Could that title be any more appealing?? I know it’s lovely… but it’s a fact of life for me right now. Coming home every night to the welcoming stank of cat pee. But, I am proud to say, no longer does our house reek! After some research, some manual labor, and an amazing product (Kilz Original), our house practically smells like a rosebush (ok, exaggeration, but you get the point). Let’s walk through the process together, shall we?
Rid Your House of the Cat Urine Smell
The very first night we got in the house, we ripped up almost all the carpets. Â The smell was so bad we could hardly breath (how did the previous owners do it??). Â These carpets were way too far gone to be salvageable so in the garage they went (which now reeks too).
Notice the plug-nose-with-shirt move going on up there. I told you all it was nasty…. Â We also ripped up all the padding since it was fairly well contaminated too.
Getting the rooms down to the subfloor helped immensely.  And thanks to this (strangely) beautiful Chicago weather, we were able to air out the house for several weeks.  Nevertheless, some odor remained as it had seeped into the subflooring.  You can see some dark stained spots below, and they stunk real. bad.
After removing the carpet, we did our due diligence and pulled all the staples and nails, and gave the floors a good brooming. Â Then, we did some research on blocking odors. Â Specifically pet urine odors. Â While there are several options, we felt the best one for us would be a spot type treatment, by sealing in the odors in the rooms that needed it.
Turns out there are primer paints specifically designed for odor blocking that work well against pet odors as well as smoke smells. Â We read several reviews on different products and the consensus seems to be that you need to use an oil based primer. Â It just does it’s job infinitely better than latex. Â Even though it is definitely harder to work with as it doesn’t wash off with water, it is worth the extra work to ensure a stink-less house.
We heard great things about Kilz Original, so we decided to try it out. Â You can buy a gallon for around $30Â and it will cover roughly 300 square feet. Â When we opened the can, it clearly needed some mixing. Â But a few minutes later the paint was looking nice and white and we were back in business.
Really, the whole process was very simple and went fairly fast. Â We rolled the primer onto the floor, taking special care to cover well on the trouble spots. Â Jake and I alternated rolling, man what an arm workout!
And yes, I paint in flip flops. Â What??
One hour later we had all cat urine subfloor covered in a coat of Kilz Original.  Which smells very strong by the way (it is oil-based, after all).  So all windows were opened, and we spent some time outside trying to to breathe all the fumes.
The first few days we couldn’t tell if the cat urine smell was gone or not because the paint smell was so overpowering. Â But we eventually determined that the odor was nearly gone, but still slightly detectable in the bad spots. Â So, we did a second coat on all urine-infected floors to be doubly sure to completely eliminate the odor.
And now, thanks to Kilz Original, we have a fresh smelling house!  Next up, picking out some flooring 🙂
In other house news…
We’ve been doing a little yard work. Â One evening we went through the yard and pulled all the weeds and thistles that were growing around the fence and deck edges. Â I kid you not, some were as tall as me!! Â Then, we took some free mulch that was sitting a few houses down (our neighborhood is taking down all the dead ash trees, so sad!) and mulched around the trees and house. Â Just those little things made such a difference in the yard!
Also, we’re still working on a flooring decision.  Who knew it would be so difficult??  Hopefully we’ll have a decision soon and more flooring posts on the horizon!  Now that you all know how to get rid of that stinky cat urine smell, go get yourselves some Kilz Original and make your homes less stanky 🙂  Any other tips out there on odor elimination??
A Kilz Original Review
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So Sofia how long do I wait to bring my 11 cats back in that room after using kilz? I am glad you ask that thank you very much
My 3 year old neutered cat just started spraying on our drywall We have bought and tried everything. So what else can we try?
VINEGAR! That’s what my vet suggested, after we ripped up the carpet. And it worked. ‘Basic chemistry’, he said.
I’ll do Kilz this weekend, then install new flooring.
Thanks a lot for the post.
