Help! My house smells like cat pee!

[Yellefan]

Just to update everyone-- I finally managed to find a company to come out and have a look at the situation. Apparantly cat **** smell does not go away-- so the guy said that anything other than digging out 12-18 inches of dirt from the basement will only allow the odour to return at some point. Even covering it with concrete will not solve the problem as concrete is porous and the smell will eventually make its way through. In addition to digging out the dirt, he wants to put a layer of lime, then a layer of some sort of special fabric, and finally replacing the removed dirt with gravel. Sounds like it's going to be pricy to me, so hopefully I have some sort of legal recourse-- I should, as I have a copy of the MLS listing that specifically says NO PETS under the features section.

Thanks for all of your suggestions, they were helpful- I hope that these guys can get rid of the smell once and for all. Just to clarify, my lawyer did not say that I shouldn't sue, he said that I shouldn't walk away from the deal like I had wanted to when I first discovered the cat problem, as the legal troubles and costs of finding a new place to live on such short notice would not be worth it. He does think I have a very good case to go after the selling realtor and sellers, but I need to have a solution and cost estimate before going that route.

Even more reason for me to think cats are evil now!

[shoestring]

I have about 5000 pounds of Zeolite,a volcanic rock,has a much bigger scientific name. I use the powder in my kitty litter and never smell a thing. I used to sell a lot of to the Cat House. It will absorb the smell ,then you can throw the powder away.
PM me if it is not too late, I will give you a CP price.
20 bucks worth of product should do the trick.

[Reaper]

I would definitely sue the previous homeowners for misrepresentation of the house as a "No Pet Home."

My parents one time neighbors had a similar situation when they bought their house. They bought the house from an older couple with cats and specifically asked "Has there been any incidents of any cats urinating on the floors of this house?" before they purchased. The sellers said "No, the cats have never gone outside of their litterboxes while we've lived here." The summer after buying the house it began to reek of cat pee in the summer heat. A wonderful smell, I'm sure. They successfully sued the previous owners for $37,000 plus legal expenses because nearly all of the floor coverings and floors in the house had to be replaced. This was in 1993 so I would imagine that the cost would have been at least double in 2006 dollars.

[Clarkey]

Originally Posted by shoestring

I have about 5000 pounds of Zeolite,a volcanic rock,has a much bigger scientific name. I use the powder in my kitty litter and never smell a thing. I used to sell a lot of to the Cat House. It will absorb the smell ,then you can throw the powder away.
PM me if it is not too late, I will give you a CP price.
20 bucks worth of product should do the trick.

Why do you have the zeolite? Are you a gardener or something?

[edn88]

I purchased a town home from a brother of a really famous ex-NHLer and the agreement indicated that the fireplace would be in working order on possession. When I almost blew myself up, trying to get it to work, I contacted my lawyer (who had helped in real estate transaction) and we started litigation process. In the end, I got a check for $350 and I think the lawyer only took 1/3.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by shoestring

I have about 5000 pounds of Zeolite,a volcanic rock,has a much bigger scientific name. I use the powder in my kitty litter and never smell a thing. I used to sell a lot of to the Cat House. It will absorb the smell ,then you can throw the powder away.
PM me if it is not too late, I will give you a CP price.
20 bucks worth of product should do the trick.

Wow, that's a lot of zeolite!!

[Clarkey]

Originally Posted by edn88

I purchased a town home from a brother of a really famous ex-NHLer and the agreement indicated that the fireplace would be in working order on possession. When I almost blew myself up, trying to get it to work, I contacted my lawyer (who had helped in real estate transaction) and we started litigation process. In the end, I got a check for $350 and I think the lawyer only took 1/3.

Messier in Canmore?

[shoestring]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

Why do you have the zeolite? Are you a gardener or something?

No I not a gardener, I bought it for a good price off a company that didn't know how to sell it. It had been repackaged with a different name than what I had sold in the late eighties. I had sold tons of the same product but the company had went out of business.
It is quite a remarkable product ,Rhyolite tuff zeolite.
It adsorbs odours,cat pee,cigarette smoke,carpet or particle board glues etc.It will eliminate almost any odor if you use enough product and there is an air current.
After the rock has filled with odour you put it in the sun and it releases the odour into the atmosphere and you can use it again.

I was going to sell it on Ebay but I can't get it through customs without doing a chemical analysis on it since Sept 11. Even though it came from a mountain in Arizona.
It always felt great to sell two pounds of rocks for 20 bucks.!!

[Hack&Lube]

Do you go into the basement at all? You could do something ridiculous like cover the entire dirt floor an section of walls with a cheap non-porous material...like sheet metal and weld it shut lol

I've been watching too many car chop-up reality TV shows...

[ricosuave]

http://www.urinegone.com/?cid=219944

my god, I cant believe no one mentioned this yet...

the infomercial has made a believer out of me - I dont own a pet, but I am seriously considering buying some so that I can **** freely on walls and on the cooler and stuff, just like in the commercial!

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

the infomercial has made a believer out of me - I dont own a pet, but I am seriously considering buying some so that I can **** freely on walls and on the cooler and stuff, just like in the commercial!

How late does one have to stay up to see infomercials where people are peeing freely on the walls?

And what channel is it on so I can set my DVR.

[ricosuave]

Originally Posted by ken0042

How late does one have to stay up to see infomercials where people are peeing freely on the walls?

And what channel is it on so I can set my DVR.

its usually on a us channel - tbs maybe?