Some people's kids...

[wolf_Q]

Warning: rant ahead. So we just bought a house, very excited about it. :D We knew it smelled like urine when we bought it. The one girls bedroom about knocked you over with the smell it was so bad. I had (small) hopes that it was just something in the room that smelled like it, or she wet the bed and at least some of the smell would go away when they left. They were renting the house, it was foreclosed on, which is how we got it. Well of course the smell did not go away at all when they left, we knew we had to take the carpet out. When we ripped it out the entire underside of the carpet was a huge urine stain. The floor boards are soaked with a huge urine stain...we scrubbed the wood and painted over it and it still smells of urine. There was poo on the wall (not a large amount, but its still poo!), in the closet, and even a little on the ceiling. The girl is 7! I don't get it, I remember wetting the bed or my pants when I was a kid but what kid pees large amounts in the middle of their floor...especially to the point where it smells up the entire house, I don't know how anyone could live in that room.

And there is literally marker, pen, crayon, marks ALL over the house...anything below 3 feet is covered. I spent all night last night trying to scrub them off and I still have 2 rooms to finish. There is marker on the carpet in some places and on the kitchen floor too. At what point do you say, clearly my kid likes to draw on the walls, he can't have crayons. One of the times Corby went over to the house the kid was throwing crayons at him with the parents there so they obviously just let him have them. I'm not a parent, I know its a hard job and kids can be destructive, but I'm still baffled by it. They also had two cocker spaniels that I think used to live in the backyard but when the house went up for sale they had to take down the fence. So they just put wooden walls up in the garage and the dogs obviously just lived in there all the time...not let out. They just peed and pooped in the garage. There is still a rectangle shaped stain on the garage floor and the garage and the laundry room/bathroom near the garage smell really bad....and this is after I spent all of tuesday night scrubbing the floor. How do you get concrete to smell that bad?

My house isn't clean, its small, it gets cluttered really fast, and we're both pack rats so there is way too much stuff for the size of the house. Plus I have 4 hairy dogs in the house that track in dirt and well, they shed everywhere of course. So this is all coming from somebody who is not a neat freak at all, I'd totally understand a house not being very clean, I just don't understand how it got that bad. At least the rest of the house is in relatively good shape, its a really nice house overall, I just hope we can get rid of the smell. I didn't want to have to replace all of the carpet but if the smell doesn't go away (we had the carpets professionally cleaned yesterday too - still stinks) I'm not sure what to do. Oh and FYI I don't dislike kids, I was the youngest and I never babysat so I don't know much about them but I have nieces and nephews.

[moosmom]

WolfQ,

Wow!!! That's one of the problems with buying a house that's in foreclosure. People who used to own them figured they have nothing to lose so let's trash the place.

I do hope you can get the smell out. Anti-Ickypoo is the best for urine and odors. I have two friends in rescue that SWEAR by the stuff!!

Congrats on your new home!???:confused:

[Cataholic]

It sounds like irresponsible people, not really an issue with kids. 7 year old children still need signficant guidance by their elders.

For the urine/poo, the only stuff I swear by is OdorXit. I have tried other products (though not lately), and found them to be lacking. OdorXit IS available readily online, and through some selective retail outlets. It is expensive. 16 ounce concentrate is about $45. I think it is a one ounce to 3/4 gallon.

I use this example: for months and months, I kept some clothes under my bed in those plastic storage containers. One of my kitties (I suspect Minnie) used it regularly for a litterbox. The clothes were nasty, nasty...but, I wanted to salvage them. And, I did. You cannot smell anything on these clothes (or I would have gotten rid of them, just in case anyone was wondering).

I had feral cats live in my garage for 6 weeks. They didn't use litter pans. I will clean the crates/garage floor with OdorXit, and know I will be satisfied. I just don't have faith in other products.

For the crayon stuff....you will most likely need to use a kilz product. But, that isn't my area of expertise....lol. Cat pee is.

[Husky_mom]

wow.. kids CAN be really into everything.. but this sounds too much.. in the case they even allowed the kid to throw crayons at a "stranger".. I mean why wouldn´t they corrected the kid?.. no wonder the house was like it was...

not to embarrass my own.. lol.. but he´s also 7. he has peed on his bed (while sleeping).. but nothing a good laundry and a lil scrubbing to get rid of it.. besides it was an accident.. although ONE time.. he was too busy playing he peed on his toy box.. yeah :rolleyes:.. good thing it´s plastic and it was empty.. but it was that time ONLY..

as for crayon art.. well.. I´ve found art here and there.. but what one consider "normal".. hey, I did it too.. lol.. my kid has made happy faces and maps in walls (pencil thank God).. he did used a marker once but this time he drew on the underside of a coffee table.. and the most recent the highlighted my mom´s mattress.. haha.. just colored a lil flower in the pattern :p

so it´s not like the house was covered in graffiti .. but a lil discipline and learning from them goes a long way.. by your description this people´s kid sounds like a lil brat.. and yes, i know some kids can be more "desctructive" even when parents DO teach well.. but this doesn´t seems the case

[moosmom]

Crayons can be removed with Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. They work fabulously!!!

[Catherinedana]

They let the CHILD pee on the carpet? Did the dog draw on the walls? What the heck was going on in that house?

[wombat2u2004]

They let the CHILD pee on the carpet? Did the dog draw on the walls? What the heck was going on in that house?

