I've found a property that has huuuge potential for equity building. To boot, the housing market where I live is absolutely bananas with housing stock at an near all-time low and the available housing for anywhere I would feel safe living out of my price range. I want to make this house work and given how cheap it is, I have some flexibility to spend money on it to (hopefully) remedy some of the problems with the place. The house is from 1916 and has wood trim and wood built ins from that era.
The downside is that the previous owner had 3 cats and 1 dog, she was seriously depressed, and let the animals go to the bathroom in the basement. In one specific area in the main level, the litter box was stationed and the cat clearly had poor aim. At this location, the wood floor is rotting and new maple hardwood flooring will need to be installed. The majority of the animal smells are in the concrete floored basement.
In addition, the woman was a smoker and lived in the house for near about 20 years. There is a noticeable, but I think mild, smell of cigarette smoke in the main level.
Current plans for the main level include. – There is ceiling tile in the main level that I will be removing anyways with the hope of putting drywall up. – We are also planning on painting the walls. I hear Kilz primer does a great job of sealing in any possible odor causing agents. -We will be refinishing all of the maple hardwood and also replacing the hardwood in the location where the cat clearly urinated frequently. – Plan to rent a ozone generator and running that for several days with fans on.
Basement – Not quite sure what to do about the animal smells but to clean the concrete very, very well.
So, to my questions, how do I best remove these odors? Would the wood trim and built ins be holding onto any of the smoke smell and, if so, what to do about this? What additional measures can I take to remove these odors?
Will they likely remain after taking all these measures?
That is all.
Thank you.
Best Answer
Replacing dry wall will help, remove all carpets and padding , painting your walls and refinishing the floor will help.
When you pull the old dry wall and sand the floor - a stripped house..
Then rent the OZONE Generator - seal off the house, stay OUT of the house for several days. The Ozone can kill you.
Have a method to turn off the generator with out going inside.
After you have done this open windows and doors for several days at a time, do not go back into the house for long periods while you open windows and doors - let it 'air out'. After 3 days you should be able to enter wiht out issue.
Install your dry wall, paint them and refinish your floors.