Nasty smell in carpet . Going to auction soon!

Hi All,
I have a duplex on the market . Is booked for auction on the 20th of this month.
The tenants just moved out they kindly left me with several problems.
One big one being a terrible nasty smell in the carpet in all 3 bedrooms .
I believe the smell is caused by a dog they had and perhaps small kids.
I won't pretend , I think it's the smell of rather a lot of urine.
I need to fix ASAP. I'm feeling I won't be able to fix it and will
Need to replace carpets .
The carpets have been professionally cleaned . If it was with steam , might have made the problem even worse.
I have sprayed cans of deodoriser onto carpet . It's helps for s short while.
Any ideas ?
Cheers Patsy

 

Rub bicarbonate of soda into the carpet with a stiff broom. Use a whole packet or two. Leave for a day or two. Then vacuum. Then use something like Karpet


To deodorise, use Karpet powder (same stuff but $$$$$ with perfume).

 

Plug in air fresheners scattered around the house in discreet locations

 

Hi @PatsyStone

What a misfortune .

Try the suggestions made above swiftly and if you decide replacing the carpet is required, keep in mind that the floorboards beneath (if there are floorboards) might require a bit of TLC themselves, so be sure not to leave the carpet decision till the last minute. You might need a coupe of days after the old carpet and underlay is removed to air out and treat the floorboards.

With that said, people attending the inspections in the meantime will notice the problem. It might be worth asking the agent to push the date of the auction back a bit and not hold inspections for the next week or so.

Remember to check back in and let us know how you resolved the issue and the timelines around it. You won't be the last person that has this problem - someone will no doubt search the forums in the future for solutions to the same problem.

 

Hi PS
We have replaced carpets on landlord insurance before due to urine smell.

They need to be replaced nothing else will help.

Ours was awarded immediately - get your pm to put a case together and word it appropriately.

 

Use something that will denature the urine. Like urinefree or vinegar. Get a good blacklight (with at least 100 LEDs) on ebay. That will help you find and target the spots. Then try getting them professionally cleaned again, which will suck up all the treatment you put on.

However, you can basically guarantee it is in the underlay, and unless you pour the above solutions onto the carpet (making them wet and warping them) it really isn't going to fix it completely. Hopefully the tenants at least found and tried to soak it up before too much penetrated down.
You could try getting the carpet up, treating it, drying it and relaying? Or replacing it at a higher cost. I guess it all depends on the extent of damage.

But, try above at own risk

 

And don't forget to claim this on their bond. I hope it was noted on the outgoing inspection so that it can be claimed.

 

We had that happen when our tenant moves out. And we moved in. She had them professionally cleaned, and they seemed alright, so we refunded the bond. But we quickly realised that they weren't alright once we moved in. We have tried everything. And it can 'seem' ok for a short while, but the smell always returns. And these are good wool carpets, 5 years old. They are disgusting. As is the underlay underneath. We are going to have to replace the entire lot. We are going to lay cheap floating floorboards from bunnings and do it all ourselves (it will be becoming a rental again in 5years time).

I don't understand how people can let it get like that. We have pets ourselves (3 cats and 2 dogs) and have never had that happen. It really is revolting. It is my one big issue with someone who otherwise seemed to be the perfect tenant. And sadly, it will impact on our decision as to whether we allow animals or not in the future.

 

If you have to clean the boards ( you will ) there used to be a product called phenyl which is the only thing we ever found to remove smell of cat urine. Used for cleaning kennels. Not sure if it is still around, smells a bit like creosote.

 

I agree with @Westminster in that it should be deducted from the bond. However the opportunity cost in terms of a lost buyer or dramatically reduced sales price at auction due to the smell a buyer experienced during inspection is of concern. I'd be considering shifting the auction date if at all possible.

 

Once the smell of urine is there I don't think you can't get rid of it.
I had the problem and had two big attempts to get rid of it over a six month period, also left the windows open to improve the ventilation for the whole period.
In the end just replaced the carpet and underlay.

 

Thanks everyone ,
Some good tips .
I have always believed when urine odour is this strong nothing will fix it.
My first reaction was to replace the carpet . I don't want to but can't see any other good solution. I'm
Certain urine has reached the underlay as well.
The agent was there for his Sat open house . He was aware of the smell but didn't mention it. As to why I can only assume he thought it would fix when tenants moved out.
I'm not thrilled he has been conducting open houses with this nasty smell.
I mentioned previously before being aware of the problem that the offers received considering the market seemed low .
Asked him several times how was the unit presentating as I assumed it was likely to be looking very unloved .
He said it was fine ?
I was correct . It was terrible . Have spent all WE. Cleaning and painting .
I pushed back the auction date .
I'm not pleased about it and wonder if it will help or I will only lose out. The market is on the turn .
Auction date was for the 20th. New date is 8th of March.
I don't need this much time but it's all I could get with auctioneer .
Cheers and huge thank you

 

Figure out whether it is worth the money to fix. Otherwise maybe just try some scented candles to cover the smell?

We replaced the carpet in the house we just sold and gave it a new coat of paint. The cost of doing so probably did not add any or much extra money to the sale price. It certainly did not pay for itself. (Cost us about 15k to renovate all up, only added about 10k to the overallprice tag, so we were actually down 5k). But we were ok with that because although it didnt add value as such because we were only ever going to sell if we got the price we wanted, otherwise we were going to keep it as a rental, and the work still needed to be done then.
All it did do, in my opinion, was make the property quicker to sell.

If it is going to cost your 5k to get the carpets replaced, are you sure that it will make you 5k+ come auction? Or will it just be 5k down the hole and you will still only achieve the prices you are currently achieving?

Personally, so long as the carpets 'looked' alright, I would just do what I could to clean and cover the smell for inspections and the auction.

 

Hi @PatsyStone

Glad you've decided on a course of action (and taken action). On the plus side, you'll be an expert at resolving these sorts of problems. Touch wood if it ever happens to you again you'll know what to do right away and feel less stressed. And you'll be able to advise others what to do when someone else asks similar questions on the forums in future

 

Thanks All,
" Life is like a box of chocolates "
I ordered and paid for new carpet . It cost $1, 400 with underlay . Laying was going to be free ...know a clever friend.
Was able to mask smell to
A degree but not completely .

Anyhow I negotiated a sale price and received an offer with the old carpet.
Buyer never mentioned the smell . Odd because was kinda hard to miss it ( he saw it prior to my carpet spray , incense sticks ).

My new carpet will now go in my bedroom and robe . I was keen to replace mine .
Will have plenty left over.Garage sale maybe .
What would I do in this situation again?
If it was a medium to smaller property . I would replace with economical carpet to avoid complaints .
It might not add value but fresh new clean carpet sure looks better and bad smells need to be avoided if at all possible.
This place was not one for a Reno. A fair amount of improvements already done.
If it was A potential Reno property
Might not change carpet .
Cheers

 

Maybe he doesnt have a sense of smell. Which means I pity him...

 

The amazing powers of the bicarb again!

 

Hi everyone

I have the same problem in my IP. I searched and found that people said :

Source:

Pet Urine Odours In Carpets - How To Get Rid Of Them

Any one successfully use Urine Free and Urine Off to get rid of dog urine smell?

 

Found Pet Urine Odour Cleaning Removal on the Internet. Any ideas about this product/service?

 

I've never successfully gotten it out of my ppor carpet. Ended up ripping it out and put down floor boards. Looks heaps better and so much easier to clean