If your previous tenant had pets, odds are that they will leave unwanted pet odors behind. A smelly rental property can be problematic to rent out, particularly if your new tenants don’t have pets or are very receptive to pet odors. Eradicating pet odors from a rental property can be challenging, especially if the tenant lived there a long time or the pets caused a great deal of damage. To restore your property and get the pet odors out, here are a few tips from the pros in a way that will be useful to you.
Assess the Damage
The first step to eliminating pet odors is to try and figure out what is causing them. Look for areas where the previous tenant’s pets may have urinated or defecated, such as on carpets, walls, or trim. You can also use a blacklight to help you find any urine stains. Just be aware that pet stains can often penetrate below the surface and may be coming from carpet padding or even the drywall. If there is any visible damage, such as urine stains or torn-up carpeting, these will need to be addressed.
Deep Cleaning and Odor Removal
Once you have known where pet odors are coming from, it’s time to deep clean the entire house. Using a steam cleaner or hot water extraction method on carpets and upholstery can help remove any lingering smells. Use an enzymatic cleaner explicitly designed for pet messes on hard surfaces such as tile or wood floors. These cleaners break down the bacteria that cause odors rather than just briefly disguising the stench.
However, if the pet odor problem is particularly stubborn, think about hiring a professional carpet cleaning or odor removal service. These professionals have specialized equipment and techniques that can successfully tackle tough odors.
Still, it’s critical to note that even deep cleaning will generally just remove surface odors and may not completely eliminate deeper smells embedded in floors, walls, cabinets, or carpeting.
Repair and Replace
If the deep cleaning didn’t eliminate the pet odors, it might be necessary to replace heavily soiled materials such as carpets, pads, subfloor, or even drywall and trim. This can be costly but may be required if deep cleaning isn’t enough to eliminate the odor. For example, if pet stains have penetrated through the paint on a wall, repainting may or may not do anything to get rid of the smell. The same thing goes for flooring. In severe cases, you may need to replace sections of flooring, drywall, and trim to eliminate all pet odors completely.
Prevent Future Odors
Once you’ve successfully gotten rid of pet odors, it’s important for Pittsboro property managers to take steps to prevent them from coming back. The usage of pee pads or consistent outdoor cleanup should be mandatory for any future tenants who choose to have pets. Even if there are no dogs in the rental home, regular deep cleaning of the carpets and furniture is always a smart idea. This has the potential to forestall the formation of lingering scents in the future.
As a whole, it might be challenging to eliminate pet scents from a rental home. In any case, you can restore your property and make it more presentable to potential tenants by doing a thorough cleaning and possibly replacing excessively dirty components.
Real Property Management Impact provides a solution for you if you’d prefer not to deal with odorous rentals or lease addendums for pets. If you own rental property in Pittsboro, we’re the specialists you need to see it through. Contact us over the web for additional info about our offerings.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
