There is nothing worse than trying to get rid of the foul urine smell from pets, dogs, and cats out of the concrete of your garage floor or basement. It seems like no matter how much you clean, the smell won’t go away. This is particularly true for cat urine.
We will cover the best methods for removing cat and pet urine odor from your concrete. In addition, we will include instructions on how to seal your garage floor or basement to block any odors that may persist from concrete, especially with particularly heavy urine issues.
Most concrete with pet urine odor must be treated in a two-stage process. Sometimes it may even require an additional stage, depending on the type of urine odor remover or pet enzymatic product used.
In addition, it helps to use a wet vac if you have one. It is most helpful if you have a basement with urine odors and no drain available. The wet vac helps draw bacteria out of the concrete during cleaning. Carpet cleaners can work in a pinch for vacuuming up liquids as well.
Pet urine odor and stains won’t go away with normal cleaning
We guess you may have already tried cleaning the urine stains to remove the odor from the concrete without good results. The stain may or may not be gone, but the smell remains. Because of this, it’s important to learn why the urine odor still exists and why conventional cleaning methods do not work. Doing so can save you some time and expense.
Concrete is actually porous like a sponge. It will absorb almost any liquid if allowed to sit for a while. This is why it’s hard to remove stains from concrete.
When urine is introduced to concrete and allowed to dry, the uric acid crystals present in the urine bond tightly to the concrete. Unfortunately, these crystals form deep within the pores and capillaries of the concrete since the urine was allowed to soak – sometimes multiple times, for days or even months.
Despite numerous cleanings, uric acid crystals are insoluble and will not bind with regular soaps and other cleaning agents. Thus, the crystals stay attached to the concrete and the smell remains.
The smell may dissipate temporarily after a good cleaning, but as soon as any moisture or moisture vapor is introduced again, it can come back just as strong as before. Basements can be particularly susceptible to this.
The reason the smell returns is that uric acid salts allow crystals to reform as soon as moisture (humidity, for example) is introduced. This releases a gas that has a pungently strong odor.
The best way to stop the smell is to use an enzymatic cleaner. Enzymatic cleaners attack and break down the uric acid crystals and separate them from the concrete. Rocco & Roxie is our #1 recommended enzymatic cleaner to use on concrete to remove pet urine smell.
Steps for removing Cat and pet urine odors from concrete
- Identify urine areas in concrete using a UV light or black light
- Clean the affected areas with a proper cleaner to remove bacteria
- Let the affected area dry throughout – not just the surface
- Treat the affected areas with an enzymatic pet odor remover
- Do not skip any steps or take shortcuts
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How to identify urine odor stains in concrete
To get the best results from an enzymatic pet urine cleaner, you must first identify the exact areas in the concrete affected by the urine.
Many times, the source of pet urine odor can easily be identified. Areas where pets were kept in a pen are an example. However, sometimes it may not be so easy to detect.
This is often the case for people who have moved into a home that previously had pets, only to find that the garage floor reeks of a foul urine smell. Stains may have previously been cleaned, thus hiding the source of the odor.
One tool that does a good job of identifying pet urine is a UV light or black light. These from Amazon do a good job.
Close the doors and then turn on the black light. Hold it no more than three feet off the concrete as you scan the floor in sections. Old urine stains will stand out as blue, green, or yellow markings on the concrete.
We like to encircle the far outside area with arrows pointing toward the urine stain. Chalk works well for this, provided you don’t get it wet. Be sure to check the first two feet of your walls from the floor up as well. Sometimes cats will spray urine on the walls. This requires removing and replacing the affected section of drywall to get rid of the smell.
If, for some reason, the UV light does not reveal any stains, the old standby that will work is your nose. This takes longer, but it is effective. Open the doors to air out the garage and get rid of the immediate smell. After that, get down on your hands and knees and start sniffing. Trust us; you will know when you find it!
Clean the pet urine stains with TSP
After you have identified where the urine is located, it’s important to properly clean the area to rid the concrete of bacteria and other residual urine elements. Contrary to popular belief, most enzymatic cleaners do not remove bacteria.
Once you know where the urine stains are, the first step is to scrub the area with a strong solution of ½ cup TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) to 1 gallon of hot water. TSP mixed at this ratio is very strong. Gloves and eye protection should be worn for safety.
What the TSP does is remove all the bacteria, most if not all of the stains, as well as remove other residue left from the urine. It will leave only the uric acid crystals behind. This will allow the enzymatic pet urine cleaner to work faster and more efficiently at removing the uric acid crystals.
Pour the hot TSP solution onto the urine stain or identified area and scrub it with a short-bristled nylon brush. A deck brush works well for this. Make sure that you keep the area wet for at least 10 minutes or more to allow it to soak into the concrete. The solution will follow the same paths as the urine did and will need some time to work its way down into the concrete.
Do not be surprised if the smell increases as you soak the concrete. It is a combination of urine residue and uric acid crystals reacting and releasing gas from contact with the water.
