Looking at a house where the previous owners were smokers. There is a noticeable smell - about what you would expect. Just wondering if anyone had experience with this. It's mostly wood and tile floors, but some carpet. First thought is a get rid of carpet, wipe down/deep clean all flooring and non-paintable surfaces like cabinets and kilz/repaint all sheetrock. Plus a duct cleaning on hvac. Is this about right? Or is this a more involved process? Thanks in advance.

I've had success ripping out carpet and then kilz everything. I wiped down kitchen cabinets pretty good.

One house was heavy cigarettes and I think it was 98% gone. Other house was cigars and I'd say it's 100 percent

Ozone works along with cleaning and painting

Ozone is the key. You'll have to replace any carpet or other items that are clothe/fiber that can hold the smell. But be aware, ozone has a distinctive smell as well. Also during the ozone process, keep out of it as it will give you headaches etc if exsposed fora duration of time. Typically we would run the machine 8 hrs, let the area air out for 6-8hr and then run the machine again. I would clean the walls etc, ozone and then paint/kiltz afterwards.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I agree with Brazos in that this would not be something we would even consider, normally. But, this is a country property and the overall package is exactly what we have been looking for. If we move forward, I think we are going to get ServePro out there to give us an estimate. That would at least be good for a negotiation tool even if we end up doing all the work ourselves.

In this case, just try to remove or gut it as far down to structure as you possibly can afford to do. It's going to be pricey but if the place is worth the risk, then it's worth the cost to fix it.

Bonfire97 said:

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Looking at a house where the previous owners were smokers. There is a noticeable smell - about what you would expect. Just wondering if anyone had experience with this. It's mostly wood and tile floors, but some carpet. First thought is a get rid of carpet, wipe down/deep clean all flooring and non-paintable surfaces like cabinets and kilz/repaint all sheetrock. Plus a duct cleaning on hvac. Is this about right? Or is this a more involved process? Thanks in advance.

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I agree with what others have posted but one area not mentioned is the attic. You'll more than likely have smoke residue in the insulation since omes aren't air tight.

Somebody mentioned the AC ductwork so pay particular attention to that. I just had mine replaced last year (including register boxes) and the amount of crap in them due to leaks was amazing. those register boxes can be very porous and I don't know if anything would get the smoke smell out.

You can certainly get them treated first and replace if the smell lingers or comes back. Have an AC guy come by to give you a quote on treatment and replacing so you can add that to your list of negotiation items.

Ozone treatment. Air duct cleaning service. Rip out carpet and pad and replace. Kilz paint all walls and ceiling and then repaint. A lot of work to do especially if you were not planning on renovating. I would pass on the property and wait for another.

I purchased a house that claimed to be a non-smoking house on its advertising material. Figured out it was a lie when I found piles of cigarette butts in the flower beds just outside the front and back doors.

There wasn't a budget to rip out the carpet but it was cleaned. All hard surfaces were washed down and paintable surfaces were repainted with Kilz and two color coats, which dropped the smoke smell by about 75%.

I recommend that you use the original Kilz (oil based) and not the Kilz 2 (water based). The oil based clean-up is a pain but it is worth it for just the bit more smoke killing power.

Just my 2 cents.

Before you repaint the house, clean the walls with TSP.

We found the perfect lake house after looking for a long time. A super smoker had built it in the 60's and, believe me, we almost walked, but got it for a great price so wanted to give it a go.

We stopped on our way to the closing and got 15 gallons of oil based kilz. Left there & started cleaning walls & painting. We left the green shag carpet in as a drop cloth & started rolling. I'll have to ask Mr. Schwack how many coats of paint we did - I've tried to forget.

Then we stripped everything out - cabinets, carpet & tile. The walls were wood paneling that we kept at the time since it was just a lake house but we had so many coats on it that the smell was basically encased. Slab house so we put down 6 mil plastic and new flooring. Oddly, the metal window screens stunk so we had to deal with that, too. Luckily, there was no central HVAC, so we ditched the window units & put in a new, clean system.

I am very sensitive to smells - the canary in the coal mine - and it's been years and I still didn't smell it. That said, we just finished a full renovation where we gutted it, completely re-sheetrocked, new flooring, etc. We retired here & everything we've put into it over the years has been worth it because we knew it was the right house for us. It was a lot of work, but we've never regretted it

Per Mr. Schwack: 2 coats of oil based kilz & 3 coats of latex. Key was letting each dry completely between coats. He said you might check into some of the shellac based primers that are used in fire restoration if it's really bad.

This might not add much to the conversation, but don't forget the closets.

Years ago we moved into a duplex that had been home to a smoker at some point. The rooms did not smell of smoke, but the closets still did. We put bowls of vinegar in them, and that eventually took the smell out.

Plenty of recommendations for Kilz, but I would use dewaxed shellac then paint. Shellac is better at sealing in smells. It can also be painted faster.

Thanks again everyone for all the great posts and info!

The remedy on these varies depending on amount of smoke exposure. At minimal run an ozone machine for 48-72 hours. Then may have to kilz/shellac prime every exposed area.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Zinsser-BIN-Interior-Multi-purpose-Shellac-Wall-and-Ceiling-Primer-1-Gallon/5013663221




Sometimes even the subfloor if it is not on slab foundation. Also often the ducts are a problem even after ozone and cleaning. If they are flex or fiberglass you may have to replace them or you will smell every time the hvac kicks on.

Keep us posted

Once you do the initial remediation I highly recommend an ozone air cleaner for ongoing maintenance. We've had Air Oasis units for years. Kids, dogs, cooking smoke. It takes care of them all. We take a unit on trips.

Which unit do you have?

It's never truly out. My house was built in 1957 and has no HVAC at all, just radiant heat in the ceiling (for some reason that was popular in the PNW a while back).

The house was gutted down to the studs prior to our purchase, new drywall, flooring, cabinets, the works. On a warm day I can still smell cigarette smoke in the master bedroom. We are repainting most of the house since the prior owners used a crappy product and hopefully that will take care of some of it, we are also installing a ductless system next month that hopefully will help alleviate the smell on those warm days.

I am in the gut it as far as you can. It will be better in the long run if you can afford it. Sheetrock and insulation.

Did you wash with tsp prior to painting
Very important step

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Did you wash with tsp prior to painting

Very important step

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Yes. Cleaned everything in the house, then started rolling on the kilz.

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...this is a country property and the overall package is exactly what we have been looking for.

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Did you get it?

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Did you get it?

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We are still in negotiations. I actually contacted ServPro and discussed the situation with them. They said they have 20+ year estimator who has "seen it all" and should be able to give us an accurate opinion on severity and cost. We have a 10 day option in the contract to get that assessment done. The first person I talked to there, before I spoke to the field service guy, did say cigarette smoke can be "tough". From what they described, I am expecting this is probably an expensive cleanup. I'll post back when I get some more info.

Not there & smelling yours, but I can tell you that ours was AWFUL. The ceilings were even brown from it. It was on the windows.... everywhere.

I am extremely sensitive to smell. If the house & location had not been perfect, we'd have passed for sure. It was a lot of work but we were younger then. Now we are very glad we did it.

Good luck - I hope it works out however you want it to.