Bad Smell? (New) home

[Loc39]

Hi all
First time poster - just hoping for some help/ suggestions?
Moved to a large family home in the summer. Upstairs is a converted dormer rooms. As winter has gone on the smell upstairs is dreadful. The only way I can explain it is stale urine. There are two en-suite upstairs smell is quite strong in there too. Prev owners had 6 cats. And left us with fleas when we moved in.. that's another story. Any thoughts? Old cat urine?
Thanks!!

cat pee can be a real pain to remove,dispose of any old carpets.Spray floor with copious amounts of this(a urine eliminator) leave to soak scrub with hot water mixed with baking powder.Let dry spray again repeat then see how it smells.Apparently a uv light can highlight were the pee is

www.amazon.co.uk/CLOROX-COMPANY-Clorox-Remover-Stains/dp/B00TUC2L0G/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=clorox+urine&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1576188806&sr=8-1

this light

www.amazon.co.uk/Flashlight-Blacklight-Sunglasses-Scorpions-Authenticate/dp/B077XVVKFG/ref=sr_1_10?rnid=419152031&keywords=black%2Blight&th=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1576189006&refinements=p_72%3A419153031&sr=8-10

Thanks so much. Purchased both fingers crossed it does the trick. It's very bad. Either that or there is something dead between the floorboards!!!

Have you checked the drainage traps in the ensuites? If they are full,of gunge, they can smell baaad! Pour some drain unblocker down them.

The drains can dry out. Are there floor drains? If there are, add some water to re- fill the traps.

Has it been painted in the last few years? Some paint does this once sunlight hits it, valspar had issues with it but other brands also do it apparently. If so you'll need to seal it and repaint

En-suite drainage traps were checked the smell doesn't seem to be in that area. The paint is an interesting one? Hasn't been painted for years. We are decorating shortly but was trying to sort out this smell first. So much worse now than the summer months with the heating on & less time with windows open it's really dreadful. Want to lay carpet down but just can't until we get rid of this. Assuming of course it's the floor thats the problem. ..

You need bicarbonate of soda, not baking powder. They aren't the same thing. Bicarb is a natural deodoriser sometimes called baking soda.

As for the smell - could you have rats or another pest in the roof?

Rats is an interesting one as when we fumigated the house after the fleas they left behind there were signs of an old rat infestation. Pest control guy said it was old nothing new. Could there be dead rats somewhere I wonder?

Dead rats don't smell like urine (sadly I have lots of experience of that smell) it literally is the smell of putrid flesh, so more of a stomach churning hum than the sharp smell of urine.

My sister painted her room a few years ago with paint that looked ok but was actually off. Smelt terrible and has gotten worse as time has gone on. Kinda like urine as you describe. Painted over it and a little better but still in the background ??

good luck pee is the worst ,was it bicarbonate of soda i know its one of the two.It helps neutralise odours .But the clorax great stuff i use it when my cats pee on the sodding junk mail.It comes through the letter box loads so they think its newspaper.I use it to line their litter tray.

Thanks all!! I think I'm going to put it down to either massive volumes of cat pee or dodgy paint. We will be repainting so that's all good. Pest control guy out this morn. Told me if there was a dead rat between the boards would only smell for a month or so. It's way longer than that... I'm armed with bicarbonate soda white vinegar & a scrubbing brush! And waiting on Clorox & black light to arrive. Thanks for all the help. If it works I'll post