[Deadbug]

Argh! I dealt with this in my breakfast room, which is partially the reason I've had such a hard time.

No matter what I did, Gabby would pee in the breakfast room, which was carpeted for some stupid reason (some people shouldn't be allowed to own a house and make decisions on things like that). It was in the plan to take it up and tile it eventually, but I didn't exactly want to do it at the time. Bear in mind I'm an interior designer and the first I did the day of closing was take out 3 walls to create more of an open floor plan. The breakfast room is now connected to the kitchen, which flows into what has become my formal dining room. The kitchen was the only tiled area, fashioned in a lovely leprechaun green. The previous owners just had that carpet installed a month before I bought the house. No doubt to sell it.

Summer came and I kicked on the swamp cooler, which, inadvertently puts moisture in the air. I come home from work and my house smelled like urine. Not good. My OCD self just couldn't handle it. Later that night I got a black light out (BIG mistake) and realized how bad the problem really was. I'm pretty sure I lost at least 5 years off my life that night. It was EVERYWHERE! The entire floor glowed a bright lime green.

The next morning, off to Petsmart I went for 3 gallons of Nature's Miracle. That night I saturated the entire floor in that room in the hopes of eliminating the smell. Another BIG mistake. I used to think Nature's Miracle was a sworn product, but all it did was intensify the stench. By the end of the next day the smell was so overwhelming I literally moved out and stayed in a hotel. My eyes were watering. I don't know if they were watering because of the ammonia smell or if it was tears knowing what I had to do. Taking up that carpet meant I HAD to tile the kitchen floor way sooner than I had planned. 1275 sq ft of tile to be exact. I wasn't a happy girl.

I took up the carpet only to find that I also had to take up the subfloor, baseboards and 18" of the drywall from the floor up. WHAT A FREAKING MESS! It was rotting from the urine of previous pets. Turns out the previous owners had 2 great danes and 3 cats, and the breakfast room was their toilet. Yuck! Once the floor was up, we had to treat the floor joists and apply an oil based primer. 3 coats, in fact. At that point, the smell was gone and stayed gone.

The same thing in my sons room, with the exception of the subfloor wasn't rotted. That was Gabby's #2 choice to go. When I took up the carpet, I just sprayed Nature's Miracle on the spots on the wood and had new carpet installed. She STILL went there whenever she had a chance. I had to start all over again and replace carpet that I just barely replaced a year ago.

So my advice is, once you take up the carpet, you also have to treat the wood subfloor or they'll find it again. Clean the stain as best as you can. I mixed 50/50 of Capture and liberally sprayed the spots. Let dry for a few days and then apply at least 2 coats of oil based Primer (Killz brand). THEN carpet. It was the only way to stop it.