Pet Odor Detection and Removal
Posted on December 27, 2007 |
Whether you’re buying a home or selling one, the topic of pet odor removal is by far the most popular we encounter. Buyers must be aware that humidity and odors go hand in hand. If you buy a house in the winter you may not smell the issue for several months. As the humidity rises in spring and summer our phone rings off the hook. If you’re a seller, we address question of “should I clean it or replace it”. Buyer beware, to solve it, it must be found. Pet urine detection is not part of a normal home inspection. If Fee Fee went pee pee, we will find it. We can do a urine detection survey for as little as$ 49.95 and tell you if there is a problem. Below, I will outline what must be accomplished to solve what can be a more complex issue than most realize.
Detection: to solve the problem we must find it. This is often missed by many carpet cleaners and until we know the severity of the damage how can we offer a solution! This is where our training separates us from most others.
First line of detection is the nose. Once urine is smelled it is seldom forgotten. If you can smell it from the front door, “Houston we have a problem!” The challenge with urine is the urine starts out acidic and changes to moisture loving (hydrophilic) alkaline salts that can permanently damage carpet color. The other problem is in the summer when the humidity levels increase or when it’s rainy, it smells worse. This is because these salts draw moisture into the deposit and it starts re-evaporating or off-gassing the ammonia gas from the bacteria in the urine. If the carpet cleaner just comes in and cleans the carpet it will most likely smell worse because they just created humidity above it. It may go back to normal and probably improve a little because they removed some of the odor source from face fibers of the carpet. The real problem is in the backing, padding or the sub floor. The odor is also coming not just from the bacteria but also a chemical odor is emitted. This is why it may take a combination of different deodorizing products to achieve the desired results.The next issue is the stain. Urine has natural pigment from urea and chemically reacts with nylon to form that bright yellow stain we all know and love. To make matters worse it goes down warm (98.6 F) which decreases the surface tension as it runs straight down… Olefin and polyester carpets won’t stain as easy but it runs down into the sub-surface easier because the fiber doesn’t absorb it as much. So it would be nice to know the fiber content.
Second is by UV light. It picks up the dyes in the urine. It will glow like you just walked into a novelty gifts store at the mall in a white shirt. This is also why we want to know the sex of the animal. Females will go in open areas, males around objects like legs of chairs. Did it get the chair too? Has the animal been spade or neutered? If not they will most likely be marking territory in small amounts rather than emptying the kidney’s by the back door. The UV light will pick up anything that will fluoresce.
Third is the moisture meter, it will pick up the moisture drawn into the urine salts. Also this is one way to differentiate between urine and a drink spill under UV light. Another is the spill pattern. Is it a splatter or gradual circular from a squatting animal…?
Fourth would be visual inspection of the backing stains, they are easy to find but this is the most intrusive method and will require re-installation of the carpet. Offer a solution: Solutions may range from simple topical deodorization to erecting an odor control barrier from the sub floor to the tips of the carpet. As a rule, if the results of inspection indicate more than 20% coverage on the surface, replacement may be required to completely solve the problem. Understand that there is a lot of latex glue used in the construction of carpet and urine spreads as it goes down so the backing may have 60% coverage. In between the backing structures, the latex absorbs some of the urine, which is not only an odor issue but deteriorates the carpet construction itself.
At this point the age, value of the carpet, and level of tolerance must come in to play.
We provide clients the information they need to make informed decisions. If you are getting a new puppy this may not even be an issue.
For a consultation call
Brian R.Bock
IICRC Master Textile Cleaner
Bock’s Steam Star - Kansas City Carpet Cleaning
913-438-7767
www.steamstar.net