Urine in Concrete

[aabeetham]

Hello all - New here

I've done a ton of research, tried different things and nothing is working. So I've joined here in hopes someone has dealt with this before. Please note I do not know if the basement has previously been sealed or not - house is from the 70s.

I am renting a home that has a pretty intense urine situation in the basement. I'm renting a side split home, double basement and the offending basement is the lower one. No major moisture issues but haven't lived there long. The landlord had painted the basement floor and all was well. Being the clean freak I am, wanted to clean the basement for myself and in doing so, pulled up some of the paint and the smell was just insane. It's definitely urine, mainly in one spot but I'm going to get a black light finally and see where the other areas are.

What I've done so far:
General cleaner
Peroxide
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Urine enzyme Eaters (ex. Natures Miracle)
Zinsser BIN primer & sealer

Now the Zinsser worked for the smell initially. I thought great, this is cleared up and done. I mopped the floor with a mild cleaner (Mr. Clean correctly diluted) and the BIN started bubbling up and peeling off. Ended up pressure washing the floor and all the shellac came off.

Now I'm at a loss for what to do. I've looked online and read the can (haven't called Zinsser yet) and it appears that specific shellac is not recommended for concrete floors - or flooring period.

Anyone have experience with KILZ MAX? It states it's good for concrete flooring among other surfaces. BUT, it's water based. Makes me nervous and I don't want to spend a ton more.

Sorry this was so long. Any advice? TIA!!

 

[cgrutt]

What is source? A cat? Broken sewer pipe? Vagrant? I never dealt with this but would think you would want to eliminate the source and dry it out rather than sealing it up. We did look at a house that had a cat downstairs and know exactly what you're talking about though. Disgusting. My first thought was the enzyme products but seems you already covered that. Second thought would be an epoxy based concrete paint after you eliminated the source of the problem.

 

[lilredex]

Had a house like that, but it was a monkey running loose. We re-sanded and refinished the hardwood floors with lots of Varathane, and that pretty much fixed the problem. But on hot humid days, you could still smell him in the upstairs closet where he spent much of his time.

Good luck on that one.

 

[DTE]

A Enzyme product would be your best bet, you said you tried some already and I have used this one a lot and it works really well at getting rid of uric acid. http://www.kor-chem.com/product/hyzymes/

 

[Evilunclegrimace]

Try and find a product called Foul odor neutralizer. There is also a product that is a available from a Janitorial supply house that is eucalyptus based if you can take the strong scent that it has.

 

[Zeke]

What % peroxide? May not have been sufficient. Try some chlorine. Careful of the fumes and don't ever use any acid type product at the same time.

 

[aabeetham]

Okay I will try different enzyme cleaners, thanks! I'm trying not to dump a bunch of money into this seeing as we don't own it. I figured with all the cleaning and using an enzyme cleaner already that sealing was the last option. Aside from renting an Ozone machine which I don't want to do.

Will try further cleaning products and give that a shot!

 

[aabeetham]

What % peroxide? May not have been sufficient. Try some chlorine. Careful of the fumes and don't ever use any acid type product at the same time.

I just used "regular" peroxide. Whatever is sold at department stores... 3%? Doesn't sound strong enough clearly. I know concrete is porous and this has definitely been here a long time. I've cleaned it so many times and each time there is still a yellow/orange stain coming up from the concrete.

I honestly just WANT to seal it and be done with it since we plan to stay here for roughly a year. At this point I'm just over it and want it done.

I will try other cleaners first, but if that doesn't work I'm just going to seal it.. again. This time with KILZ Max. Has anyone sealed a concrete floor with this particular product? I don't want it lifting like the BIN did.

 

[Zeke]

I'm sorta surprised the Zinnser didn't work. I'm not a fan of Kilz at all. My local pro paint supply won't even carry Kilz.

That's a lot of urine you have floating up like that. You would do well to vacuum up the treatment/rinse you are using and trying to **** all the liquid out of the floor.

I don't blame you from wanting this to be over. I once rented a house also that had previously an indoor rabbit that liked one corner just like your deal. Couldn't go into that room. Pool chlorine was the winner there. I have used the enzymes too with good results but you have to get as much of the residue out first. It's not just uric acid as I understand it.

 

[CNGsaves]

If problem area is just one spot, I'd create dam around it and flood with water and chlorine from a pool supply company. Let it sit few days, then shop vac up and add new potent batch of chlorine. Rinse and repeat until stain is gone.

When cleared up, let dry with fan running on it for few days. Only then paint with the Kiltz or Zinser. Good luck.

