What's that smell?

Question

Viewed a small vacant residence today in need of some cosmetic repairs that's for sale. The thing is the smell. It made my eyes water. I talked with a neighbor who told me the last tenant never lived there but kept 15 dogs locked in the house. There is a bare concrete slab floor, sheetrock walls and ceilings. Is there a best way or a way to get rid of the odor and keep it away? The place might be a good deal if the odor was gone. Any suggestions appreciated.

Brendan Spaar · Answer

I would definitely do a deep clean & then seal everything porous. Remember , if you can smell it so can animals.Their sense of smell is much more keen than ours so they smell what we miss.  If someone with pets moves in & the least trace lingers, they may be facing a constant issue with their pets trying to use the bathroom indoors to mark the territory as theirs now.

Joseph Chen · Answer

Start with opening all the windows. Airing out the rooms will help release odors in curtains, carpets and furniture. Keep the windows open for at least an hour, or longer for particularly heavy odors.

Use a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and water, you can create your own cleaner that is environmentally friendly when cleaning.

When it seems that you have tried everything and nothing seems to work, repaint your space. The fresh paint will cover the old paint and get rid of the bad odors associated with it.

Mike Darling · Answer

http://www.pureayre.com/products-pets.htm  This is a site that has an all-natural formula lets you get rid of pet odors without the dangers of chemicals

Dan Perrott · Answer

Remember to use the odor to your advantage in the contract price negotiations.

Tom Reynolds · Answer

Jassem A., Jared Benson, Andrew Tuquilar thank you for your responses and Jean Bolger I have done the search and found a list of possible cures. I'm confident the smell can be dealt with without too much of a cost factor. And yes it does tend to chase the competition away. In fact the property was noted as containing mold and I had to sign a waiver to get through the door. There were no signs of mold, just resultant damage from the dogs and the lingering odor. My offer will be presented to the seller tomorrow morning.

Thank you all, it's reassuring to have this group as a resource.

Andrew Tuquilar · Answer

Kilz the walls and floors!

Jean Bolger · Answer

There are tons of older threads on pet odor removal on BP. I'd suggest doing a search here and reading up on various methods and opinions. But you'll probably at least be looking at sealing the floor and removing/replacing the lower parts of the drywall. Make sure the price justifies the hassle! Some people run from pet or smoke odor because it can be devilish to get rid of... other just smell money ;)

Jassem A. · Answer

The air is probably just stagnant, open the windows. May also need to paint the foundation and around bottoms of the walls with a stain blocker like kilz original