amount of baking soda on top for a night, then vacuum. So far they do the trick and no smell (or my nose has been adjusted).

As you kitty litter smell might have been there for ages, you might need to treat them a lot longer, e.g. baking soda for several days.

I have seen places that rent out carpet cleaner with pet specific solution, might be able to try that?

 

[fokas]

Don't be afraid to get the carpet quite wet; as long as you suck up all moisture that you can and then get some sun (if possible) and fresh air over it, it'll dry up a treat. If really wet, or if the suction isn't great on your shampooer, then stomp on some old towels over the wet patch to get rid of excess moisture before air drying.

And I always thought that getting the carpet underlay wet was a massive no-no due to mould and what-not?

 

[GreenTreeFrog]

If the smell is that strong, it is soaked through the underlay. Don't waste a cent on any product, it will not help.

The only way to resolve it is to rip up the carpet.

I have had tenants do this twice. Trying to wash it out just makes it stink more! and every time in the future the carpets get wet or it is humid or damp, the stench activates again.

Can you lift the carpet from one corner, pull it back and look for urine stains on the underside of the carpet? They are very obvious and easy to spot. See attached.

You can also check if the underlay is wet. A black light illuminates cat urine.

The photo attached shows some of the stains throughout a 7 bedroom house. The tenants were ADAMANT the dog NEVER wee'd in the house. Finally, at Tribunal, they admitted the dog was fecking incontinent...

 

[Perp]

And I always thought that getting the carpet underlay wet was a massive no-no due to mould and what-not?

There's a happy middle ground; you don't want it sopping wet, but you have to get the cleaning fluid in at least as deep as the urine that created the smell, in order to eliminate it. I find the best way is to go over and over the spot with the shampooer, constantly spraying but also constantly sucking. So there's never a lot of water in there, but a large volume of water "passes through" the carpet, if you understand what I'm saying.

If the smell is that strong, it is soaked through the underlay. Don't waste a cent on any product, it will not help.

The only way to resolve it is to rip up the carpet.

I have salvaged carpets that I was certain I'd have to rip up using the method I described. I wasted months and $ on various brands of carpet shampoo and spray bottles of enzyme-powered cleaners that didn't cut the mustard; but I did find that getting an enzyme solution right down into the carpet and underlay can be incredibly effective.

 

[GreenTreeFrog]

I will keep that in mind for next time! Plus I have cats... bloody things.

 

[SOULFLY3]

Thanks for the replies
Atm thou cleaning/washing is the last option
More so asking if theres a way to get something
Done by threatening to break lease or Something
along those lines
The bed room is only off the top of my head no larger
Than 11-13sq so getting land lord to re carpet would be
Cheapish and best result all round
There is also no real sign of **** on the carpet! Meaning Would
Require to scrub the whole room

 

[INVSTOR]

Thanks for the replies
Atm thou cleaning/washing is the last option
More so asking if theres a way to get something
Done by threatening to break lease or Something
along those lines
The bed room is only off the top of my head no larger
Than 11-13sq so getting land lord to re carpet would be
Cheapish and best result all round
There is also no real sign of **** on the carpet! Meaning Would
Require to scrub the whole room

It may not be the carpet. When we had cats coming In to our properties they were peeing on walls, curtains, verticals, furniture, school bags, washing machine, vacuum, everywhere!!

 

[neK]

This is the reason why i have my property advertised as "Pets allowed" but anyone with cats are automatically declined.

I would advertise as "Pets allowed, except cats" but i figured that would create some unwanted issues.

I cannot stand the smell of cats in a house.

 

[Vanillascent]

I just bought a house with human urine throughout carpet (previous owner incontinent). The carpets had been professionally shampooed and yet you were hit with an overwhelming smell just as you enter the house. I've been pulling up the carpets and most of it is through the underlay. Do I guess it depends on how bad the urine is. Cat urine is more distinct than human urine.

 

[BayView]

When I was living in my first PPoR, the neighbors over the back fence (renters; I found out later) had two dogs that barked waay too much.

Farkin annoyed the sheed out of me, and one time I went around to the door and complained...a bit of quiet for a while after that.

But, then they started up again, and it went for a few days non-stop.

So, I looked over the fence to see what the dogs were doing, and it looked like a war zone after an air-strike; there was one of the dogs chained to a tree, looked terrible; obviously starving...mud, dirt, rubbish etc everywhere.

I thought; "What the hell is going on with these f/wits?"

I walked around to the front door to complain again, and knocked...a lady came out who I didn't recognise...the owner.

I had timed it to turn up about half an hour after she did! She was absolutely furious. She let me in to have a look at the place...OMG!

The renters had done a runner, and left the two dogs there ...abandoned them.

They had left the back door open, and the second dog had gotten free and was roaming around the house and backyard at will.

The entire house was full of dog poo, urine smell, rubbish and food scraps (from the dog) - it was foul.

 

[Jaggannath]

I wish we could treat them the way they treated their dogs...

 

[fokas]

This is the reason why i have my property advertised as "Pets allowed" but anyone with cats are automatically declined.

I would advertise as "Pets allowed, except cats" but i figured that would create some unwanted issues.

For the record, the pet cats we had in our family growing up never peed/pooed anywhere else apart from outside or in their kitty litter trays, and the most annoying thing they did was drag a piece of kitty litter out of their trays which was stuck to their foot. So not ALL cats are evil.

 

[lamp]

For the record, the pet cats we had in our family growing up never peed/pooed anywhere else apart from outside or in their kitty litter trays, and the most annoying thing they did was drag a piece of kitty litter out of their trays which was stuck to their foot. So not ALL cats are evil.

Same for mine, my two cats only pee and poo in their litter box too, it really depends how the owner trained/look after their cats, also never scratch, drag any of our funitures coz we trained them not to.

At the end of the day, whether it is cat or dog both have unpleasant odoure by nature, it is the responsibility of the owners to clean after them.

Also, a bit of knowldege sharing, strong urine odour is normally from unneutured male feline, desexing can reduce the smell. It is common that owners don't bother desexing their male cats coz they don't have to bare the burden of their cats getting pregnant.

Sorry for the side track. Please don't hate any animals!

 

[SOULFLY3]

atm carpet dude has come in an ripped up existing underlay
even he was like WOW he isnt even sure what it is...

had the industrial fan on the carpet the past 48 hours as moisture was present..

new underlay going in today and then he is giving the existing carpet a deodorizing

hope it works :/
my feelings are there will still be a smell on the carpet itself

 

[GreenTreeFrog]

Sounds like half a job if they are only replacing the underlay!

 

[SOULFLY3]

Yeah told both PM & Carpet dude the smell is still evident in the caarpet and demanded it to be replaced or simply won't be paying rent.
They agreed to replace the carpet in the room...

 

[jim1964]

it is soaked through the underlay. Don't waste a cent on any product, it will not help.

Exactly right.The urine seems through to the underlay which retains the urine,the face fiber of the carpet can be cleaned, but the UNDERLAY needs to go,depending on how much urine seeped through,everytime the seasons change,the smell will reactivate.