While we love our furry friends, sometimes accidents happen in the home. Pet urine can cause permanent damage to your floors and fabrics. It can also create an unhealthy indoor environment. When damages become serious, it can hassle and risk trying to clean it up on your own.

At The Most Thorough, we offer lasting solutions to remove pet odors and eliminate odors. Our approach is safe and highly effective. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

Understanding the Science Behind Pet Odors

When urine is first deposited onto a floor or fabric, it has a pH of about 5 or 6, which is considered acidic on the pH Scale and is easiest to remove when fresh. Once it dries it turns “alkaline” or to a high pH between 10 to12 on the scale and becomes more difficult to remove. The warm acid state of the urine offers a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, which can flourish almost immediately. In this original acid state the urine begins to oxidize and react with the carpet to create a color change, which will become permanent if the urine is not removed immediately. 

Some of this color change can be attributed to the strong ammonia that forms as the urine passes through bacterial and chemical change. If left for days or weeks, depending on the fabric or floor type, it will change the dye structure, therefore causing permanent staining.

There are two sources of odors associated with urine:

1. The first comes from bacteria that grow abundantly in dark warm places with a never-ending food source. A pet can feed the bacteria daily! This bacteria growth and breakdown of the urine creates amino acids. These complex organic compounds will often work deep into the fibers to a point of becoming part of the fiber. This can present a challenging situation. The waste materials and gasses from the decomposing urine create an unpleasant odor. When dried urine is remoistened, it gives off an ammonia gas.
2. The second source of odor is chemical odor that is present even when the bacteria have been killed. This explains the reason that more than sanitizing is necessary to neutralize odors from urine. Urine also presents additional odor problems when the relative humidity is high. The salts and crystals that are left behind as the urine dries are hydrophilic and draw water to them. Dried urine is often easy to smell in the humid months because the salts attract the moisture, the moisture evaporates putting out a greater proportion of odorous ammonia gas. You must get rid of the urine salts in and under the carpet to get rid of the odor. That’s why cleaning existing urine spots WILL NOT remove any associated odor. In fact, it could INCREASE the odor in the air space for a temporary period of time.
   
   

Our Odor Removal Process

Remember, in order to remove the odor, all of the alkaline salt deposits the urine leaves behind must be completely removed. This can be quite extensive and time consuming. In worse cases, all of the following steps will be done. 

1. Pull up carpet

2. Remove affected pad

3. Clean back of carpet

4. Treat floor with an enzyme treatment

5. Seal floor if needed with an odor barrier

6. Treat back of carpet with enzyme treatment

7. Install new tack strip

8. Install new pad

9. Re-install carpet

10.Clean carpet

11. Topically apply enzymes.

Trust The Most Thorough for Expert Odor Removal

If you’re looking for a service that successfully removes pet odors in your home, look no further than The Most Thorough! Our focus is simple: make our clients happy with the work we do. We deliver high quality work that leaves your property smelling fresh. Our staff will treat you like family while answering questions related to your pet odor removal needs.