Smells from previous residents

[Sigs911]

We bought an older house, and were told the previous owner was a "cat lady". Now that our AC is running more regularly, we're noticing a lot of old cat smells, pee etc.... Without having our ducts and system cleaned, which we don't have the money for, is there any remedy to this problem? Preferably as inexpensive a fix as possible :-)

[RoBoTeq]

Odors will eventually dissapate. To help absorb odors, place a shallow bowl of white vinegar with a sponge in the middle of it in the blower section of your HVAC unit and check on it regularly to keep the sponge wet with vinegar.

A better solution would be to have activated charcoal filters installed.

If you can locate a specific source of the smell, such as a favorite section of floor or carpeting the cats may have thought of as their personal toilet, use diluted vinegar scrubs in those areas and sprinkle with baking soda after the area has completely dried.

[heatkits]

If it were mine, I'd have to dose it down and start over! I once worked on a job where two old ladies lived. During the night they would get up to take leak, but being a little unstable they miss the chamber pot a few times, well, ok so they never actually hit the pot at all. This went on for years, until they were put in a nursing home. While rehabbing the house for sale the GC on the job would soak and mop the old wood floors with white vinegar and other disinfectants, once in the morning and just before we left for the day. This ritual went on for a week or more. Then on my last day of the job I went upstairs to bleed out the radiators and what a surprise; he had ripped up flooring down to the framing.

I asked why such a drastic measure, he said the urine had soaked into the flooring so much, that this was the only way to make the place acceptable.

Perhaps you may have to do the same or learn to live with it...

[teddy bear]

I had the same problem with a cat. This not an a/c problem, but find the pee spot and clean.
Would be good to have a fresh air change every 5-6 hours and maintain <50%RH also. Put it on your wish list.
Here are a couple more reasons to get fresh air and <50%RH.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7585HV20110609

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110611/..._health_cancer

Regards TB