Well, I must say that this was a total surprise. It was a great country home that had a wonderful view overlooking a typical middle Tennessee valley. The only problem is that the former owners did not disclose that their heard of cats had used every single room in the home as their own personal litter box! When the new owner viewed the home, new carpets and laminate floor had just been installed over the past few days. The former cat herdsman owner had plug-in room air fresheners in every room, along with some reed diffusers and a couple of Old Yankee jar candles burning. The new owner said it smelled like a big basket of wild flowers! I did not do the original inspection but I can imagine the way the home smelled with plug-in air fresheners all over the home. About 7 weeks later the new owner takes ownership and is camping out in the home on an air mattress. He was moving the family as soon as school was out, he was in the home alone. While sleeping close to the floor he noticed that it smelled like an old wet dipper!. He proceeded to pull a corner of the carpet up and he found why the home had new carpet in it. The following photos are of what the new owner found! If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip the photos…. The last picture shows the floor in the dining room. It had been painted by the former owner with KILZ in an attempt to cover the cat urine. The problem with that is that urine is Hygroscopic, the salts in the urine attract moisture (humidity) and this then reconstitutes the urine. This is why you can't get rid of the odor! The only cure for this home is to have all of the sub-flooring replaced. Yes, I'm sure it will not be a simple matter and it will get nasty down the road with all of that legal stuff.
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AuthorScott Patterson has been a professional home inspector since 1995. Scott works out of the Greater Nashville TN area. Contact his team at Trace Inspections for all of your inspection needs. Archives
September 2023
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