WTF - Basement smell like cat piss suddenly - we don't have cats!!!!

[Anonymous]

I'm in NW DC and we found a ratsnake in our detached garage. We didn't care though- figured it was snacking on some vermin somewhere. BTW it was 8 feet long- not joking, and about 2 inches across. We actually were about to touch it because DH and I each thought we were playing a joke on the other with a fake shiny black rubber snake. Good thing they aren't aggressive.

[Anonymous]

I had a similar problem for a couple of months.

We tried everything, had a couple of plumbers come in, had drains cleaned, had a wild life person, had toilet resealed, had all of the vents cleaned including the furnace coils cleaned, had carpets cleaned, all did not help.

Final I had a restoration guy come check for moisture. He found excess moisture in a room and a couple cracks in my foundation. I got someone to give me an estimate for the cracks. A builder came and told me that my sump pump was not draining correctly. This caused the drain tile piping to fill and have not place to drain causing this musty cat pee smell in my basement for weeks.

Most likely if you have that musty cat pee smell in your house its probably an issue of excess moisture in your basement. I can't give you an idea of the source of it. But the way I got rid of the smell was by buying a couple of 50 pint dehumifiiers. Let them run continually for about a week and your problem should be solved.

But I had wished I had contacted that restoration company earlier to have gotten the source of the problem sooner and not spending so much money to all these different services that did not help.

[Anonymous]

This happened where I live also. Smells like cat litter but no cats. Sewer is under foundation. Started reading this and saw rat snake and FREAKED. WTF! Lol. OMG! I live in NYC. Afraid to go out now.

[Anonymous]

We had a washing machine in our basement that started to smell like cat pee. The outside of the drum developed mold that couldn't be seen when looking in the machine. We Replaced the machine and the smell went away.

[Anonymous]

I am having issues with this too. We live in a split foyer so bottom level is part underground. On days it rains just the guestbedroom portion smells like cat pee.

WE do have a cat, but I got a black light and looked all over and couldn't find the source of the smell with that. It seems to only happen when it rains, so I thought about moisture but have no idea where that could be coming from? I don't see any damage inside.

Guess I will buy a dehumidifier and see if it works. WE are getting the carpet replaced soon, so hopefully that helps.

[Anonymous]

The smell could also be caused by the trap in an unused bathroom drying out. I'm not that knowlegeable so I can't explain this well. The sinks,tubs etc have a curved trap in the plumbing.They are designed to hold water. The water that remains blocks gasses from coming up into your house. If you have an unused bathroom or sink, make sure you run water in all the faucets and flush the toilet on a regular basis.

I experienced this when we hadn't used an upstairs bathroom for a while. It also seemed to be worse when it rained. I have no idea why.

Also if you have a tub with a divertor on the tub spout (the thing that switches the water to the shower) use it regularly or they stick and won't work.

[Anonymous]

Just had brand new windows installed in two rooms in my rental house, and was overwhelmed by the stank of cat pee in both rooms.

Assumed my finicky male cat was responsible, but today I noticed the smell was strong when I was looking out the window. Sure enough, the plastic part of both new windows reeks of cat urine.

Other forums suggest certain plastics emit this odour, off gassing?? No idea how to make it go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rat snake? Where-TF do these things live? PP who mentioned them, do you live out in the country? Please say yes.

You are not so bright.

[Anonymous]

We had this smell in the basement of a house we hadn't lived in very long. I assumed the previous owner had a cat and we were planning to finish the basement so I thought we'd just clean it up before then. We had a contractor come and look at the basement and he told us the smell was a gas leak - not enough to be an emergency, but he had a guy come and look at it the next day. Sure enough, the water heater had a really slow gas leak, but not so much that it was building up. The area around it was completely open. I was shocked because our previous home had a gas leak coming from the exterior where it attaches to the house and it had the "rotten egg" smell it's supposed to have.

[Anonymous]

I believe they actually put an additive in the natural gas to give it that odor — as a sort of safety thing.

[Anonymous]

Mexican Guava makes that smell

[Anonymous]

Rats!! See any greasy marks anywhere?
You need cats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just had brand new windows installed in two rooms in my rental house, and was overwhelmed by the stank of cat pee in both rooms.

Assumed my finicky male cat was responsible, but today I noticed the smell was strong when I was looking out the window. Sure enough, the plastic part of both new windows reeks of cat urine.

Other forums suggest certain plastics emit this odour, off gassing?? No idea how to make it go away.

Perhaps they installed new windows with cat pee on them. They are often stored outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in NW DC and we found a ratsnake in our detached garage. We didn't care though- figured it was snacking on some vermin somewhere. BTW it was 8 feet long- not joking, and about 2 inches across. We actually were about to touch it because DH and I each thought we were playing a joke on the other with a fake shiny black rubber snake. Good thing they aren't aggressive.

The ‘vermin somewhere’ was your house. You are lucky you had the snake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just had brand new windows installed in two rooms in my rental house, and was overwhelmed by the stank of cat pee in both rooms.

Assumed my finicky male cat was responsible, but today I noticed the smell was strong when I was looking out the window. Sure enough, the plastic part of both new windows reeks of cat urine.

Other forums suggest certain plastics emit this odour, off gassing?? No idea how to make it go away.

Perhaps they installed new windows with cat pee on them. They are often stored outside.

Call the contractor, tell him that they installed windows that stink of cat pee and you’d like them replaced.
He’ll probably change his number but it’s worth a try.

We’ve had windows installed and none of them smell of cat pee. It’s not a ‘plastic thing’ it’s a ‘I’m installing windows that a cat peed on’ issue.