Floorboards stink of car wee - help

[slightlyjaded]

My mum was old and unwell with dementia. She used to let a stray cat in a lot - the car had nowhere to pee/poo, so picked a spot behind the tv (book) and repeatedly used it to ‘toilet’. I went round most days and between me and her care team we cleaned up almost every day and tried to remind mum not to let the cat in, but... dementia and company. I bought a cat litter tray but it was too late and the cat wouldn’t use it.

So now she’s gone. I’m trying to sort her house and the living room STINKS of wee. Today I’ve ripped up the carpet, taken out all the underlay and cleaned the boards. It still smells in that corner. I’ve tried sandpapering the top layer of wood away - didn’t work, and I’ve used a wood plain to try and ‘shave’ the top layer in the corner, but it still smells.

I don’t want to rip out the original Victorian floorboards for one square foot if I can avoid. Any suggestions?

Have you been using an enzyme cleaner? Worth a go if not.

catcentric.org/care-and-health/removing-cat-urine/

Thanks. Will hit Robert Dyas now!

car wee

We had the same in our hallway, cat insisted on weeing there when we had builders in (usually goes outside.) Since she stopped we removed the carpets and underlay (beyond repair) and the floorboards still stank. Anyway the smell does now seem to have gone so you might find it fades in time. It's been about 6 months here.

You say Victorian floorboards.

These can be taken up, and scrubbed in the garden. Washing soda will probably help with the smell, but ordinary household detergent in the water (like Flash) is usually enough).

The planks should be allowed to dry for a few days before fixing back down (this will reduce the risk of splitting).

The wee will not just have soaked into the surface, it will have dribbled round onto the underside, and probably the joists as well.

Victorian boards are usually fixed down with Cut Nails which are quite hard to take out and may now be rusted in place. When refitting, I prefer to use countersunk screws. Once the first board is up, it's easier to take up the adjacent ones.

You may see that plumbers or electricians have had boards up before, it's usually easier to take the same ones up again.

If any of the boards are cracked or spit and you have the pieces, you can repair them (after cleaning and drying) by wedging the crack open and running in Evo Wood Glue, then bind the board tightly with string or sellotape to hold it closed. After a couple of days indoor drying you can unbind it and screw it down when you are sure it is fully dry.

The glue in the dark blue bottle is waterproof once hardened, so more suitable for kitchens and bathrooms.

Drill pilot holes before using screws. Pencil or chalk the position of cables and pipes on the upper surface of the boards before fitting so you don't go through many of them.

@PigletJohn what would MN do without you?! Honestly - thank you. Are the CutNails you speak of - what are these? There are some things that look like stapes in there?

Cut Nails are not round. If you get one out, it will be rectangular in section, stamped from a sheet of iron, I think. Thy have a sort of widened head that helps to hold the plank firm. A horseshoe nail is somewhat similar, but has a curve, and its square head fits into the hole in the horseshoe (forgotten its name) and wedges tight without being able to turn.

Most nails you will see are round with a flat head. If you have to call them by their proper name, they are "(French) Wire Nails" made by chopping and bashing lengths of a reel of thick steel wire.

(I just looked on Wikipedia, which says

"The cut-nail process was patented in America by Jacob Perkins in 1795 and in England by Joseph Dyer, who set up machinery in Birmingham. The process was designed to cut nails from sheets of iron, while making sure that the fibres of the iron ran down the nails. The Birmingham industry expanded in the following decades, and reached its greatest extent in the 1860s, after which it declined due to competition from wire nails, but continued until the outbreak of World War I"

Nails don't have fibres, though. They do have a molecular structure.

Ah ha! I know what a Cut Nail is now (my dad was a cabinet maker). Yes, they are a bugger.

But noted about removing the few planks in the long run. I'm going to try soaking and air drying in enzyme and if that doesn't do it, I'll see if I can get a few up. The smell is UNBELIEVABLE