I stand corrected. The really dark stains didn't appear as prevalent in the first photo. Your guys did a nice job.

to be fair to "mr"roosterdavies,the last set of pictures does show more details,and we all know there are a lot of fake make-over pict out there,so maybe thats why she/he was sceptical, none of the comments can take away from the fact that the floor looks 1000% improved.

No fake photos here, only bad ones! I wish my photos could better show the actual before and after. It was my desire that this post provide some real data for folks faced with a similar situation with their floors. I know that I am fortunate, and I appreciate all of the feedback!

Well, it turned out very nice !

rjalx, Thx for the words of encouragement! I was advised that I would need to replace boards in the affected area (which is localized rather than all over the place), but being of a stubborn (and ignorant!) bent, I'm determined to at least give it a go before throwing in the towel.

I did try the hydrogen peroxide which had absolutely zero effect on the discoloration which is super dark. Believe me, if I can slay, or have somebody else slay, these stains I will be singing from the roof tops! And I so agree that giving valuable info to others in a similar situation is wonderful. Thx for sharing!

Finish looks good

Your floor turned out beautiful. A good reputable company can do miracles. Congratulations to both you and Xulon. Here are our before and after photos.

Your floor looks great. Planks with deep stains can be replaced if you do not want a dark color stain.

Thanks. We considered the replacement option. However the number of planks that needed to be replaced would have driven the cost up too much for my budget! Gladly, I'm very happy with the dark stain.

This is stupendous.....love it...

Beautiful. Any remaining discoloration, adds history to the house.

Looks really wonderful!

Wow, I can't believe the results. Great job.

Good for you!

We have 3 small dogs & candidly they are not free range - because I fear the hardwood could be destroyed by "accidents". It's good to know they could be refinished if necessary.

We discovered that very dense backed and tightly woven " oriental " area carpets or rugs will not allow penetration to the floor if there are accidents.

Also, there are now powerful small carpet cleaner machines that deep clean pet stains with special cleaners, using clean water which is captured in a separate well after cleaning. It can also be used on upholstery. Of course, best to apply to any stain as soon as possible!

Wonderful you were able to reclaim and restore those beautiful wood floors.

Thanks for the info!

What a nice outcome. They look brand new. -Riverside is my old my old stomping grounds.

I hope you've moved on to someplace cooler! Thanks for the comment!

That is a very nice job.

Great job congrats!!

Looks wonderful I always use dark floors much richer looking could even darker.glad it worked out .

amazing.

Rjalx, tell me more about the smell... Did your floors smell before the refinishing? And do they have a noticeable smell now? My dog had a horrible urinary infection that has left us with a smelly first floor, and we are wondering if refinishing will be enough or if we have to replace.

The stains were at least twelve years old and had been covered by carpet for many years. Upon removing the carpet, the house was malodorous, but I think that the smell was more from the carpet pad residue stuck to the floor than from the wood. When I started applying hydrogen peroxide to the wood to bleach the stains, a terrible odor ensued. Likewise when Xulon sanded the floors. But thankfully, there was/is no odor after staining and sealing. I am glad that I did not go through the expense of replacing the wood. Good luck with yours!

Did the floor smell before you removed the carpet?

No urine smell before removing the carpet. Only after removal, when I started scraping the carpet pad and working on the stains.

Just chiming in because I tried the hydrogen peroxide technique and it actually worked! I made a youtube video so that you folks that want to try it can see the before and after on my floor. We just had all our floors installed so I was REALLY mad when the cat peed in the corner, it changes the color of the wood.

I'm so not surprised. This is why you buy a home with good hardwood floors. They can be refinished. This is why you should opt for good quality hardwood flooring when you are renovating or building a new home.

Fantastic!

What did you do to control the urine odor? Is it coming through the flooring finish?

There is zero urine odor now. Before refinishing, and especially while treating the stains with a variety of materials (hydrogen peroxide, bleach, etc.), the urine smell was quite evident. I don't know if treating the worst of the stains helped with eliminating the odor or if it was sealing the floor after staining. But I'm happy that there is no residual odor!

Hello could you please detail what you did during the process of refinishing the floors? Did u move out for instance?

