Property Manager · Portsmouth, NH · Member since 2008 · 102 posts · 13 votes
A tenant is moving out. She had the apartment steam cleaned and now there is a strong cat smell. She insists it is from a previous tenant and I have never noticed a cat there during her tenancy.
First question: is this plausible? Second question: short of replacing the carpets, what can I do about this cat smell?
You can try OdorXIt, which is a product that is very effective in removing odors. Unfortunately, if the urine is in the carpet, pad, and sub-floor, spraying OdorXIt on top of the carpet probably isn't going to do the job.
NEVER put a pad under the carpet in a rental!
You could also try installing some plug-in air fresheners in the unit. The next tenant might be as dirty as the last and they won't even notice the smell!
It will be extremely difficult too mask the smell. I work for my dad who owns a carpet cleaning company and I run into this very problem all the time. For some reason the steam "activates" the urine causing it to smell worse. The only way to fix it, short of replacing it, is to call your carpet cleaner and ask if he can remove pet urine smells... any half decent operation should. We use a black light to locate the stain and treat the stain individually and then clean the whole area. Make sure the carpet cleaner has a black light, you can't truly find all the spots without it. If you want you can even purchase a black light to find out just how many spots there are.