FYI: The white mask you are using in the photo is only effective for blocking out dust, such as when sanding. If you are concerned about cutting down on VOCs and plan on doing more DIY type stuff, I’d invest in a reusable respirator (~$25) that you can attach different cartridges do. There are specific ones you can find at your local home improvement store (~$12) for organic components, such as when painting, staining, etc. Happy home improvement!
Some cats are what they call high sprayers. Yeah I discovered it is a thing. My kitty hiked her rear end up high and it goes over the litter box. I put the litter box in a taller plastic tub and cut the front out and put her litter box in it, but I have little sense of smell and caught it late. Alas, she is gone, but I need to find something for the drywall or I will get charged a lot when I leave. I dream of a sunroom with tile up to a chair rail.
I’m putting the kills oil based paint on my floors I because your cat urine in the subfloors But I’m going to install hardwood floors afterwords but not sure when I nailed the floor down is the cat urine going to leak through
We have a senior lab mix that was having accidents in our sons room. We didn’t realize how bad it was until we rip up the carpet because of the odor. The hardwood floors are ruined. The coating is gone. And room smells very badly of urine. We have cleaned many times with urine remover, peroxide and vinegar and baking soda but nothing has removed the smell. We are considering sealing the floor with Kilz and replacing the carpet. Will the Kilz remove the odor?
Hello there! We previously sealed EVERY subfloor in our home except the tiled areas after using enzymatic treatments to kill everything we could (I got professional strength enzymatic killers at a janitorial supply store that doesn’t sell to the public but I was literally in tears trying to find help at the time.) So we put down TWO layers of oil based Kilz on our floors. Now we’ve adopted a kitty and SHE is spraying and peeing everywhere in one room! Ugh! So I know the subfloor is protected from anything seeping through but I’m not sure if I should just pour enzymatic cleaner on the floor near the baseboards to let it run under the flooring or the best way to get rid of the urine. We put down laminate wood flooring with the padding attached to the planks. Curious what others would do in this situation. We CANNOT and WILL NOT get rid of the kitty. I’m just going to have to figure this out. She’s a great kitty otherwise and she does use the litter box but I think she’s marking the room because we have another kitty. TIA for any ideas!
Hey there .. in process of buying the Killz.. can I use the low Oder one? And how long should I take my cats to a stay with a friend for ? I’m so confused and don’t want to get them sick …
We recently bought a home that had been vacant for two years EXCEPT for raccoons in the full length of the attic. We removed numerous bags of urine soaked insulation as well as the critters. However the textured ceiling in one bathroom still smells. It has been painted with white semi-gloss paint but some odor still remains. Anyone have a similar experience and solution? I really hate tearing down the entire ceiling.
Buy an ozone generator….
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Kilz, Nature’s Miracle, and TSP (trisodium phosphate) do wonders for getting rid of cat urine smells. I would say actually, a strong concentrate of TSP and water has been the most effective in my opinion.
Thanks for the advice! Going to give it a try!
Does the Kilz work on concrete? Every time my basement gets wet I smell the pee. Help!!!!
Hi Jennifer – did anyone answer your question, or did you end up trying it? What were the results? I’m curious too.
Has anyone used Kilz Original on drywall? My cats have been more attracted to the walls than the carpet. Thanks for answering as this is a big problem that needs to be addressed ASAP. Mrs. Fancee, your blog is a blessing. My husband and I split recently (he moved out) and now I’m left with this issue. Lots of work but at least I’m free if his emotional abuse. Thank the good Lord!
Thanks to all of you for the info! I have 5 cats, the two boys, who are both neutered, spray the walls around the perimeter of my home. They have saturated the carpet in 3 rooms. I ripped up one rug and am now cleaning the cement underneath that still smells. I scrubbed it with bleach one night, waited a day, then scrubbed it with vinegar, waited a day then used Nature’s Miracle cat urine stuff. I can still smell the urine but not as badly. I am currently covering the floor with Kilz. We will see what happens. Good job on getting that husband out, Anne! I am in a similar situation. That is why I have so many cats…
Be careful using bleach…mixes with the ammonia from the cat urine and can be toxic.
Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda also work wonders on cat urine. You must clean with an enzyme cleaner first then spray down with hydrogen peroxide and scrub in baking soda. I have a neutered male that also sprays and that method works wonders.
I have done this to eliminate odor and just bought new carpet. Now I’m wondering if my cats will continue to pee on it or if they will stop now they don’t smell it any more. $2,000 in I don’t want them to do it to the new carpet. I don’t know which one if doing it but I would be heart broken if i have to get rid of them. any ideas if they will continue?
shoot….the….cat
Stop getting cats and get a proper pet, like a dog 🙂
Christie, I have a small Cat Rescue (8 cats) and I can tell you, cats will go potty sometimes. It’s just their nature and they’re not trying to upset you. They’re marking their territory. Do you live in a climate where you could build a Catio outside to house them during the day? We also have enclosures in the garage where the kitties go at night (kind of like PetSmart with lattice doors vs. the glass display windows). Each enclosure has comfy beds or throws, its own litter box, food and water. The kitties love going in there at night. During the day as we have a huge yard, they’re indoor/outdoor kitties, but as soon as I treat the (‘stanky’) walls with Kilz Original, they’ll be in their (soon-to-be-built) Catio during the day instead of being inside. There are lots of styles online if you look for them and the Catios look fairly easy to construct. My son is going to build ours under the trees in our side yard. The kitties will enjoy being outside in their catio with cat towers/toys, etc., during the day eliminating the slightest risk of being hit by cars. At night they’ll go into their garage enclosures. I can still bring a kitty or two in for some one on one playtime while I watch to make sure they don’t wet on the walls. I hope this idea helps so you don’t have to re-home your kitties. They’re so precious, after all.
Wow! I never thought of doing that… I’m in the process of installing vinyl floors so that if my cats pee inside, it will be easy to wipe it up. I also know a lady who does feral cat rescue. I admire her but I don’t want to live with more than three cats in my house. xD That garage/catio idea might be a good solution… there are already 2 neighborhood cats that come to our house for dinner every night. If I ever end up taking in a bunch of foster cats, I might steal that idea…
Dear Sarah, How did your Kilz primer with vinyl floor over it project work out? Was your substrate wood, or was it concrete? Did the odor return I’m trying to deal with a similar situation now.
Hi Sarah, the kilz was over wood subfloor and the kilz completely eliminated the odor 🙂
Awesome thanks for sharing. We only have a small spot we need to treat after pulling out the carpet. We were going to go with the Kilz Original SPRAY can. Hopefully it’s as successful, we’ll see…
Hi, how is it now that it’s been a little while? We’re in the spot of getting new carpet and want to pre-treat the subfloors because the previous owners had taken in a feral cat.
Hey Andrea! It’s been 2.5 years now since we painted the subfloors. Now we have flooring (hardwood) over them. I would say that there has not been a smell since we painted. Every once in a while I will get paranoid and wonder if I smell a faint scent of cat urine, but everybody I ask says they don’t. (I guess it never leaves your nose! lol) I will say there are a few rooms with laminate that we haven’t replaced or primed yet, and it’s possible there is some urine odor in them… But overall, I would say that it has been a perfect solution!
this is helpful if you have carpet….I have year old bamboo floors, it will cost me thousands to have to rip them out…Odo-ban did not work, so I am going to try oil based Kilz on the walls, think that will help?
I have used Kilz Max to eliminate odor from a bad paint I has just put on. The paint used was B… ceiling paint and it was rated highly. After 3 days the smell from this paint was terrible and the room (a porch) could not be used. I was advised to apply Kilz Max, which I did. The smell is the same after 4 days. What’s next. I do have a very serious lung disease and this is now becoming that is affecting my breathing.