You'd be very surprised how some people live. I knew of a single mother who OWNED a house, and used to lock her 3 year old son in his bedroom when she went to work....like all day. He'd defecate and throw it all over the walls in anger....and urinate on the floor.

[wombat2u2004]

How do you get concrete to smell that bad?


Concrete soaks up fluids. So whatever the fluid was (urine), is now dry and inside the concrete, so the smell will always be there.
The only way I know to get rid of the smell is to seal the floor. Most floor sealers are very watery....and you can apply it with a soft broom. It'll soak in and neutralise anything that was soaked in before.

[mruffruff]

Exterminators (Pest Control people) use a product called Bac-A-Zap. It kills the smell of dead animals and anything else instantly. Use it on any and all spots, wall or floor. Soak the area well. Let it dry. Then coat with a sealer. I prefer Zinser 123 over Kilz.

[Medusa]

Probably the carpet was peed on by the dogs and the people decided after that to put the dogs in the garage but the damage had already been done. More than likely they slept w/the little girl and they probably peed on the bed as well, which is why it soaked all the way through. Believe me, after cleaning houses for a living, I'm not surprised by anything that I read or hear. I could tell you horror stories (but I won't). This is mild compared to some of the things I've seen. As for removing stains and odor, Cataholic and Wombat gave you some good advice so I have nothing further to add except to say that I'm sorry that you have to go through all this just to make your home livable. Can you imagine what these kids are going to be like as adults? A scary thought. :eek:

[kitten645]

I'm not a kid person at all. I love my neices and nephews and they are very well behaved. However, the problem isn't the kids, it's the parents 100%. The problem isn't the dogs, it's the owners 100%. You have to have a license to drive a car. There should be some sort of parenting skills necessary to have a kid. Any fool can have a kid. It takes alot of work to be a parent.
Good luck on your destinking. The price you pay (or don't) for a foreclosure.

[moosmom]

Just spoke with two women I work with in rescue. Both SWEAR by Anti Icky-Poo!! I read the container and it swears it gets rid of urine in concrete!!!! You can get it online. I know you may need a gallon, but it might be worth a shot!

[jennielynn1970]

Exterminators (Pest Control people) use a product called Bac-A-Zap. It kills the smell of dead animals and anything else instantly. Use it on any and all spots, wall or floor. Soak the area well. Let it dry. Then coat with a sealer. I prefer Zinser 123 over Kilz.

That's what I use too. It kills anything that is biological. It works like a charm, but it a little on the $$ side. But definitely worth it.

[ramanth]

The house I bought, the previous owners locked the dogs in one of the bedrooms and the cats in the master bathroom. The whole house reeked of urine.

In both rooms, I ripped up the carpet, scrubbed the floor boards with bleach, and then applied two coats of Kilz primer. The Kilz has an odor, but once it dried, the urine smell was completely gone.

I highly recommend Kilz. I bought the original oil based version.

http://www.masterchem.com/masterchem/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=079f90033f9ff110VgnVCM1000008a 05d103RCRD

I totally understand your frustration. My walls weren't drawn on, but they were filthy. A good coat of primer and new paint will take care of that.

I had the carpets professionally cleaned as well. There are still stains (and a glob of dried wax that will never come out), but furniture covers most of it. ;)

Congrats on the new place!!

[moosmom]

Hey Kimmy,

A secret to removing dried on wax...heat up your iron on "non-steam" put a piece of paper towel over the wax and press the irong on it. Keep doing it wth a clean piece of paper towel till it all comes up.

I did that when I moved out of MI. Works great!!!

[Medusa]

You beat me to it, Donna, except that I was going to say to use waxpaper instead of a paper towel. It really does work. I burn candles every day and, although I'm exceptionally careful especially b/c of the cats, once in a while drippage occurs.

[jennielynn1970]

Just a question, but why buy the house if it was in that condition?? I understand it was foreclosed, but still....

[wolf_Q]

Just a question, but why buy the house if it was in that condition?? I understand it was foreclosed, but still....

The rest of the house is fine and it has a great yard, a house needing new carpet and paint really isn't that big of a deal. It's the nicest house we looked at that was in our price range we really had to buy a house that wasn't perfect we can't afford perfect. We looked at mostly older houses, a lot with water damage and other issues so new carpet/paint is nothing compared to that. Plus the renters were still living in it when we bought it so we knew the room stunk, but we didn't know if it was just the bed or other items that were in the room.

The pee room is no longer the pee room we coated the wood with the Kilz and it has new carpet so its fine. We painted all of the bedrooms, think we'll hold off on new carpet/paint downstairs its a big deal to paint it as it has vaulted ceilings and we can't really afford carpet for the whole house right now. I scrubbed most of the marks off the walls so they look better but it really would look best with a new coat of paint. And it was not the dogs they were outside it was the child we discovered that bedroom door can be locked so the kid peed in there because she was locked in her room for whatever reason. The garage smells a lot better with just time to air out I still think it stinks but it doesn't bother Corby. The garage is his space so whatever, if it doesn't bug him, it doesn't matter. If it were up to me I'd still seal the concrete.

[jennielynn1970]

Oh I'm so glad it's much better now!! I was in a tizzy for you, cause I would have been overwhelmed with what to do!!

Good luck in your new home!!!

[ramanth]

My entertainment center currently covers the wax. But that's good to know! :D

Amy, glad the Kilz worked for you. I still have to put some kind of flooring in the guest room. I can't decide between wood floors or carpet. :o

Mom said I should just paint a mural over the white. lol!