To ask how to remove the smell of wee from bathroom flooring.

[WhatsWhat456]

Replacing the flooring is not an option or I would 100% do it, I have even offered to pay for the replacement. HA house, downstairs loo is a wet room but not in use or ever been in use as a wet room as far as I know. No shower fitted just a plate where one can be attacked if ever needed all plumbing and electrics are present in the wall. House is 3 years old I've lived here nearly 18 months and inherented the wee smell from the last tenant. It smells like the men's toilet at the pub and is absolutely vile. As soon as the door is open the smell hits you in the face it's so strong you can smell it in the whole downstairs when the door is opened. The window has been removed and that wall tiled over so no fresh air, I run the extractor fan 24/7 which does help slightly but I want/need to remove the smell, so plesse hit me with your best suggestions I will try anything at this point.

IME the council will say you can’t change it if you ask but once you actually do, there are no consequences. They can’t do anything about it. Our kitchen was falling apart and the council refused to do anything as we were due a new one in 5 years. Eventually we got to our wits end with mouldy cupboards, doors coming off etc that we got DP’s friend who fits kitchens for a living to install all new cupboards for us. Council worker came round a few weeks later for something unrelated and commented on it but said it was fine.

Honestly OP they won’t kick a mother and 3 children out for replacing a bathroom floor. It’s all just talk. Of course can understand if you don’t want to risk it, just letting you know that myself and many others ended up doing our own work on council properties because of being left to live in squalor/filth/collapsing kitchens and none of us ever faced any action for it.

Please be careful mixing products. You could make yourself really ill.

Would they let you lay new lino over the current flooring? It could be removed easily if needed but might block the smell.

Do they do your housing repairs? Can you get in touch with them and say you think there's a leak so someone has to attend?

Extreme solution but concentrated perfume. When my kids were young, one knocked a bottle of perfume over in the bathroom and it smashed. Even though I cleaned immediately it was done. We had to have all windows open in the house for several weeks as nothing we did would get rid of it and it was strong. Even after it became bearable in the rest of the house we had to leave the bathroom windows open at all times for approx 18 mths as otherwise it was just overpowering. Nothing could neutralise them smell, it just had to eventually wear off.

I second enzyme cleaner specifically for urine, a pet one. Personally I found bleach helps initially but in the long run can actually make it worse because it contains ammonia which can smell very similar to wee.

I'm not suggesting you do this if you're uncomfortable with it, but I had the exact same problem. The smell was in the flooring, I tried every product going and eventually the smell came back. Council said I couldn't do any improvements etc. I ripped it up and lived with ugly flooring for a while until I could afford to replace it. Nothing happened, I've had council workers/officers in my house and no one has said a word. I couldn't live with the smell any longer.

THIS It's an enzymatic & pro-biotic stain & smell remover - if it works for cat wee (and it does) then I assume it will work for you?

I'm trying to think what stinks, but not as bad as pee. Have you tried using perfume? Could you use a pin and stab lots of small holes in the vinyl and then liberally apply perfume so it hopefully penetrates?

OP: as well as removing the seats have you removed the bolts and washers and everything that attach the seat to the toilet? I found the source of my loo stench under there (definitely not envy!)

If you have cleaned it as much as you say you have, and I’m not doubting you, then it must be faulty it must.
You need to request a home visit from the HA so they can see what you’re up against.
There is no reason for it to smell like that.

I had a Similar problem in a previous house, I cling filmed the toilet and then cleaned all around to see it it was the toilet or the surrounding area. It was eventually sorted by increasing the angle of the pipes by a plumber.

If it's a "wet room", it's basically the whole room is a shower cubicle. Messing around with the floor and getting it wrong could lead to serious water damage. That's why the HA don't want the tenant touching it.

But the current situation is not acceptable. State, clearly and in writing, that the room's smelled of urine since you moved in. You've cleaned X frequency using A B and C products and it's made no difference.

Quit using that bathroom if you haven't already, then you can say the toilet's been unused for X weeks and the smell persists. (Or if it goes away, you know the problem is with the toilet itself).

The HA will regard this as a "routine" repair but it's not OK for them to just ignore it.

I use that disinfectant spray that they use in nursing homes. Probably similar to the pet spray. The one I have is called something like sta-kill.

So I've thoroughly cleaned it again for over an hour this morning and emailed the repairs department and requested a bathroom repair should hear back within 48h. I removed the toilet seat and all the fittings and soaked them in buckets of Dettol and cleaned the little holes the fittings go through with flash and then Dettol. I find bleach makes the smell worse when I scrub the floor towards the rear of the toilet and that's what makes my think it's 100% a wee smell. I concentrated on that area and found a long thin bottle type brush that I could bend to fit under the waste pipe which allowed me to clean that part of the floor/wall trim. I have cleaned that section before but not this successfully as it is hard to reach unless you have hands the size of borrowers. I think the previous tenant used to spray over the back of the toilet seat and it would drip down the back maybe. I scrubbed that bit of flooring several times and steam cleaned it along with the tiles, I squirted the area with shaving foam scrubbed it in and reapplied more. I have ordered a cat wee remover from Amazon which will arrive tomorrow hopefully and I will clean the whole floor and that area again. I have kept the little brush it is soaking outside in Dettol. Hopefully this does the trick as it's starting to get me down.

Poor you, sounds grim. Is this any help? www.thespruce.com/the-purpose-of-a-drain-trap-2718770

Try a biological wash powder (mixed with hot water and scrub it). This us what is used when dogs pee in the house and you want them to stop. Dogs like to pee in the same place, this takes the smell away.

This stuff is amazing @WhatsWhat456

www.amazon.co.uk/CLOROX-COMPANY-Clorox-Remover-Stains/dp/B00TUC2L0G/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=blood+urine+vomit+clorox&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1593617386&sr=8-1

It's clearly not something you can clean away- because you sound like the most thorough cleaner ever!

I'd report a fault, we had a similar situation in the boys' toilet as school, the caretaker tried all sorts. Apparently the urine can get into the grout/concrete, and then can't be got out. If there was a small leak in the system they fitted, which allowed wee from previous tenant to penetrate, then that's what it will be.

This was years ago, so there weren't all the enzyme products available then. They may work.

I would try the enzyme product and if that doesn’t work ask the HA to attend.

I do wonder if the source of the smell really is the floor. An older relative who had severe double incontinence issues in the last two years of their life had this sort of flooring installed in their wetroom. It cleaned easily with ordinary bathroom cleaning products and was gone over with a steam mop a couple of times a week. There was never any lingering smell, so the issue you are having is very odd. The flooring is part of the fabric of the wetroom and I can understand why the Housing Association will not allow it to be removed.

Simple solution enzyme cleaner, in a blue/green bottle is really good. Pets at home stock it, or Amazon.

I think the one we have is supposed to be for furniture but I have used it on the bathroom floor successfully. Just spray and leave, then wipe over a couple of hours later.

That said, it sounds like you have tried so many different things are you sure it's pee. I think pee is supposed to glow under a UV light, might help track down where the offending area is, although I gave up on buying a black light torch and just went for the spray everything approach.

I’m thinking it’s the underside of the vinyl, it’s found a gap and travelled along.

I think it's also about no ventilation. The extractor fan only does so much. Is there any way that the window that was sealed could be opened again.
I would take my chances and get the floor replaced.

Pet odour enzyme spray is awesome. I def second PP who suggested that

Try neat hydrogen peroxide solution, it reacts with the urine and foams up, then you clean it away, worked when our cat had an accident on laminate flooring. Followed by steam clean and mop with usual detergent.