Hi Joy,

This is a common and not surprising problem and it does not mean at
all that the urine is of recent vintage. I once did a project in an
18th century jail that went out of active use in the late 19th century
and the urine smell was still very strong.

The problem is that the uric acid penetrates the masonary or concrete
and then every time the humidity goes up the salts recrystallize on
the surface of the floor or wall.

Here is a web link by a vendor on removing urine odors from concrete floors.

http://www.bedwettingstore.com/Stain_Removers/How_To_Guides/urine_stains_concrete.html

My best historical odoriferous encounter was when I was doing
archaeological consersvation on a big cast iron tripod leg pot from
Bacon's Castle in Virginia (ca. 1676), and as I was removing soil
accretions and then the delaminating iron oxides the strong smell of
400 year old grease filled the lab!

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, CA

On 9/20/07, Erin Crissman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Similar to the previous suggestion -- you can get a small Rigid air cleaner
> at home depot or Lowes that is relatively inexpensive. It will circulate the
> room's air through a filter.  We have one in our home basement for some
> persistent odors and it works well. Erin.
>
>
> On 9/20/07, Joy Summar-Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > Earlier this week in our new archival storage, we discovered a strong odor
> > that seems to be from bodily fluid found on the floor.  Unfortunately this
> > occurred after we had moved the archives into space and we do not the
> space
> > to unload the room.  The room is a stable environmentally controlled room
> > and we can't just air it out.  We are in the process of attempting to
> figure
> > out how the fluid got in there and fix that problem, but the smell just
> > won't go away.  Does anyone have a good idea about to get rid of the smell
> > in way that won't harm our archives?
> >
> > Joy Summar-Smith
> > Dir. of Interpretation
> > Dr Pepper Museum
> > 300 S. 5th St
> > Waco TX 76701
> > 254.757.1025
> > www.drpeppermuseum.com
> >
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>
> --
> Erin Elizabeth Crissman
> Curator
> Historic Cherry Hill
> 523 1/2 South Pearl St.
> Albany, NY 12202
> p.518.434.4791
> f.518.434.4806
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