Has anyone had this issue with urine??..What to do?

[jstucky]

So this has happened a few times lately for me??

I know blacklight doesn't fix it...Does moisture probe or something else fix it?

You blacklight a room. You don't get much at all but house or room smells bad. Maybe it doesn't smell too bad at all. You can't find anything on ur hands and knees. So you just spray heavy and clean good. Wa-la!!...You took away the gallons of pine sol/fabreeze/etc that people sprayed on JUST to cover up the smell. You already gave them the estimate or price and could not judge severity. Now problem is worse after cleaning.

I have had a few Rat Nasties and Landlord could say well I didn't know they sprayed all kinds of stuff on so how am I help responsibile/accountable. YOU own the rat nasty sucka!!!

For real though...Does moisture probe or better black light work.

What covers up the flourescent showing of urine?? Or what makes it/causes it not to show up???


ALSO what are you guys doing for flat commercial carpet for urine? You guys don't use the CLAW on commercial do you?? Just Pre-treat heavy/saturate spots and wand everything??

 

[Mikey P]

I suffer from the drip when I have too much coffee.

 

[lancehollister]

The moisture probe works better if the stain is fresh. Im sure u know that urine starts as an acid and turns to an alkaline and the odor u smell is the dead and dyeing bacteria.


An ultra violet light would work much better. But if u dont see visable traces of urine with the light i might guess that the tack strip might be infected and adding moisture to the source would only make it worse as there would be a bacteria population explosion.

If u smell it then its an alkaline and the stronger odor means more odor causeing bacteria and vise versa.


Whene cleaning u want to rinse the carpet with a nuetral chemical like fiber rinse to help nuetralize the source. Then a topical enzyme would help remove the odor causeing bacteria. But the enzyme is picky and like temps around 160 degrees and this wakes them and they will be hungry so they need to be woken up then temps above 180 will kill them leaving this treatment a waste of time.
I never gaurantee a topical treatment but if the problem isnt to big this will help alot.

If the source is the tack strip though i would replace the tack strip , clean and sanitize the subfloor and clean and treat both sides of the carpet.

Still no gaurantee the odor will be removed from the carpet but putting new carpet over the untreated area will only start this process all over again in a yr or so.

Anything i miss?

 

[ACE]

The moisture probe works best in higher humidity settings (like the Midwest). I use both blacklight and moisture probe for inspection. The moisture probe tells me there is heavy buildup because the resulting alkali salt draws moisture long after the urine is "dry". I drop a penny on these spots during inspection then saturate them with odorcide and extract with spot claw.

 

[Wayne Miller]

If you can't find it, pull the carpet up and look at the backing. It ain't an exact science. Why promise miracles? Present them with a disclaimer limiting the results to what they can reasonably expect and not expect. If they're not comfortable with reality, don't indulge any fantasies.

 

[Jeff Madsen]

Ditto what Wayne said. One other thought - you're not trying to work miracles at your regular price, are you? I've found that offering to "attempt" to "make the situation better" at twice the normal rate brings lucidity to the client. They own the problem, not you. Don't allow confusion about these things.

 

[Wayne Miller]

Definately charge a premium. I learned a a long time ago I want to do urine work about as much as I want to be a proctologist. Ever meet an underpaid proctologist?

 

[Ron Werner]

the odour is coming from the urea in the urine. As the bacteria break down the urine, it turns alkaline, gives off ammonia gas.

If its urine contaminated it tell my client there are 3 options. If I can't find the source or it seems like the entire room is saturated making Option 2 unreasonable, I'll blanket spray it heavily with quatalot, letting it soak right in. Dwell time is the key, give it at least 30 min. Then I clean with a strong O2 prespray and O2 rinse.

If I can locate the source, water claw it to remove the source.

If Option 1 or 2 fail, they are left with Option 3, remove the pad, paint and seal the floor, clean the carpet, replace pad and reinstall. I've never been a good installer so I've never done this option myself.

 

[sweendogg]

Ron, even if you were a good installer, Reinstalling carpet can be a PITA especiellly with weird cubbies and floor vents, which inevitably with a new an needed stretch will require patching. some people can live with this. Others can't. Square rooms no floor vents and reinstall would work fine, but some rooms and carpets are not forgiving!

 

[Jim Nazarian]

What blacklight are you using? I tried CTI's & it was awful, then I got the black one from Cobb & I have been very happy with it.

 

[Jimmy L]

Your problem lies with your equipment and it's capabilities or non capabilities.

 

[tim]

Spend the money on a good blacklight and you will be able to identify the problem! A good blacklight will show urine in almost lighting situation. I got tired of closing all the lights, dimming the blinds and bending down close to the floor with a blacklight. A good blacklight will be invaluable. The moisture probe is good to tell you how extensive the damage and what areas need to be flushed and clawed. Moisture probes only work well with some humidity. Sometimes I use the blacklight and probe, add odorcide and quat to my prespray and return the following day with a probe to see if it needs a followup flush and claw (for a price of course) I charge by the gallon for pet treatment, $35 - $40 per gallon extra.

 

[juniorc82]

mix up an acid or all fibver rinse mixture in ppump sprayer.(most acid based detergents will give a duilution ratio for urine prespray) , heavely spray the floor with it let dwell extract, then post spray with an enzyme based deoderizer

 

[Ron Werner]

I used to do subsurface extract with an acid soln first, followed with enzyme.
After a few failed jobs, I was told that by starting with the acid, I wet down the area and the enzyme won't penetrate to all the areas it should.

 

[Walt]

I feel like I've tried everything. Water claw is frequently not an option here as most homes have a chip board sub floor. Enzyme products are expensive and frequently don't work in areas that have been treated with disinfectant.

What works for me -

Small spots - benefect (botanical disinfectant)

Broad areas but not too bad - SP mixed very strong into prespray - long dwell. Or Quat-A-Lot (not a good fit for most of my clients but effective)

Litter box areas - if it is not too big - SP mixed in to watering can, plastic sheeting, new pad and the water claw. Frequently there will be some fiber distortion. But better than replacement.

If it's bad I recommend replacement.


Commercial (like an old folks home) - You've got to clean the crap out of it. I use regular prespray mixed strong, SP or liquid peroxide. Saturate, Dwell. Rinse with a good rinse and lots of it. Get on hands and knees and smell it. Repeat if odor persists.