Replacing Underpad And Possibly Carpet

Floorwizard

How can you be sure there is nothing in the pad?
have you tried turning off all the lights so it's pitch black, then using a black light to highlight urine?

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

Lanceb2b

We were never sure it was urine... we made a guess.... normally our bedroom is off limits to our dog, but she has "escaped" once or twice, and thought it would be a good assumption.
It could have been a moldy towel, that got under our bed that started to smell up the room.

After i took up the carpet, (all of it) I inspected/smelled almost every inch of the underpad. No visible signs of mold, and no smells of mold anywhere on the underpad/subfloor/carpet.
When we first noticed the problem, the blankets we normally keep under the bed had the musty smell to them, as well as a towel.
As of the past 2 days, without any cleaning products or air cleaners in the room, the smell has not returned. I will continue to monitor. I'm not sure if I am jumping the gun here, but I am pretty confident that it was not mold in our underpadding, but perhaps just some residual musty smell left from some possibly wet towels or blankets under the bed.

Lanceb2b

Pipeguy,
No I live in Canada on the east coast(about 10 hours north of NY)

leb_pdx

I'm trying to fix a similar problem in my own home, so I've been reading a lot of forums trying to figure out what the best thing to do is. While I'm certainly no expert, I did come across some information on the American Lung Association website about ozone generators (http://www.lungusa.org):

"...Studies have found that while some indoor air pollutant concentrations decline in the presence of ozone, other pollutants increase. In fact, upon reaction with ozone, some previously undetected, toxic chemicals emerge in indoor air, including formaldehyde and other aldehydes (Boeniger, 1995). There is a lack of evidence in the scientific literature that would support the effectiveness of ozone at low concentrations in removing organic contaminants from indoor air (Boeniger, 1995). A recent study by the U.S. EPA demonstrates that ozone is not effective for killing airborne molds and fungi even at high concentrations (6-9 ppm) (U.S. EPA, 1995). At higher concentrations, especially above 0.08 ppm, ozone is a potent irritant that can bring about diminished lung function, cough, inflammation associated with biochemical changes, and increased responsiveness to allergens. (Horstman, et al., 1990). Current evidence of the health effects of ozone suggests that there is no "safe" threshold concentration for the onset of health responses due to exposure above background ozone concentrations (Burnett, et al., 1994; U.S. EPA CASAC letter, 1995). Also, simultaneous exposure to ozone and other compounds may produce additive or synergistic effects (Last, et al, 1984). In addition, persons with asthma have increased susceptibility to ozone and exposure to low concentrations results in increased symptoms, medications use and hospitalizations."

There may be more recent research which disproves what this research says. I just thought it would be good to get more information out there for people looking for ways to solve this problem of pet odors/stains.

Mike Finley

If you are worried about miniscule particles of residual ozone, I would not go outside when it's hot, don't come to Colorado and climb any fourteeners. And god forbid, if a little ozone has got you worried, you better not read about the radon killing you right now.