Weekend Project ~ Video Update

I keep promising that I will begin taping again soon, and it keeps getting pushed back. Well after this weekend’s project, I can now say I’m really ready to start taping again.

So what was this project and why did I need to complete it before I began taping?

Well, our new house was a sight unseen house (as most residences are when moving for the military), and thankfully we got super lucky and got a great house. However, there was one negative about the place — a previous owner kept cats in the “washroom” (I don’t know what else to call this strange but wonderful addition to the back of the house), and these cats sprayed all over it. My husband and I are really sensitive to that smell (as I’m sure many people are), so we needed to get rid of it so I could use it for my taping.

The floor is a garage coating over cement. So first we tried mopping with Lysol.

That only made the smell laugh and didn’t get rid of it at all.

Then we got some cat pee neutralizing spray (twice, the first time I accidentally Amazon shipped it to our old address).

We saturated the floor and let it dry for a couple of days as users of the spray suggested. After the few days, the scents mingled into a new more unpleasant smell. Still no good.

Next, we decided to make sure the cat spray was only in the washroom (there is a long playroom attached that is carpeted, maybe it was in there too and that is why the smell wouldn’t go away).

So we purchased the Nature’s Secret Weapon- Professional pet-dog-cat urine detector flashlight hoping it would actually work. It so did, it is actually an awesome product which is why I’m linking to it, in case you are having this same problem. It is totally worth the $20. I’m not trying to gross you out with the photo below. Just wanted to show anyone who wondered how it works. Note: Make sure your room is completely dark so you can really see where the spray is.

That was just one tiny spot in the room we found after using the light. The whole floor was actually covered in cat spray, but the playroom was completely free of it. Thank goodness!

So our next step was to mop the floor with straight bleach (with a little water to cut it).

That almost worked, but there were still some spots and smell left. What is cat spray made out of? That stuff is no joke!

So our very awesome landlord, who all along was very apologetic and willing to let us do anything to get rid of the smell agreed to pay for (and perform the task) of putting a new garage coating on the floor. We said we would try doing it as an easy weekend project, how hard could it be?

I’m sure you think because I said that, it was really hard, but actually it was as easy as painting a wall.

We used the BEHR Premium 1-gal. #PFC-68 Silver Gray 2-Part Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Kit and had the problem fixed in an afternoon.

Though this is for garages, this is an awesome flooring kit for any cement. This was another product that I had to share because it was so easy and worked so well. If I had seen this on a shelf, I would think it was the most difficult thing to try to do, but I was pleasantly surprised. It comes with a cleaner (that took the most time). You need to put it on the floor and then scrub it with a brush and then rinse it off. So you need a way to get the water out of the room, we have a door, but keep that in mind in case you are thinking of using this yourself.

Then you start painting. There is paint already in the bucket (that can be tinted at the paint counter if you want) and a quart of activator (remember this is epoxy, but water based so it’s not that stinky). You mix the two and start painting.

You can see the bucket next to my daughter. You can put your roller right in (it comes with a roller and brush in the kit) so you don’t actually need the tray that is next to the bucket. It also comes with the decorative flakes. So you paint and then sprinkle the flakes as you work (this felt particularly like putting sprinkles on a cupcake and was slightly addicting).

We painted it in under an hour (with sprinkles). I called this a weekend project, because you need to let it dry for 3 days. Or at least we weren’t able to drive a car on it for 3 days (remember it’s for garages), but you can technically walk on it after a day.

So now the smell is completely gone and I have a perfect room for video shooting (there is even a skylight, which is great for photos).

So now you know what the hold up was and soon you’ll see some new videos on the site. You hopefully might have also learned a few things about cat pee and garage coverings.

So you have any fun cat pee stories, or any great remedies for the smell that I haven’t mentioned above. Let us know below, I’m sure anyone like me will be happy for the advice.