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Replies (15)
- tobiasjones
- Contributions:109
I have rented places that smokers have lived in for many years. DO NOT paint the walls till scrubbing them down. The walls were yellow from smoke and paint didn't stick. I think even after scrubbing the walls the smoke smell stayed in the woodwork. If you make an offer ask for 30K back at closing and call it a tobacco tax. they should pay it without even thinking about it.
- BtrL8ThnNvr
- Contributions:3871
they should pay it without even thinking about it.
LOL yeah but they won't.
You should definately scrub the walls and Killz them first probably too.
- Kaye Norenberg
- Contributions:824
Yuck! Think of their lungs.
- jackson1490
- Contributions:20
I bought a house will SERIOUS smoke staining to the walls. These people lived there for 20+ years and never washed or painted the walls. I think they just sat and smoked. I had to tear out the carpeting because the cigarette burns were to numerous to salvage. My inspector told me to not even attempt to wash the walls, get Kilz heavy duty primer sealer and go over the entire mess. I did just that and then painted the walls the color I wanted. The kilz sealed the staining in and it never seeped through to the new paint job and the smell was gone. This is what I recommend too.
- lucydjacobs
- Contributions:1271
Realtors know what product to use to get rid of the odor - and it might be Kilz.
Anything cloth or fabric must GO. Curtains, upholstery, carpet AND padding. Depends on the subfloor, but I'd put some sort of odor elminator on the subfloor before covering it with new carpet, if that's what you're doing.
Windowsills and all woodwork in the home will need a deep cleaning, probably starting with Murphy's soap, then moving to lemon oil - but check on that first, might be a better product. We inherited a dining set from my husband's uncle, a smoker. The wood carries it a while. You'll have to do all suggested about paint, getting rid of carpets - don't forget window shades.
Before moving furniture in, wash down that woodwork, scrub off the film of yellowed nicotine grime, and throw open the windows a week with fans blowing before moving indoors. That might get rid of it in woodwork and paneling.
- gvw3
- Contributions:202
My wife and I were both smokers. A little over a year ago she had to stop smoking due to health issues. I quit smoking in the house at that time. I never noticed when we smoked how the tar got on everything. We have since cleaned it up and repainted. I would never smoke in my house again. I would buy a house that people had smoked in as it can be fixed by repaint and cleaning. I still smoke but never in my house...
I had smokers in my rental and they killed it with the smell. I had to rip out all carpet, all curtains gone, scrub the walls down then primer and paint. I had to deep clean the fridge. the ice box stunk of smoke?? Even the basement stunk and had to repainted!!!!
You can get the stink out it just take time and money and energy.
- DCgirlMDmom
- Contributions:2
When we bought our house, I thought the upstairs light fixtures were a very ugly shade of yellow and we figured we would replace them. Before we did I hit them with Windex, and turns out they were actually white, just caked in residue from cigarette smoke! YUCK! After I cleaned them up they were fine. We knew we would replace the smelly carpet when we bought the house, too, so although there were once smokers in the house the smell is entirely gone now.
- Kaye Norenberg
- Contributions:824
I would pull the carpet out anyway to expose the hard wood floors. It is all the oak woodwork that concerns me. Time and energy is fine as long as I can get it out.
We pulled up the carpet and we had really nice old doug fir floors, but they did stink of ciggy's. So we rented a floor sander and sanded with 60 grit, then 80, then 120. Then put 3 coats of satin poly over it. It turned out real nice and worth the work, and the smell long gone.:)
- Kaye Norenberg
- Contributions:824
And I used to think cat urine was the worse!
No, IMO you're right cat pee pee is the worse. You cant sand deep enough to get the pee out of the wood floors if it really soaks in... eww..yuck!!
Ciggy smoke can be removed,Its just labor intensive.
- alexandrina
- Contributions:1
We bought a home that was smoked and lived in by three adult smokers. We almost didn't buy it when we did the final walk through. It was so oppressing. On closing date, as soon as the keys were in our hands we bombed every room and the garage with Big D Odor Control Foggers. I can't say how well it worked but our realtors came by and said it made a difference. I didn't like the bubble gum smell it left, which did disipate after a while. We also shampooed the carpets 5 times with Oxy Clean, and washed down the kitchen cabinets and wood floors with Awesome cleaner. Awesome is very toxic. Wear gloves. It works wonders and it is only a $1 at Dollar Tree. We opened all the windows and let the house air out before we moved our belongings into the garage. Then we set to work priming all the walls with Kiltz odorless primer. We used 2 coats as recommended by a Lowe's store associate. Overall the smell is 90% gone. On damp days, there is a slight lingering musty hotel room smell. Likely it is the carpets and carpet padding. I can't wait to change all that out. The bathrooms were smoked in the most. We have completely removed the paint from the walls using an eco-friendly paint remover. We have also resurfaced the walls with topping mix...mostly because we don't like the existing orange peel surface. I think that helps a great deal with blocking odors.
- Chris O'Connor, "CallChrisToday"
- Contributions:269
This is a great question and I'm surprised I've never been asked it by any of my buyers over all the years of being in business. I'm personally super sensitive to cigarette smoke and smells but for some reason I haven't walked into any houses that smelled too much from smoking.
I think the reason is most smokers these days seem to smoke outside on their back patio or porch. Or maybe smokers are cleaning their homes prior to listing them. Either way I just haven't had any issues with smells and stains from smokers. Maybe I'm just lucky.
But this thread is great because I now know how to deal with the problem if and when I do encounter it. I'll make a mental note of "Kilz" being the solution. And obviously the carpet and textile window treatments have to be replaced.
Thanks for the tip!
I think the reason is most smokers these days seem to smoke outside on their back patio or porch. Or maybe smokers are cleaning their homes prior to listing them. Either way I just haven't had any issues with smells and stains from smokers. Maybe I'm just lucky.
But this thread is great because I now know how to deal with the problem if and when I do encounter it. I'll make a mental note of "Kilz" being the solution. And obviously the carpet and textile window treatments have to be replaced.
Thanks for the tip!
- sunnyview
- Contributions:25127
Thanks for the great tips alexandrina. It sounds like a lot of work, but it sounds like it paid off.
Buying house from smokers
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- 0.0/5.0
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Contributions:824Has anybody bought a house from people that smoked in it? How hard is it to get the smell out?
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