After pulling up the carpet, I experimented on the stains on my own for awhile. The furniture was all pretty much in place, and I slept in my own bed. But when the pros came in, they moved all of my furniture to the garage, so I slept at my mother's house for the few days they were working. Thankfully, it was just me in the house and I didn't have to worry about sleeping arrangements for an entire family. The refinishing itself was a pretty fast process–moved furniture out and sanded on Day 1, let me play around with some more stain removal on Day 2 (my request), stained and sealed Day 3, moved furniture back in on Day 4. I think it could be done in just two days if you don't have a lot of stains to work on.

Great job. The previous owners must have had a pet elephant.

They did a fantastic job!

Wow! Incredible

Rjalx turned my company on to two things during this process. #1 is antique brown stain by Dura Seal. I had used the color many times in the past but had never realized that it seems to be by far the best color for blending (not covering or removing) animal urine stains, that I have come across. I have confirmed this no less than 10 times since we completed her project. #2 Houzz.com! She posted this thread during the process and I have gotten multiple projects and TONS of questions from other contractors as well as home owners. Her allowing us to experiment and her willingness to try our recommendations made this project turn out the way it did. Now there are many other homeowners and contractors that have completed beautiful flooring projects because of this post. Thanks again!

I'm so happy that I was able to work with Xulon. True creative professionals! And I'm doubly happy that so many people have benefited from the information in the posts.

Gorgeous job! My sister had a similar problem in the house she is currently living in that is almost 100 years old. The people who lived in it before let their dogs pee all over the place. She said that when they took the carpet and padding up that she almost threw up because of the smell. It took a lot of hard work and tons of cleaning along with having the floors sanded and refinished to get them looking and smelling great!

Well done!

Good job.

Beautiful result.

Good job.

Sorry rjalx, if there is urine smell when you "seal" the floor, the odor will eventually come back. All it takes is a few days with relative humidity over 50% and the odor is back. The finish you used is pretty tough stuff, but with several months for it to really harden and a few more month of traffic and temperature changes, cracks though very small will form over the gaps between the boards which will allow small amounts of water vapor to get to the UN-neutralized urine residue (Urea salt) and the odor will return.

Another point; there is no ammonia in urine of any kind. It is produced as the water evaporates from the raw urine and the uric acid begins to break down into ammonia and urea salt. This is a fine point but important because if the raw urine is removed before it dries there is almost no odor, and what there is is really easy to control or remove. Household chemicals are completely unsuited for urine odor removal. Try OdorXit Concentrate, you will be amazed.

Rjalx

Thank you for your post. Your refinished floors look fantastic. Could you tell me if you used regular 3% hydrogen peroxide or stronger? What other products did you use while trying to remove stains and order on your own? What product was used to seal after staining?

We had a similar situation when we redid the floors in our house about six years ago. The previous homeowner had cleverly hidden the dog pee stains, so we had no idea until our flooring guy told us. He said it was the second worst case he'd ever seen. He also told us the lighter stain we'd wanted was a no-go, and so we moved ahead with the darker brown he recommended. Since then: beautiful dark brown floors and absolutely no smell at all. That said, the stains had been quite old, from the owner before the guy who sold to us. Those poor dogs. Apparently they spent many hours cooped up alone in the house.

Nice! Great job!

Kumer–It has been awhile so I don't remember all the details, but as I wrote in the original post I tried ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, Dawn dishwasher soap, and some enzyme product (from Home Depot I think). The hydrogen peroxide was 3%, and it seemed to work the best out of the treatments. I used lots of rags with bricks to weight them down to soak up the liquid. As for the seal, please check with Chris at Xulon Floors (see his link in comments above). He mixed up some custom treatment to achieve the matte finish we wanted. And if you're in the Riverside, CA area, I highly recommend his services.

Great info about this..and the thread on dog vs. cat urine...so I'm considering purchasing a really old house with hardwood flooring. c 1908. Apparently, animals AND HUMANS have been using the floors as a bathroom. Will that make a difference in how/what chemicals to use before sanding and refinishing? thanks!

Incredible job! What an inspiration the floors turned out beautifully!

There must be a reason why this post from 2014 has reappeared. Do you need further suggestions on anything?
The floors do look gorgeous.