Getting rid of cat smell

[tennesseewj]

Has anyone had to combat cat odor in their garage before?


Looking to buy a new house and it smells like they kept a cat in the garage only. I'd like to do something to get rid of as much of the smell as possible. My initial thought is maybe give the floor (plain concrete) a good cleaning and then either do an acid wash or paint. Walls will get a fresh coat of paint as well, possibly new drywall if I decide the smell is trapped in there. For what it's worth, this is a two car attached (roughly 550 sq ft) and part of the rear and side walls are sub-grade so they are block about halfway up.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, I'd like to be able to park in there without my truck smelling a cat took a leak in it.

 

[SMKS]

It could be animals other than a cat.

Anyway, when we bought our house recently it hadn't been lived in for about 7 months. The garage apparently had mice and possibly a raccoon in it and it smelled bad.

I scrubbed the walls and floor with soapy water. Hosed everything off and then painted the walls with Kilz, which claims to block odors. Then two coats of fresh paint.

It smells fine in there now.

 

[RocketTR]

The only way I could ever get rid of cat smell is to get rid of the cat. The smell subsides over time.

 

[tennesseewj]

It could be animals other than a cat.

Anyway, when we bought our house recently it hadn't been lived in for about 7 months. The garage apparently had mice and possibly a raccoon in it and it smelled bad.

I scrubbed the walls and floor with soapy water. Hosed everything off and then painted the walls with Kilz, which claims to block odors. Then two coats of fresh paint.

It smells fine in there now.

It could be something other than a cat, but I've smelled a lot of animals and cats have a pretty unique stench.

Sounds like a good cleaning a fresh coat(s) of good paint should take care of it. Thanks!

The only way I could ever get rid of cat smell is to get rid of the cat. The smell subsides over time.

Yeah it'll eventually air out (and I will definitely never own a cat), I'm just hoping to speed up the process.

 

[SGKent]

it is a hard one and it never completely goes away. Cats are in the same family as skunks so the logic to say treat with baking soda or chlorine like for say most mammal urine doesn't work. What you need to do is buy a bottle of white vinegar and spray anywhere the cat has been and when you start to smell it again. The vinegar will break down the cat smell. I know this because I bought a foreclosure once where the people left their cat in the house and walked out. A friend, who is a heavy reader of science, suggested the vinegar after everything else had failed ~ it worked. Just put the vinegar in a spray bottle or if it is a big area get one of those plastic pump up sprayers which are designed to hold up with chemicals.

 

[lt1driver]

doubt it was a cat, maybe a cat box (litter box) cats don't really smell I would guess a dog or something else...note I have owned cats all my life and they don't smell unless very sick or dead, cat box smells if owner never cleans, dogs however smell and need washed and if left to live in garage it will stink to high heaven...owed dogs also over the years and house where dogs live always smell...my 2cents and experience.

 

[Kevin54]

doubt it was a cat, maybe a cat box (litter box) cats don't really smell I would guess a dog or something else...note I have owned cats all my life and they don't smell unless very sick or dead, cat box smells if owner never cleans, dogs however smell and need washed and if left to live in garage it will stink to high heaven...owed dogs also over the years and house where dogs live always smell...my 2cents and experience.

If it was a male cat he could overshoot the small litter pans they sell, especially if it didn't have a lid. If the cat was in the garage, then if the garage door was ever opened for a length of time, a feral cat could have come in and sprayed.

The first thing I would do is scrub it down with some bleach water. Get a scrub brush that you can fasten to a long handle. Once that's done and if it doesn't get rid of the smell, use some concentrated Simple Green and mix it up strong and scrub the garage again. If the smell is in the drywall and you can see where a cat may have sprayed, then the drywall will need to be replaced in that area to totally get rid of it.

And as a reminder, if you would happen to have cats, or if there are feral cats on the loose, they will smell where the previous cat's have been, so you need to eliminate where a cat has been as much as feasibly possible.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Our current house had the same problem as yours. Been in it 4 years now and it smells like a proper working garage.

Most surefire way - replace drywall.

The way I dealt with it, I washed the walls and scrubbed the floor with a vinegar/water mix. After that I applied Kilz and eventually painted. The garage smells like a garage now.

I suppose the severity of the saturation will be a variable.

 

[slidehammer]

it is a hard one and it never completely goes away. Cats are in the same family as skunks so the logic to say treat with baking soda or chlorine like for say most mammal urine doesn't work.

Pepé Le Pew was very mistaken. Cats aren't in the same family as skunks. They're in the same order, but then so are dogs and bears and and elephant seals.

 

[SGKent]

vinegar will break down the scent. Trust me on that one.

I bought a foreclosure that the prior owner left a male cat in and walked out. Only vinegar worked to neutralize it.

