Removing Patio Dog Urine Smell

Removing patio dog urine smell can be difficult… especially if you have never done it before. This article will go over how my company helps our local clients remove that overpowering dog urine odor from their patios. The focus will be on treating concrete surfaces but I”ll also go over how to treat synthetic surfaces like artificial grass and wood bark. Let’s dive in!

Concrete Surfaces

Concrete patios are very porous so when a liquid is introduced to the surface is absorbs it. Much like a sponge, the concrete will hold the urine until the moisture evaporates. It leaves behind the bad bacteria which is what causes the horrible odors. Enzyme cleaners help but stop working when all of the moisture evaporates. On the other hand, enzyme cleaners with beneficial bacteria continue to work for up to a week after all of the moisture is gone. These tend to work better than the average enzyme cleaners.

If the odor persists, the concrete can be sealed to eliminate the remaining odors. Non-breathable sealers can’t be used on outdoor concrete because moisture will make them peel up. Breathable surface sealers look great but odors can permeate through them. The solution is using a penetrating sealer. These soak into the concrete and increase the density of the concrete. This locks in the preexisting odors and won’t allow new urine from soaking back into the concrete. The best penetrating sealers soak deep into the substrate and are permanent.

What Products Does My Company Use?

First off, we use Odor Kleanz which is an enzyme cleaner that has beneficial bacteria in it. I’ve found that this cleaner works way better than the enzyme cleaners I’ve used in the past. We then seal the concrete with Odor Shield. This sealer is considered a deep penetrating sealer. Is permanently waterproofs the concrete which locks in the worst odors. It also won’t allow urine to soak into the concrete in the future. This makes clean up much easier. Maintaining the concrete is easy. Just hose off any accidents, treat with an enzyme cleaner, scrub, and hose off. New smells won’t ever have a chance to become pestering.

Wood Decks

Wooden decks or patios are usually coated with a non-breathable paint or sealant. If they are not it’s recommended to strip off the old paint, treat with the enzyme / beneficial bacteria cleaner, allow to dry, and re-paint. The non-breathable paint or polyurethane sealant will lock in the preexisting odors and make clean up easy going forward. For example. when your dog has an accident just hose off any accidents, treat with an enzyme cleaner, scrub, and hose off again. Easy peasy! Make sure to keep up with re-painting or re-sealing so there’s never exposed wood for the urine to soak into.

Artificial Grass

Most artificial grass installations have a plastic lining under the grass. This prevents the urine from soaking through to the ground underneath. Once again, treat the synthetic turf with an enzyme / beneficial bacteria cleaner. Don’t dilute the cleaner like most applications. Apply at full strength for maximum results. There’s probably a lot of bacteria under the AstroTurf so more cleaner is needed to break down that organic material. This should leave the faux grass odor free after cleaning. Maintaining the synthetic lawn is important to keep the odors at bay. Usually you want to treat the artificial sod every two weeks or so.

Wood Bark

Wood bark is a great ground cover but soak up urine smell. The easiest way to mitigate the smell is to completely remove the bark once a year and replace it with new bark. The other option is to take up all of the bark, place it in large contractor bags, and soak the bark for 24 hours with a 75% water / 25% enzyme mix. Dump out all of the water and spread the bark out in a thin layer so it can dry out within 12 hours. If it stays wet it for more than a day or two the bark will grow mold which can be a health hazard for your dog or children. This process can be done multiple times a year and is much easier to do when you’re treating a small amount of bark in your yard.

Removing Patio Dog Urine Smell

Here’s a video I made showing the process of removing dog urine odors from a concrete patio. If you’re interested in getting the Odor Kleanz and Odor Shield in a kit that comes with a money back guarantee, free tutorial videos showing the application process, and free shipping, check out the Pet Odor Kit here. Hope this helps!