How to Remove dog smell from a house we're thinking of buying

Ranger123

I am considering purchasing a property but the owners have dogs and there is a fairly strong smell of dog in the house especially downstairs. I am not a dog or animal owner and therefore perhaps notice the smell more. The house has wooden flooring downstairs and carpets upstairs.

I would want to know how the smell could be removed or if there are professional companies who could fumigate the house before i could move in and how much would this cost.

I have very young children so having the home hygienic is important for me.

Thanks for reading, hope you can help.

lee111s

It's probably just a case of giving the place a good clean and have the windows opened for a few hours. The smell of the dogs will be in their furnishings suchc as sofa, rugs, cushions, curtains etc.

The carpets can be easily cleaned by hiring someone or simply hiring a carpet cleaner from somewhere like Lord Tool Hire and doing it yourself.

I definitely wouldn't let the smell of the dogs put you off buying a house as it's easy to get rid of

I_have_spoken

TBH, I'd replace the carpets - as well as smell, there could be flea & mite carcases, hair and faecal matter etc. left from the animals which could trigger toxic shock syndrome with the children

For hardwood flooring, wash everything with enzyme cleaner made for pet stains and odors. You can get these from Petsathome etc.

engineer_amy

The house i bought had a small dog in it. Same as yours, it was wooden/tiled downstairs and carpets upstairs, however the owners kept a stairgate on so the dog couldnt get upstairs. The two times i viewed the house, i did notice a dog smell, it didnt bother me much and otherwise the house was perfect for me.
When i actually got the keys a few weeks later, there was no soft furnishings left, and there was no smell whatsoever. Within days, when we had cleaned everything thoroughly and started decorating/painting, you wouldnt have known a dog was in the house.
I wouldnt rule your house out solely based on this. If the dog has had access to the carpets upstairs, a good steam/deep clean should take care of any smells etc if you arent planning on replacing the carpets immediately.

GwylimT

Downstairs should just be a case of mopping/steaming floors and opening the windows. Upstairs the carpets might need shampooing.

It depends on the home and animal as well, our dog stinks so of course our house smells of him, when we moved from a previous property which we then rented out after airing for a day there was no doggy smell, we got two neighbours to come in and have a good sniff as obviously our noses were accustomed to doggy smell.

kinger101

I_have_spoken wrote: »

TBH, I'd replace the carpets - as well as smell, there could be flea & mite carcases, hair and faecal matter etc. left from the animals which could trigger toxic shock syndrome with the children

For hardwood flooring, wash everything with enzyme cleaner made for pet stains and odors. You can get these from Petsathome etc.

Toxic shock syndrome is caused by infections with Streptococcus or Staphylococcus. These bacteria are already present on the skin of most people.