Removing pet odor from subflooring

I never had a problem with my pets until we moved into our current home 2 years ago. Now they have ruined our carpet! My husband has shampooed the carpet so much that it's falling apart. We are considering a wood or laminate floor to replace the carpet. We lifted a huge section to see what kind of condition the subloor is in so we can prepare for the new floor. There is a lot of pet odor in the floor. In addition, some areas of our subfloor look pretty saturated and dark. I don't know if it's from the pets or from the continual shampooing. I was given the suggestion of using clorox on my subfloor to remove odor before putting down new flooring. Is there a point when you need to replace the subflooring or should sanitizing with clorax be enough? As with most of these posts, I could use a response fairly quickly now that we have removed the carpeting. thanks in advance

 

Just paint the floor. I think it would be better to just seal in the stain rather than trying to lift it out of the wood with a cleaner.

 

Michelle:

Jeff at floorboards.com has the response for you and he recommends 2 coats of clear "Zinnser" shellac applied to the subfloor. Not only does it kill the odor permanently, but it also works as a sealer to retard moisture from coming up beneath.

 

Hi,
We just installed new hardwood over old hardwood, extremely urine-damaged floors. We were told to seal the stains with an alcohol-based primer called "binz" or at least with paint.
At our current home (a new one), we had the same problem with our dog----a very housebroken male developed a marking problem and ruined our living room carpet. We pulled in and installed Wilsonart throughout. We were VERY happy with the wilsonart. Dogs pee less where they eat and sleep. Try feeding your dog and having him nap (on a leash) right where he is marking.
Katie

 

I would personally have "gotten rid of the dog" it just doesn't seem worth it! But for all you bleeding hearts out there--yes painting the floor does work--just make sure its completely dry first. Then if your dog is still around--mine would not have made it this far--keep it off of the floors when you are not around to watch it!

 

Hey -- did sealing it in do the trick? If so, what did you end up using?

Dana (please email me at dbrigham@nsf.gov)