Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Smelly new house

31 replies

MarmiteAndMustard · 17/01/2020 19:08

I’ve just bought a property in need of full decoration which I had planned to do over the next couple of years.

The vendors had several large dogs so I was prepared for the property to smell a bit but the dog smell is overpowering. I got a migraine the first day as it was so strong (strong smells are a trigger for me).

I’ve had the carpets professionally cleaned but it’s only marginally improved the situation. Full and quick decoration is not an option because it’s a large house (300 square metres) so I couldn’t do it myself but paying someone will eat into my tight budget fir the work I have planned.

Has anyone got any ideas on how I can improve the smell please?

OP posts:
Original poster
MarmiteAndMustard · 17/01/2020 19:12

Also, how long before a new house takes on ‘your’ smell? I don’t think it will feel like home while it smells like other people and their dogs.

OP posts:
DonPablo · 17/01/2020 19:13

Are there any soft furnishings from the previous owners? Curtains, sofas, anything? Because of there is they'll be holding the smell.

The best things you can do are: air. As much air as possible. Bicarb. Buy industrial quantities and cover every surface with it and leave it for a day or so and then vacuum it up.

Clean all woodwork. Maybe with a lemon or pine disinfectant. Or tea tree and fairy liquid.

Horrible. Way to take the shine off a new place!

Watto1 · 17/01/2020 19:13

Open the windows and get a good through draft going. Not really the right time of year unfortunately but it will help.

ChateauMyself · 17/01/2020 19:16

Underlay??

If it is the dogs, you might have to bite the bullet and replace the underlay (and carpet).

Seeingadistance · 17/01/2020 19:29

A friend of mine had a similar problem, and they had to remove all the carpets and underlay, and then thoroughly clean the floorboards underneath.

Clymene · 17/01/2020 19:48

I would rip out the carpets and all soft furnishings

RhubarbTea · 17/01/2020 21:14

What everyone else has said. Re carpeting the house won't be cheap but I don't think you'll need to paint the walls to get rid of the small, you can do that as and when you're ready.
Get rid of anything soft which could be holding the smell.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 17/01/2020 21:15

It will be in the carpets. Possibly the floorboards too.

Leostar · 17/01/2020 21:19

I had exactly the same problem. The carpet cleaning worked for a day however......it reactivated all of the old dog pee that had soaked into the underlay. Had to rip the whole lot up, underlay included.

Be prepared to be disgusted at old puddles of piss you'll find

CatUnderTheStairs · 17/01/2020 21:21

Yep I moved into a house where there’d been dogs. I had to take up the carpets and the underlay, in places it was sopping.

Take a deep breath and get close and smell the carpets....

Isnappedandsharted · 17/01/2020 21:23

Rip the carpets up OP!

It's only going to get worse when the heating is on warming up that wee Confused

WhereDoesThisToiletGo · 17/01/2020 22:27

Deffo the carpets.
Rip them up, do your decorating slowly and recarpet at the end

ShiningTor · 17/01/2020 22:32

Be prepared to be disgusted at old puddles of piss you'll find

This 🤢

Elieza · 17/01/2020 22:42

Lift the carpets and look for stains on the underlay or flooring underneath.

That’s probably where the smell is coming from. Years of pet accidents going right through to the wood. Prepare to buy new carpets and underlay!

callmeadoctor · 18/01/2020 10:43

Chuck the carpets OP, seriously. Then just put cheap carpet and underlay down in your bedroom and lounge (if funds allow). Then you can also paint and decorate a lot easier anyway with no carpets to worry about. Beg, borrow some rugs to put down in other rooms.

johnd2 · 18/01/2020 11:16

It does fade away after a year or two, same with smoke in previous smokers houses, but new carpets would be a quicker option.

cushioncovers · 18/01/2020 12:40

Yep it'll be the carpets the underlay and the floor boards. Rip up all carpets and underlay and wash the floorboards and let them air out over the next few months.

flirtygirl · 18/01/2020 12:41

You should have removed the carpets and cleaned everywhere before you moved in. Far better to have bare floors in a clean home.

Cleaning the carpets alone will never work and the smell will seem worse and stronger with the heat on.

Don't get peoples love of carpets yet alone used dirty smelly ones.

BorneoBabe · 18/01/2020 15:06

My last tenants left some very strong odours. I wish I'd gone straight to replacing the carpet instead of faffing around trying to clean it. Smell went away almost immediately after the new carpets were in.

Washing down all the walls, cabinets and fixtures with hot, soapy water helped too.

DramaAlpaca · 18/01/2020 15:08

I agree with everyone else. The carpets will have to go. Dogs and carpets are not a good mix.

dudsville · 18/01/2020 15:10

We bought a house from a couple who had their own smell. It took months, and ripping out the carpet and changing the curtains, to get rid of it.

MarieG10 · 18/01/2020 17:30

The carpets and floor underneath will be ingrained with dog shit, piss and general hair.

Know someone who had the same but knew from going around the house before what she had to do and wasn't prepared to move in to a house so stinking of dog. They had temp accommodation and carpets all ripped up and binned and the whole house painted and decorated throughout. She also had the floors professionally cleaned which involved some sort of steaming device as well.

That got rid of it but wasn't cheap. It amazes me how people can live in stinky dog houses. Makes you realise why some cultures are so staggered at allowing dogs in houses.

DontCallMeShitley · 19/01/2020 00:52

I got rid of a very strong dog smell from a pet rescue vehicle by using pet enzyme spray, Simple Solution. Gallons of it. I soaked everything, left it for a weekend, sprayed it and then sucked the liquid up with a wet & dry vacuum cleaner and wiped it over with old towels. Seats were also shampooed.

Our house reeked of spicy food, I heated a pan of white vinegar in water on the hob, gently while we were there, left it on the hob, turned off when we left. I washed everything down with vinegar solution, walls, woodwork, floors (wooden) and the carpets were shampooed with Simple Solution in the machine. Left it all to dry and it went.

Dog is a hard smell to shift, underlay is also hard to de-stink so I would remove all carpets and clean the floors with Simple Solution, lots of it, let it penetrate the floor and keep using it. It smells perfumed but is nowhere near as bad as the smell of stale dog.

Bowls of vinegar around the house help, I don't dilute it but you might find it strong.

You can buy big bottles of SS as well as the spray bottles, I had a spray and just refilled it from the bottle, although did slosh it around a bit as well.

Aquamarine1029 · 19/01/2020 01:01

The carpets have to go. You will never be able to get the stink out of them. I would be doing this immediately before the smell permeates your furniture as well.

Aquamarine1029 · 19/01/2020 01:03

@flirtygirl

Don't get peoples love of carpets yet alone used dirty smelly ones.

I agree. Carpeting is disgusting.