1

We have some cats in our basement that sometimes use the litter box but also like to pee all over the carpet down there, especially against the baseboards. As most people know, cleaning up pee against the baseboards is a mess. I have 2 Bissell Carpet cleaners (big upright one and the smaller one) and cleaning up against the walls is hard but also the urine spreads towards the wall as well. My workaround for the moment is placing large strips of silicone on the baseboards so the pee will get on that and be easier to clean. And our long term plan is to switch the basement to sealed concrete.

Does anyone have any tips for cleaning or prevention in the meantime, until we can switch to sealed concrete? And by prevention I mean baseboard covers or something. I am not asking for any advice on the cats.

Rohit Gupta
  • 5,090
  • 4
  • 22
  • 36
Dan Csharpster
  • 133
  • 1
  • 6
  • 3
    The simple solution is to get rid of the cats, but nobody seems to like that one... – FreeMan Nov 27 '23 at 19:19
  • I’m voting to close this question because it isn't about home improvement, but pet management. – isherwood Nov 27 '23 at 19:48
  • I'm happy to report that I _don't_ know what it's like to clean up pee against baseboards. I can _imagine_, though, which is why I don't keep cats. – isherwood Nov 27 '23 at 19:49
  • Funny enough, I already posted this on the pets site and they suggested I take it over here. https://pets.stackexchange.com/questions/38217/how-to-clean-up-after-cats-peeing-on-baseboards-of-walls/38220#38220 – Dan Csharpster Nov 27 '23 at 19:58
  • The irony is you asked the DIY question on Pets, and the Pets question on DIY. We can't really address animal behavior here, but we can help with baseboards that have been urinated on. Since your Pets question isn't closed, my suggestion is to [edit] this one to focus on dealing with just that. I suggest changing the title and removing the "prevention" part. The rest should be on-topic – Machavity Nov 27 '23 at 20:10
  • @Machavity, I did not see this question as a cats question. I am simply asking for advice on how to clean the area or liquids from dripping down the walls, like install different baseboards or something. I did not see this as a cats/pets question at all. – Dan Csharpster Nov 27 '23 at 20:25
  • 1
    @DanCsharpster, what matters is how other people see it. A democratic voting system is in place. I have renamed the topic, to hopefully stop it from being closed. – Rohit Gupta Nov 28 '23 at 01:51

1 Answers1

3

I assume you want to keep the cats either way. What I would suggest is a three-pronged solution

  1. Remove the carpet. It's just going to be easier to clean going forward. Sealed concrete is good, but maybe consider a good quality vinyl plank floorboard. The good stuff is good enough to stop leaks from seeping through, and it's easier to clean up.
  2. Paint your walls with semi-gloss paint. Keeps the liquids out of the drywall.
  3. PVC baseboards. They're pricey, but I wouldn't risk pine or MDF, where the urine might puddle at the bottom and soak into the wood.. Then I would caulk the bottom to your non-carpet floor before laying PVC quarter round.

That should allow you easy cleanup of any urine going forward.

Machavity
  • 24,153
  • 7
  • 42
  • 92