How To Get Rid Of Dog Urine Smell Outside Concrete

There is nothing worse than trying to get rid of the foul urine smell from pets, dogs, and cats out of the concrete of your garage floor or basement. It seems like no matter how much you clean, the smell just won’t go away. We will cover the best methods for getting rid of pet urine odor in your concrete as well as how to seal the garage floor or basement to block any odors that may remain from concrete with particularly heavy urine issues.

Most concrete with pet urine odor needs to be treated in a two-stage process. Sometimes it may even require an additional stage depending on the type of urine odor remover or pet enzymatic product that is used.

In addition, it also helps to use a wet vac if you have one, particularly if you have a basement with urine odors and no drain available. The wet vac helps to draw bacteria out of the concrete during the cleaning process. Carpet cleaners can work in a pinch for vacuuming up liquids as well.

1. Clean the Area Thoroughly with Soap and Water. Image Credit: Myriams-Fotos, Pixabay. …
2. Try Good Old Vinegar and Baking Soda. …
3. Use an Enzymatic Cleaner. …
4. Use Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) …
5. Let Dry and Repeat. …
6. Consider Waterproofing Your Concrete Floor.

How to Get Rid of Dog Urine Smells on the Lawn/Concrete

Here are a few options on how to get rid of dog pee smells in the yard. Before proceeding, you may want to use a few tools:

disposable or reusable gloves

scrub brush

spray bottle

plastic tank sprayer (included below)

sunglasses or glasses

Not the most environmentally friendly, but water is the easiest tool for getting rid of dog pee smells if used diligently and immediately. You will simply want to rinse the location of your dogs pee as soon as they potty with at least three times as much water as there is pee.

Consider using a garden hose with a spray nozzle or even a simple watering can. You can keep a water can filled nearby the door and follow your dog after they are done. Some individuals regularly use their oscillating sprinklers, too, to keep grass healthy.

Baking soda is great for both concrete and grass. You can let it sit on the potty sites—sprinkle it directly on the soil, grass, or on top of the concrete and let it sit until the moisture seems to be fully absorbed. Then rinse with water. If you are using it on concrete, sprinkle it on the concrete and consider scrubbing it with a small amount of water until it suds. After the baking soda is saturated, rinse it away.

For use in a spray bottle:

Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 4 cups of water into a spray bottle and apply it to the site directly. Note: This solution will not damage your grass.

Concrete can be scrubbed with some eco-friendly soap and baking soda.

You can use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar to neutralize pee odor. As mentioned above, simply mix 1 teaspoon with 4 cups of water in a spray bottle or apply concentrated vinegar for really bad cases (rinse afterward). You can also create a solution and attach it to the end of your house as a spray/application.

Citrus, like lemon, also works wonders on pet odors and is also a natural deterrent. You can add a teaspoon of lemon juice to 4 cups of water in a spray bottle or increase the concentration for use with a plastic tank sprayer.

Some owners elect to use “dog lawns” for smaller breeds or may even install special turf and create a designated potty spot for their dog. This adds a control factor. You can disinfect the area even more aggressively with natural enzymatic cleaners like:

Natures Miracle (I use this regularly on carpet inside the house for cat hairballs—it works wonders)

Simple Green

Pee Posts (Pee posts use pheromones to attract dogs to a designated potty area, so you can direct them to where you want them to go, thereby controlling odor.)

Note: Make sure you rinse these products carefully so that your pets paws do not get irritated; do not introduce these chemicals directly into the waterways (street drains).

Pet urine odor and stains won’t go away with normal cleaning

Our guess is that you may have already tried cleaning the urine stains to remove the odor in the concrete and without good results. The stain may or may not be gone, but the smell remains. That is why it’s important to learn why the urine odor still exists and why conventional cleaning methods do not work. Doing so can save you some time and expense.

Concrete is actually porous like a sponge. If liquid is allowed to sit for a period of time, it will absorb most anything. This is why it’s hard to get stains out of concrete.

When urine is introduced to concrete and allowed to dry, the uric acid crystals present in urine bond tightly to the concrete. Unfortunately, these crystals form deep within the pores and capillaries of the concrete since the urine was allowed to soak – sometimes multiple times for days or even months.

Despite numerous cleanings, uric acid crystals are insoluble and will not bind with regular soaps and other cleaning agents. Thus, the crystals stay attached to the concrete and the smell remains.

The smell may dissipate temporarily after a good cleaning, but as soon as any type of moisture is introduced again, it can come back just as strong as before. Basements can be particularly susceptible to this.

The reason for the smell returning is that uric acid salts allow crystals to reform as soon as moisture (humidity for example) is introduced. This releases a gas that has a pungently strong odor.

The best way to stop the smell is to use an enzymatic cleaner that attacks and breaks down the uric acid crystals and separates them from the concrete.

Steps for Removing Urine From Concrete

No matter the method you use to clean your garage, basement, or any other concrete floor, there are certain steps to follow that will make the process much easier and far more likely to succeed.

FAQ

What kills dog urine smell outside?

Does dog pee stay in concrete?