 

[where2]

If you can isolate where the urine or male marking occurred, you simply hit that area with Natures Miracle from the pet store. The enzymes will take care of it.

If you cannot isolate the spot (and cats usually use the same spot), then hitting the whole floor with a vinegar wash may work. However, be warned that if a neighborhood cat ever wanders into your garage when you're not around, they will likely use the same spot to do their thing. A cat's nose is far more discerning than a human nose.

(I've had over a dozen cats in just 12 years. I start with older adult cats from the shelters, and they come with some interesting habits.)

 

[central1ny]

My wife has used OdoBan to remove animal odors with a lot of success. Cat Puke, Dog Pee, etc.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/OdoBan-128-oz-Eucalyptus-Odor-Eliminator-911061-G/202560626#.UcZTOjvb9Ds

 

[cousin eddie]

the guy on" my cat from hell" uses a black light or something, makes the urine glow. might be helpful to try if you dont tear the walls out completely.

 

[jlckmj]

I just went through this with my daughters farm shed. Cats had lived in there for months using the floor for both pee and ****, it was nearly over the entire 28 X 32 foot floor.

I had her wash it out with water and a little bleach pushed out the door with squeegees, then after it dried I poured a 5 pound can of fresh coffee grounds all around the floor. The next day, all you could smell was coffee. It has been about a week now, and there is only a slight cat smell left, I think one more can of coffee will get rid of it all.

We used to use fresh coffee grounds in our squad cars after hitting a skunk. It overpowers the offensive smell and absorbs it at the same time. I know of very few people that dislike the smell of fresh coffee grounds, and it's a whole lot better than what was there to begin with.

Jim

 

[fringeofinsanity]

When I bought a foreclosure, had a similar problem. I support vinegar and water theory. Give it a few washes, then I put down some kill to,seal any remnants in and ya can't smell a thing anymore

 

[wssix99]

Yeah it'll eventually air out (and I will definitely never own a cat), I'm just hoping to speed up the process.

Never say never...

If you go to a pet store and get an enzymatic cleaner, that will do the best job and will trump (if its really cat pee) bleach, vinegar, soda water, etc. Priming over the spots and painting afterwards should also help out - but the enzymatic stuff will break the stuff down chemically. (You can't wash it away.)

I'll bet whoever had a fully sexed cat in there. They will mark their territory by peeing. Its really intense. #1 reason all cats should be neutered..

 

[wedge40]

Yeah it'll eventually air out (and I will definitely never own a cat), I'm just hoping to speed up the process.

You could burn the garage down and start over.

Wedge

 

[kfainf]

Second on the OdoBan. It works well if you saturate the area where the cat has sprayed and let it dry. Kilz also works well for sealing in any odors before painting.

 

[Norcal]

A 12 gauge shotgun works for me. Buzzards take care of the rest.

And I love the smell of gunpowder in the garage.

From another thread:

I think I might talk to Ryan about a new restriction here: a ban on discussions about how best to torture or kill animals. I mean ****, if you're a skilled and respectful hunter ok. But every damn time we have any thread on here about a cat nuisance, bird nuisance, goose nuisance etc. people start talking scary **** about how they'd kill the offending creature. And some of these ideas are ones I'd reserve for rapists, murderers, pedophiles etc. I think this **** makes the board look bad.

I take it that the offending cat is long gone from the garage in question.

 

[devilsnight]

perhaps its isolated in one area/object. I was working on a barn with my father a few weeks back. He kept commenting that week how it smelled like cat piss everywhere, even up in the peak of the barn working on a window.. Turned out he left his tool belt sitting out overnight and a cat pissed on it washed it with soap and water and been fine since. Kinda funny, maybe the problem isn't as big as you suspect though

 

[rockchucker]

doubt it was a cat, maybe a cat box (litter box) cats don't really smell I would guess a dog or something else...note I have owned cats all my life and they don't smell unless very sick or dead, cat box smells if owner never cleans, dogs however smell and need washed and if left to live in garage it will stink to high heaven...owed dogs also over the years and house where dogs live always smell...my 2cents and experience.

Sorry for this but...You have GOT to be delusional. When male cats get to marking and spraying everywhere it smells like CAT PISS!!!!! Next to 200,000 mile old Gear Oil it is about the same thing. Horrible smell and next to impossible to really remove. Even with KilZ covering it up just wait a year then get down wherever the smell was and stick your nose right in it. It will still linger.

Cat's don't smell...biggest crock I have heard in a looooong time.


OP...Get one of these...

http://www.feedhungrypet.com/product/?id=1104576

...turn off all of the lights at night then go see where the smell is coming from. Vinegar and scrub then bleach and scrub. Let dry then seal with KilZ. If it is on the Concrete I would use diluted Muriatic Acid and just do the whole floor.

