Ammonia has a sharp, stinging smell that’s hard to miss, a lot like strong cat urine or window cleaner. If your house smells like ammonia, there’s almost always a specific source. Here are the usual suspects and how to deal with each.
Safety First: Never Mix Cleaners
Never mix bleach with ammonia or with cleaners that contain it, including some glass cleaners. The combination gives off dangerous fumes. If you or anyone in the home feels dizzy, has trouble breathing, or feels sick after using cleaners, get everyone outside into fresh air and call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, or 911 in an emergency.
Common Causes of an Ammonia Smell
- Cat or dog urine. As urine breaks down, it gives off ammonia. Old spots in carpet, pad, subfloor and grout are the most common cause. See how to get rid of pet urine smell.
- Litter boxes. A box that needs more frequent scooping, or a fully changed box, can fill a room.
- Rodents. Mice and rats leave urine in walls, attics, cabinets and behind appliances. Look for droppings and chewed packaging, and call pest control.
- Cleaning products. Some cleaners contain ammonia, and the smell can linger after heavy use.
- Trash and diapers. Diaper pails and trash cans can give off an ammonia smell in the heat.
- Bathrooms. Urine around the toilet base and in the grout. See why your bathroom smells.
- Fertilizer or pool chemicals stored in a garage or closet near the house.
How to Find and Fix the Source
- Follow your nose. Note where it’s strongest: a corner, a closet, a cabinet, behind the fridge.
- Use a UV blacklight in a dark room to spot old urine stains on carpet, baseboards and walls.
- Treat urine spots with an enzyme cleaner, not an ammonia-based cleaner, which can smell like urine to pets and keep them coming back.
- Replace soaked carpet pad and seal the subfloor if urine has gone deep.
- Call pest control if you find signs of rodents, and have them seal entry points.
- Change the AC filter.
Clearing the Smell From the Whole Home
Ammonia and urine odors often spread through the home and the AC system, especially in Florida humidity. Once the source is cleaned, replaced or removed, our whole-home odor removal treatment treats the air throughout the entire home, including one AC system and an attached garage. You and your pets will be out for about 8 hours. It’s an odor treatment only, so soaked padding, rodents, or stored chemicals have to be dealt with first.
Smell something different? See our smell-by-smell guide.
Whole-Home Odor Removal in South Florida: $997
Our Whole-Home Odor Removal Treatment is $997 and includes one AC system ($550 for each additional AC unit). You can buy and schedule it online, or call 877-224-2532. We answer 24/7; when you call, we’ll tell you honestly when a technician can be there based on that day’s schedule. Hablamos español.
About the author: James Rice-Peña is the owner of FL Cleanup and a Florida-licensed Mold Assessor (MRSA4035) and Mold Remediator (MRSR4158). He has worked in property restoration in South Florida since 2012, and FL Cleanup has earned 200+ five-star Google reviews.