Once the area has been scrubbed and allowed to soak long enough, pour clean hot water over the treated area again and then vacuum up the water with the wet/vac. Carpet cleaners will work for this as well. You will want to do this at least twice. For heavily treated and soiled areas, three times would be better.
This hot water rinsing will remove the TSP solution and help to suck up any remaining urine residue that is in the concrete. Treat any additional areas in the same fashion (scrub, soak, rinse), and then allow the concrete to dry at least overnight. 24 hours or more is best. Pet urine enzymatic cleaners work best when the concrete is completely dry before treatment.
As a note, the TSP may create a whiter-looking area on your garage floor since it is getting the concrete very clean. If that is the case, you may want to scrub the rest of your concrete after you are done with the same TSP solution. This will achieve a more consistent (and clean) look on the floor.
Using a hose with a high-pressure nozzle works fine for this to speed up the rinsing process. You are just removing dirt at this point and not sucking up urine residue. We have more tips for cleaning a garage floor here.
Apply pet urine enzymatic cleaner to concrete
Pet enzymatic cleaners work by using bacteria (the good kind) to digest malodors, waste, and stains. These bacteria produce enzymes that break down the molecules of the uric acid crystals into smaller bits. This allows the bacteria to digest the smaller bits and break them down into the two basic components of carbon dioxide and water. They are the best product for removing the smell of cat urine.
Because you are working with concrete and not carpet, we suggest using a product that is available in concentrate or gallon jugs and not something that comes in a spray bottle. Unlike carpet, you will need to use liberal amounts of the enzymatic cleaner.
The reason for this is that most enzymatic products need some sort of exchange with air. Since most of the uric acid crystals are deep in the concrete, it takes more time for the required air exchange. It will also take time for the concrete to absorb the enzymatic cleaner. Since some of the cleaner will evaporate on the surface as it soaks in, more will need to be used.
One of the best products for removing cat, dog, and pet urine odor is Rocco & Roxie Professional Strength Stain and Odor Eliminator. It has worked wonders for us, and we highly recommend it.
It has stellar reviews, and we know of more than one kennel that uses this as its go-to odor eliminator. Furthermore, it’s available in gallon jugs and does an excellent job when given time to work. You can find it here on Amazon.
There are many other products with good reviews that you can shop for here if you prefer. We recommend staying away from the products that require mixing with carpet shampoo, as these will not be as effective on concrete.
Be sure to follow the directions for the product you choose. Pour it onto the stained area and then start scrubbing it in with a deck brush. Keep it wet for at least 10 minutes or more. You want the concrete to absorb as much of the solution as possible.
For the best results, temporarily cover the wet area with a cheap painter’s tarp to help avoid evaporation of the solution. This will give it more time to soak into the concrete. Rinsing is not required. The enzymatic cleaner will break down the uric acid crystals into carbon dioxide and water, which will dissipate on its own.
Particularly bad-smelling areas may require multiple treatments. This is because it will take time and more enzymatic cleaner to soak into the concrete and do its work. Remember, you may be dealing with an area that allowed the concrete to soak in urine for weeks or months.
DO NOT RUSH THE PROCESS! This is the biggest mistake people make. As we stated, enzymatic urine odor removers require time for the good bacteria to digest the uric acid crystals. If you rush the job, you will not be successful.
Sealing concrete from pet urine odors
On rare occasions, it may require sealing the concrete to prevent any residual pet urine odor from working its way back to the surface. Sometimes people want to do this even though the odor is gone. They just don’t want to take the chance of it returning.
The only type of sealer that will work is a non-breathable, topical concrete coating. Garage floor coatings are a great example. Garage floor coatings are film-forming and do not breathe. They will block odor molecules from transferring through the coating. Acrylic sealers and penetrating sealers will not work. They are breathable and will allow the odor molecules to pass through.
The least expensive to apply is EpoxyShield by Rust-Oleum. You can find it here on Amazon. Do not use 1-part epoxy paint. 1-part epoxy paint is paint and not a true 2-part epoxy coating. Paint breathes and will not seal out the urine odor.
Applying a garage floor coating requires grinding or etching the concrete before application. If you know that you will be applying a coating before you treat your garage for pet urine odor, we recommend treating the concrete after you grind or acid etch.
The concrete prep process will open the pores of the concrete and allow the pet enzymatic cleaners to be absorbed into the concrete more easily. It will allow slightly more air transfer as well. The result will be a quicker and more effective use of the cleaner.
Once the coating is applied and has fully cured, it should effectively block any odors that remain in the concrete.
Hello!
I have white stains in the areas I’m treating, and noticed they become more prominent after treating with the TSP / rinse / vac. I initially thought these were the stains that the TSP was expected to remove, but after some googling I believe it is actually efflorvescence. (This is a concrete garage floor, for reference.). Will the enzymatic step help to remove the white buildup, or is there something else I should include in my process? Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth. The enzymatic cleaner won’t have an effect on the efflorescence. A mild etching solution will usually remove it. There are also efflorescence removers available. I would recommend performing that after you have completed your enzymatic cleaning to your satisfaction.
Thanks for the recommendation!