Expensive Cover-Up

The Story:

• A 6000 sq.ft. house was bought the previous winter with no detectable pet odor, spring brought a massive odor problem and considerable consternation.
• The previous owner had a small poorly trained dog.
• The new carpet had been installed in this expensive but difficult to sell house.
• New carpet was removed to expose the source of the odor on high humidity days.

The Rest of the Story

The conclusions that can be drawn from this example are quite clear.

• Even big expensive houses like this one are not immune to pet soiling and odor problems.
• Expensive padding and carpeting in combination with low humidity produced by cold weather or excessive air conditioning can hide pet odors from even the most discriminating buyers.
• Beware of brand new carpeting in houses that have been on the market for more than a few months. It is often hiding something.

This study is meant to demonstrates that urine contamination in up-scale houses is often hard to identify but easy to treat. The source of this type of staining is by no means limited to pets. Please do not take this case study or its conclusion as an indictment of cats or pets in general. IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE ONE! I have a dog and 2 cats pictured on this site, and would not trade any of them.