Odors in Wood Flooring
An important point that can not be made too strongly is
that pet urine spots have been left to soak in for hours, or days if not weeks.
Unfinished flooring under the carpet padding is capable of absorbing an enormous
amount of liquid urine. Even finished hardwood flooring has cracks between the
boards that harbor a significant amount of liquid. This liquid will wick a
long way from the initial point of contamination. In both cases, OdorXit
solution must be applied so that it has a chance to soak into the unfinished
flooring and into the cracks between the boards of plank flooring. Apply enough
OdorXit to dry hardwood flooring so that it takes 10 to 15 minutes to dry in a
room at 60F to 70F, particle board, OSB and plywood should take 20 to 30
minutes.
There are situations with any type of wood flooring
contaminated with
very large amounts of urine
that do not appear to respond to OdorXit. These cases are nearly
always a result of the wood being so saturated with urine that it will either
not dry or simply not respond completely to OdorXit. In the event that this is
the case, replacing the non-responsive wood is the best alternative. In these
cases, there is always a large amount of contaminant on
the sub-flooring or beams
under the removed wood. Treat the contamination on the sub-floor and
or beams(rafters) with OdorXit and replace the flooring with new so that the
floor level matches the surrounding floor level.
When treating concrete and grouted tile floors contaminated with
urine and feces and even mold we have found that adding 1 or 2 ounce of Sears
or Hoover (as a second) carpet cleaning shampoo (those that contain
surfactants) for each ounce of OdorXit increases the penetration ability of the
solution so that it can get to where the urine residue is hiding. This is
assuming that the area has been superficially cleaned with any normal cleaning
product (we prefer powdered Spic&Span or
TSP).
When using surfactants of any
kind, be careful not to get them on your skin as they are capable of soaking
right through your skin. That is why they are mentioned prominently on the
warning labels. Finally, when using carpet shampoo with OdorXit, make up only
what you can use immediately because the shampoo will slowly disable the
OdorXit. Spray enough OdorXit on the concrete or grout that is stays shinny wet
for 5 to 10 minutes. It may require several applications in an
area in order to get enough solution down to make it stay wet that long
because OdorXit solution soaks in very quickly.
Use a great deal of caution if you apply OdorXit with
surfactants to particle board, OSB, plywood. or hardwood flooring. It can easily warp the hardwood boards and raise the grain
to the point that the wood will need to be sanded flat and refinished! It
can also cause the sheet flooring to swell with water.
NOTE:
If
you insist on using bleach
products to clean and disinfect the area,
1. Use liquid
chlorine pool shock. It has a higher concentration of chlorine and does
not have all the products to whiten and brighten your cloths.
2. Do not use any bleach or chlorine product in combination with or in
the presence of any ammonia product. Free chlorine gas is released! It is
poison!
3. Flooding the contaminated area with any water
based product will dissolve some of the urine residue and spread it
around, making the contaminated area larger than it was when you
started. Use the minimum amount of water in your cleanup effort
and use a mop or wet/dry vac to pick up the water to reduce the
problem.
4. Wait until any chlorine product has completely dried before
applying OdorXit. Chlorine based products will disable OdorXit.
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OdorXit concentration for flooring applications should be 1:30 or 4 ounces per gallon.
The concentration is less important than getting the solution in contact with
all of the wet and/or dried urine.
One of the more effective ways to spray OdorXit is to use a new 1/2 to 3
gallon tank sprayer with the fan type nozzle. Sears and Lesco sell several
really good ones. See
Applicators
for lots more
information. Note: DO NOT use a sprayer that has been used for yard
chemicals. The smell of these chemicals does not wash out of the sprayer and
will contaminate the carpet with smells OdorXit can not eliminate.
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