Smoke-filled Apartment Complex

K., did the landlord take up the carpet and the pad and treat the sub floor?(then install all new) before you moved in? If he did not, that is where the smell is still coming from. Even just shampooing the carpet will not make it go away 100% if it was really bad. Once cat urin goes through the carpet and pad it goes into the concete or wood below and unless all that is removed and treatment done to the floor you may have that oder for good. Put the responsibility back on to the landlord. Either make him do that (if he did it he probably did not do it correctly to get all the smell out.)or ask to let you out of the lease without charge. Or if you pay to break the lease then take the matter to small claims court for not giving you a safe place to live. God luck. C. D.

Hi
What a terrible situation for you to be faced with.
Landlord obviously not done all they could to clean the apartment.
Your family can't live there.
2 options:
1) blitz the place with horrible chemicals etc to remove the smell (not good for family either)
2) move
Think you should have a word with the owners as well and request that you not pay the $1,000 to break the lease because of the substantial odor problem.
Good luck!

Hi...sorry to hear about the smell. When we had a house fire, the retoration company did an Ozone treament on the house which virtually eliminated any smoke odor. Cat pee on the other hand...uggh. I would consider breaking the lease and getting out of there, especially w/ all the smokers around. Second hand smoke is terrible for children...and you. Your health and the health of your family is worth more than $1000. Find a clean place w/ fresh air and a place to play outside...you'll be thankful later. Good luck!

Hi K.. I work for a property management company, and it sounds like not everything was done to get the odor out of the apartment. The floor underneath the carpet should have been pet-sealed and the pad as well as the carpet changed for the cat urine smell. There should have been something called kilz put on the walls before painting for odor. Also, one of our complexes uses something called an ozone machine, it usually has to run for a couple of days to get the smoke odor out. Strong smoke odor is a good enough reason to try and transfer to a new unit or try to get out of your lease. Good luck!

If the smell is that bad, you will have health issues. Break the lease, you have a valid health reason. Call the BBB if you have to. You should not have to pay the 1000.00. Google health risk of living in smoke damaged environment and see what comes up. Your kids are number one priority and they cannot stay there.

When we lived in an apartment, we had downstairs neighbors that chain smoked. This smoke came through the windows (even when closed) and through the vents. It was not a strong odor, but when you are a non-smoker, it's horrendous. I could smell it on everything and I did laundry constantly, used Febreze, cleaned the carpets, use air fresheners and air cleaners. I got annoyed with it all. Did the landlord replace the padding underneath the carpeting? Maybe the combination of the new carpet smell and paint is making you feel sick. I believe that there are some "renter's rights" that deal with that issue. Personally, I didn't have the time or patience to deal with it. I had an infant at the time also. We ended up moving. Can you move to a different apartment in the complex without penalty? If I were you, I would try to find a house to rent.