New extension being built and it STINKS.

[ShowOfHands]

We are having a downstairs shower room put in and it's built and recently plastered but the floor is still concrete.

It smells like ammonia. It's extremely similar to cat urine. For full transparency, we do have a cat but she never wees indoors. I've been assuming that due to the stress of the build, she had been in there and urinated on the floor at some point and I've tried everything to eliminate the odour. But it's getting worse and worse. It hits me when I walk through the front door and is making me feel ill. My whole downstairs smells like wee and I'm fed up, embarrassed and worried this is our life now.

Is there anything I can try to get rid of the smell? Is it possible it's something other than the cat?

I can't even identify a "patch" where it is coming from. There's obviously a waste pipe in there (no toilet yet) but it's currently covered and the smell isn't coming from there. It seems to be in the air.

It's driving me mad. Do I just have to live in a smelly house now?

It's warm today for the time of year - can you open the door to the offending room and open doors and windows to increase ventilation? Or I'd there an extractor in the bathroom you can turn on?

As said above, it isn't the plaster and nothing is fitted yet so no extractor or window. We can open the door to it and open windows in other rooms and will be doing so this afternoon (going swimming right now).

DH can get a UV light from work so will try that. It might be the cat but having crawled round on the floor, the smell isn't coming from a patch or the floor in general. It seems to be in the air.

DH needs to phone our builder later anyway so will see if he thinks it's related to the build.

There are new electrics but they aren't live yet and I know what dodgy electrics smell like and it's not it.

Black mould can smell like wee. Is anything building up due to poor drainage etc?

A female cate won't spray I think, so a puddle would have maybe sunk into the drying concrete on the floor? If there is no flooring down just tip loads of bleach on the floor and leave for an hour.

Does the builder have a sand pile or big bag of building sand?
Cats regard these as an ideal toilet, and after a few days the sand absolutely honks. They also like fibreglass insulation- Tom cats especially like to spray on it.

The smell from mortar or concrete made from cat pee sand is eye watering- but it does disappear as it dries out.

Hmm. There's a huge pile of sand on my driveway as left by the builders. I swear about it most days as the DC keep stepping on it and walking sand into my hallway. That could very well be the flipping problem. If it is that, I hope you are right and the smell goes. Maybe once they've put screed over the concrete?

Cat is a girl and definitely doesn't spray. Or wee indoors to my knowledge. Plus, she wouldn't dream of going near the builders when they're working and it's a sealed room when they leave. Never been a puddle and no opportunity. I bet it's the blooming sand!

No mould anywhere.

I've ventilated it as much as possible today, as well as cleaning the floor with a cat specific odour neutraliser. It does smell much better. Still there but contained to the room and fainter rather than permeating the whole downstairs. DH had been out a couple of times and when walking back in says he can smell only disinfectant in the rest of the house (I've scrubbed every floor and surface today due to plaster dust).

DH is a builder and we have renovated a number of houses of our own. Believe me, cats from all around will be visiting your sand pile cat toilet.

The stench does go as it all dries out- but it is bad!

What he hates more is when they have pooed in the sand as well

I bet you've discovered the issue. We remarked just the other day that our cat is getting fed up with a couple of the local cats suddenly sitting on our fence during the day. The fence is next to the pile of sand! One of them even had a peer through our cat flap recently (thankfully set to open only for our cat). I should have put 2 and 2 together. Weird cat behaviour and weird cat smell. Ohhh I hope it goes soon.