Help needed to rid a house of cat hair and cigarette smoke!!

[BirdBrain]

We are getting ready to make an offer on a "new" house. The current owner smokes but only does so out in the sunroom (an unairconditioned add on to the house). I am sensitive to smoke as are my kids and realtor and none of us smelled it in the house. However this lady has several cats and DD had a significant reaction to them while there--runny nose, itchy eyes, blotchy hivy skin etc. we assured her that we would immediately pull up all the carpet (replace with hard surface flooring of some sort) and clean the house completely. She thinks her reaction was more to the smoky sunroom, but I think it may be a combination.

So, what is the best way to rid a home of cat hair and clean the sunroom of smoke smell?

Will removing the carpet take away all the kitty stuff? What else should I do?

The sunroom has a tile floor and a brick knee wall with single pane windows on three sides above that. There are plastic blinds that can be lowered to cover all the windows. I am assuming what I need to do out there is remove the blinds, paint the sheetrock ceiling with Kilz and wash the windows, bricks and tile floor with bleach water. Will that do it?

The offer will be tendered tomorrow I think, so any ideas really fast would be so appreciated

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

This is a great product for removing tobacco smoke. You can dilute it alot and it still be very effective. Not sure how it works on cat issues.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forum...ol-Super-Clean-most-similar-Meguiar-s-product

 

[Wannabefree]

We got the smoke smell out of our house by washing walls, all windows and window treatments, and even repainted a couple rooms that needed it anyway. Smoke isn't as hard to get out as cat cooties IMO. DH is highly allergic to cats as well, sorry the kid had such a reaction. The carpet will be a large portion of it, but if they've marked it could be in the subfloor/baseboards/walls as well. A strong bleach solution should get it, as long as you can locate it with a blacklight. Any urine spots will glow neon yellow under blacklight, anything white will glow as well, but you'll be able to tell the difference.

 

[BirdBrain]

Wow, never heard of the black light thing! Also, I'll check out that other product.

I'm assuming that washing down everything and running an air purifier will also help.

Has anyone done anything with an ozone generator?

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

What about vinegar in water wash? For the walls, floor, etc.

 

[Wannabefree]

Ozone gets any smell out, at least the professional jobs do. The neighbors house had to be professionally done due to the previous owner dying in the house and laying there for several days a few summers ago, and they used ozone. Afterwards you couldn't smell anything in there.

Vinegar would be good too. I use it alot myself, and it's a great deodorizer.

 

[~gd]

If it is forced air heat or AC Replace the air filter first, if worse comes to worse you may need to have the ductwork cleaned but watch out for rip off outfits. Clearing the air of smoke is easy but removing the tars that have condensed out of the smoke is tougher. I would wash the windows (cool surfaces) with a degreaser type cleaner and then decide If I could live with it. painting with a sealer product such as Kilzs is next. Painting with water based paint should not be tried until after it seals. many oil based products will also allow the tar to move through it to stink up the place. In either case you may have trouble in getting the paint to stick to an oil/grease layer.
As for the cats the problem that causes a reaction is the dander from the fur. hair that has had the dander removed usually causes no problems. Of course the hair is covered with dander normally so it should be removed. Cat urine stinks but usually is no bigger problem than urine from a baby and there are tons of products out there that use an enzyme to degrade the urine to simple non stinking product. Most real estate agents insist that steps be taken BEFORE the house is listed or allowed to be shown. If you are using a agent ask him/her to make a recomendation they usually know who does the best job for the money. Even if you have made an offer the inspector can hold up the sale until the problems are fixed if they are real health problems. ~gd

 

[hqueen13]

I'll have to agree that carpet is probably the biggest source of the cat issues.

Vinegar is great for pulling smells out of rooms, especially carpeted rooms. Leave a bowl of white vinegar in a room on the floor and close the room for a few days. Cleaning with vinegar can also really help get things out.

My sister moved into a house that was in HORRID condition, the previous owner was VERY ill, and simply neglected the house and was a big smoker on top of that. They replaced all the carpet, had things professionally cleaned and STILL needed to clean after that. It takes elbow grease, but boy is it satisfying when you're finished!

Best of luck!

 

[RedneckCowgirl]

After pulling the carpet/pad I would spray the floor with vinegar pretty liberally and allow to dry really well at least once before laying any new flooring down. That will help to get rid of any odors that might be of issue

 

[Denim Deb]

One thing you may need to do is rip out the baseboard. You'll find a ton of hair behind it.