Rinse and repeat in a year.

 

[Kevin54]

You can't "cover" up cat piss. Kilz won't do it. When my buddy bought his house, the person that lived there before was a cat lover. I guess they marked their territory everywhere. He had all the woodwork sanded, and sealed multiple times. Well my buddy is a cat lover and has taken in a few cats. They mark their territory right where the other ones did years ago. You walk into their house and it about knocks you down. It was even so bad that he would come to work some days and you could smell it in his clothes.

The first thing we did when that kitten we found was old enough was get he neutered. He thinks he's doing something but he's got dry pipes now. If we didn't, he would be spraying everywhere. As soon as he comes down to my garage, he'll back up to the car or tractor, get on his back tiptoes and the tail goes straight up and shakes. He still thinks he's spraying.

Now if I could catch those damn feral cats that keep marking the front of the house or marking the door around my garage, they will be relocated. I haven't seen them for a week or so now so hopefully when the neighbor moved out, the cats went too. I think they were living under the deck of their pool.

The bottom line, nothing can ruin a house faster than cat piss. And for ones that own cats, even though YOU don't smell it yourself, others that don't own cats can tell that you do. A litter pan needs to be cleaned out on a daily basis, and it needs a lid so cats don't overshoot. In the case of my buddy, I think they cared too much for animals and think cats are maintenance free. Good Lord, they feed the damn things on the kitchen counter and kitchen table. That is just plain nasty. When we had our two cats, one made the mistake of getting on the kitchen island one time. He heard something coming through the air but by the time he saw the rolled up magazine, it was too late. I threw it from the family room and took his *** off of there before he knew what hit him.

The cat we have now lives out in the wifes craft shed. He goes out in the morning, hangs around the property all day doing this and that, and wants to go back in the building at night. It's perfect for us and he keeps the sparrows in check around the property along with any stray mice. We made up our minds after our Persian passed away that there was never going to be any more cats in the house.

 

[CJKaz]

50% vinegar / water, allow to dry. Then cover area with baking soda, saturate with hydrogen peroxide (1 cup H2O2 + 1 tablespoon dish soap). Allow to dry, then vacuum.

Kills odor & stains.

Two epileptic dogs, plenty of opportunities to test this concoction.

 

[cburnscrx]

Zinsser BIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can not tell you enough...this will work!!! Skip the Kilz and all the other junk, this is a shellac and will seal the smell. I bought a foreclosure and there was cat pee everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I took a black light to the upstairs and there pretty much wasn't a spot on the floor that they missed. Bedroom, bathroom, closet, ect. We sprayed the bare floor (goodbye carpet) with some urine off (or something) and when that was dry (you could still smell the cat urine), we sealed it with the Shellac. When the shellac was dry...the smell of the cat urine was gone. Oh, and I have a male cat who made the move afterwards and there has been NO additional marking from him. This stuff is amazing and I recommend it to everybody!

 

[tennesseewj]

Sorry I never got back to this thread guys. I appreciate all the advice, sounds like I'm way better off than some of y'all were at one time. We'll be moving over a several week period so I should have plenty of time to experiment.

 

[marinusdees]

No one has mentioned an ozone generator. Look it up.

 

[Mike-Trident]

Second on the OdoBan. It works well if you saturate the area where the cat has sprayed and let it dry. Kilz also works well for sealing in any odors before painting.

Which OdoBan product did you use?
Mike

 

[ronnyg801]

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4739

I dont know how, but this stuff works great on almost every odor I have tried it on. Let my friend use it for his new to him home which had "cat piss" smell, said it took care of 95% of it in one use. He said he couldnt even walk in the room and now can barely pick up on the odor.

Just follow instructions, mist on... leave and "walaaa"

I am sure you can find it cheaper online or at a local body shop supply who carries meguiars

 

[Mike-Trident]

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4739

I dont know how, but this stuff works great on almost every odor I have tried it on. Let my friend use it for his new to him home which had "cat piss" smell, said it took care of 95% of it in one use. He said he couldnt even walk in the room and now can barely pick up on the odor.

Just follow instructions, mist on... leave and "walaaa"

I am sure you can find it cheaper online or at a local body shop supply who carries meguiars

I may have to buy a bottle of that... Never hurts to keep that stuff around.

 

[Kels]

Black light will show you the cat pee it glows. So you know where the problem is. As to fixing it refer to others.

I have owned many cats through the years and never had a cat that sprayed and only had cats that missed the box as kittens. I don't have an issue with cat smell as long as keep the box clean. That said I have been in places that have cats the spray or miss boxes or will not use the box and it is 110% gross, I would not keep a cat that sprayed or refused to use a box!