 

[aabeetham]

Well I called KILZ just to inquire if the same thing would happen as their product says it can go on floors. They said its intent is for below flooring material. As in laminate, carpet, tile etc. It isn't meant to be walked on. I then asked if I painted over top would that work and she said likely not.

But why wouldn't it? Could I not just paint the whole floor with KILZ, then put some sort of basement/concrete sealer over top?

AHH, I'm going to buy Odo-Ban from HOme Depot on my way home from work and douse the floor with that. And I'm NOT paying to put any kind of flooring, I just don't get how on earth that paint can be used for underneath other flooring, but not underneath a basement sealer. Does that mean it'll lift either way?

I'm sorta surprised the Zinnser didn't work. I'm not a fan of Kilz at all. My local pro paint supply won't even carry Kilz.

That's a lot of urine you have floating up like that. You would do well to vacuum up the treatment/rinse you are using and trying to **** all the liquid out of the floor.

I don't blame you from wanting this to be over. I once rented a house also that had previously an indoor rabbit that liked one corner just like your deal. Couldn't go into that room. Pool chlorine was the winner there. I have used the enzymes too with good results but you have to get as much of the residue out first. It's not just uric acid as I understand it.

The Zinsser worked for the smell for sure. It just came up quick. I wouldn't be opposed to using it again if I could put some sort of sealer over top.

 

[aabeetham]

Alright I've called around, done some more research and because of the length of time that has passed, sealing the basement floor is the best option.

With that said, I don't care if I need to do 1 coat or 10 coats... what would be the best sealer for a basement floor that has minimal-moderate floor traffic? I'm assuming sealing the floor would abolish the smell that does remain.

 

[RegeSullivan]

What about spray on truck bed liner. It's water proof, tough, available in different colors and finishes and it's repairable. I can't think of anything that would seal a floor better. In my area there are companies that will do spray on liners on site. Here is a related post... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39840

 

[mike93lx]

How about a sheet of plastic under an area rug? Let the landlord deal with a permanent solution.

 

[IN2CJS]

You obviously feel responsible for the repair, why don't you just ask the owner what paint he used since that had been working.

 

[TheCure]

I had the same problem with cat urine in basement.
I used bleach, baking soda, pine sol. They helped to some degree but not nearly enough. Finally i sealed the cracks using an epoxy patching compound. This helped considerably since the urine presumably was in the cracks.
Finally i used 3 coats of the pricier kilz water based being sure to coat a few inches up the walls. There is no longer any smell even on hot days.

 

[csp]

There is also a product that is a available from a Janitorial supply house that is eucalyptus based if you can take the strong scent that it has.

OdoBan is the stuff and even Home Depot has it available. I know a couple of flood/smoke restoration companies in my area that are big users. I used it on a camper that mice had taken over and it worked really well. The strong eucalyptus smell goes away quickly.

 

[rburke65]

MighttryPet store or a carpet cleaning company.

 

[ADSR]

epoxy?

 

[augustus]

seal again and put down carpet runners where you walk alot? make sure you ventilate, there's a reason it's called kilz.

 

[minytrker]

When I bought our house the previous owner had cats and for some reason they all seemed to pee in the unused office on the carpet. I almost gagged it smelled so bad when I pulled the carpet and padding. Nothing I did seemed to work on getting the pee smell out of the concrete. I went to a commercial cleaning supply place and got some enzyme based cleaner. It was VERY strong and I had to put it on the floor a couple times but then ALL the smell was gone. I waited several months before putting carpet back in just to make sure the smell was gone. Been several years and never had an issue.

 

[Shea]

You will need a non breathable topical sealer like epoxy. Not epoxy paint, but regular 2-Part epoxy. Penetrating sealers and topical sealers like acrylic breathe and can allow the odor molecules to permeate the barrier and still smell.

 

[tdcisco1]

liquid alive, made by dymon. have had good results. think it came from office depot

 

[Bluedodge]

Go to a pool supply store and grab a bag of diatomaceous earth. Spread on the affected areas and rub it in. Broom up a few days later.

Another option is burning it out via utilization of a LP tank and burner.

Disclosure: in certain sub-segments of the LGBTQ community, the smell of urine is an aphrodisiac and as such should not be removed.

 

[Armorpoxy]

We have supplied our Moisture Barrier Epoxy in applications like this and it has worked. Not inexpensive though, runs about $1.50 per foot. Goes on thick which is what makes it work at about 100 sq feet per gal, plus for good adhesion and penetration floors needs to be grinded.


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