Pet-accidents and wooden floor. Help?

[metal_equine]

I'm on house/pet watch for friends this weekend and I managed to close one of the cats into the livingroom over night. She had an accident on the floor and by the time I even found out she was there, the pee had soaked into the wood. Is there any way, short of very drastic measures ( i.e. sanding the whole floor down) to remove or lessen the stain?

Comments

[spaceoperadiva]

If it hasn't left a discoloration, I'd try soaking the spot with Murphy's Wood Oil Soap. I mean really make a huge puddle and leave it there for at least 20 minutes. After that, if the floor is finished with polyurethane, you can hit it with a little Orange Glo hardwood floor refinisher. Don't skip the Murphy step though. The Murphy's Oil Soap takes away the smell and the Orange Glo in my experience doesn't, even though it's very strong smelling when you're using it.

If that doesn't work or if there's a serious discoloration, the only way I know to fix it is sanding. The good news is that you can sometimes touch up just the finish on the spot and not have to do the whole floor.

[metal_equine]

Wood oil soap? Perhaps I could find an equivalent to that here... The spot is a bit darker, though.

Thank you for your advice. :)

[spaceoperadiva]

Sorry about the US products recommendations. Murphy's Oil Soap is a vegetable oil-based soap with citronella oil. You could probably make your own if nothing similar is available by mixing equal parts vegetable oil and liquid soap together with a few drops of citronella oil. If you mixed, say a large dinner spoon full of vegetable oil and a spoon full of liquid soap together, you'd probably want about 5 drops of citronella, depending on how concentrated your citronella is. Then you'd dilute that in about a half pint or quarter of a liter of warm water. The oil keeps the soap and water from destroying the wood. :)

[brigid]

At the very least, you should look for specialty products that neutralize pet odor and put it on the floor, or else the cat(s) will continue to urinate on that section of the floor. I believe they're enzyme based, and you should be able to find them in pet supply stores and online. Just because you, a human, can't smell urine doesn't mean the scent is gone. Cats (and dogs) can and do seek out spots where prior urination has occurred and then add their own.

That said, I talked to my husband who has managed vintage (wooden floor) apartment buildings, and he said it sounds like the floor is pretty ruined. Urine, but cat urine especially, is very caustic. Cat spray can literally eat through walls and doors and floors if given enough time and applications.