# Cat Urine Damage to 3 Stud Corners



## thapranksta (Jun 20, 2012)

Hi,

I purchased a home about 10 months ago.  The home is in really good condition but has had one major problem.  The previous owner had a major issue with cat urination which is widely known to cause smells don't typically don't leave without removal of the soiled area.  There are a couple of rooms in the home that have been taken through the ringer as far as damage to the subfloors and the drywall.  After removing baseboards and pulling quite a bit of the drywall off, I discovered that the urine had soaked through to many of the studs, some of which are in the corner in a 3 stud configuration.  There are also areas of the "sole plates" damaged as well.  

Now I have some basic questions:  Should only the bottom portion of the studs need to be replaced?  Is this work I can attempt to do myself considering I have no prior experience with framing?  If so, what are the recommended techniques especially for the 3 stud corner?  If it is recommended I hire a contractor, what range can I expect the cost to fall in?

Thanks.


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## nealtw (Jun 20, 2012)

It depends on what the corner of the wall is. If it is an outside corner of the building, no not for the inexperienced. If it's a wall that joins to the outside wall, maybe.
If is it is just a corner of some non bearing walls, yes you can. 
If it is not on the outside of the house, you have to look at what is above this corner.
If floor joists end or meet other floor joist on one of these walls, how far from the corner is the first one?


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## thapranksta (Jun 20, 2012)

The damage is actually on an outer corner and also on an inner corner. Not sure what you mean concerning the floor joists.


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## nealtw (Jun 21, 2012)

Not to be mean, but your answer indicates that you probably should not take this on by yourself. Some walls are just walls dividing up a bigger space and some walls do a lot of work, holding up the next floor or ceiling or roof. As you indicated outside corner I think you should get help and it won't cost much more to do all the repairs while some one is there. Temp walls may need to be built in order to repair or replace the corners, but it should not take more than a couple hours.


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## joecaption (Jun 21, 2012)

If it's only odor your dealing with and not rotted wood because of the urine it can be treated to nutrlize the odor and sealed with primer to seal it.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/dog-supplies/dog-odor-removal/ps/c/3307/20815


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## thapranksta (Jun 21, 2012)

nealtw,

No offense is taken by your response.  I wanted honest (and expert if possible) opinions on it and I'd rather I be told that I shouldn't attempt to tackle a problem instead of ending up with costly and significant damage to the structure of my home.

joecaption,

I will check out the product link you have provided but all the research I have done seems to suggest that 99% of the products out there do not get rid of the smell of cat urine once it has had enough time to penetrate a surface.  I have even tried a few of the products and diy remedies along with applying Kilz primer.  The only real solution that consistently works is full replacement of the soiled areas.

Thank you guys.


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## nealtw (Jun 21, 2012)

Stain blocker primer is not the normal primer. Kilz and others have a special and expensive primer for this. Restoration companies use specialty primers to hide all sorts of stuff.


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## thapranksta (Jun 22, 2012)

OK, so with that said....do you think it would be worthwhile to make at least one more more extensive attempt to "treat" the areas before having the wood replaced?  I've actually been reading some good things about BIN primer which suggests it is far superior to any of the Kilz products.  Maybe if I tried one of the products joecaption has above but instead with BIN or a equally high performing stain blocking primer, it would solve my problem.  

Thanks again guys.


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## nealtw (Jun 22, 2012)

I don't know alot about these specialty primers but we did work on house that had a fire, the restore company came in after us with a primer and sprayed the crawl space, main floor and attic, all exposed wood including the floor plywood. They still weren't happy so they sprayed all the drywall that was still there. They must have used 15 gallons but it did the job.


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