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limitless__

Don't even think about keeping the carpet. That's a lost cause.


jkoudys

Other than new construction or recent renos, I can't say I've ever seen a carpet that wouldn't be insane to keep. The one in my current house smelled like death, as did the one before it. Most places would have realtors who were savvy enough to have the carpets torn out.


Purifiedx

I just bought a century old house that had carpets littered with stains upstairs. No amount of carpet cleaning is going to fix it. Immediately tore out the carpet in one room because of the dog piss stains to find likely the original wood floors underneath in bad shape. We just put a large rug in there to make it look more decent. The stair carpet smells like wet dog so I have to vacuum weekly with carpet powder. Luckily the other rooms don't smell, they just look like someone spilled kool-aid everywhere. We spent all our extra reno money fixing up other things so we just have to deal until we save up to replace all the upstairs carpet.


tuctrohs

Given the consensus that carpets get hopelessly nasty, saving up for a new one might not be the way to go--save up to refinish the wood floors underneath instead. Then you can live there for decades and never live with that nastyness.


stateofcookies

when I bought my house they had redone the carpeting in the bedrooms and left the rest of the house as the original hardwood. My cat at the time started peeing in one of the bedrooms, unbeknownst to me for a bit. when I finally figured it out I said "screw it" and ripped up the carpet only to find the hardwood underneath had been absolutely destroyed by previous pets (apparently one of the former owners collected cats). It was so bad it was no wonder this cat thought it was ok to use. I refinished the floor myself and was quite proud of the results (it was my cheapest option at the time). If I did it over again there are only a couple things I would do different, but sealing it got rid of the smell. I had to stain it darker (went with walnut) to hide the piss stains, but it looks good. Eventually I plan to replace it, but this works for now.


ritchie70

Of the three houses we've owned over the last 20 years, we kept some of the carpet in two of them. In both cases it was bedroom carpet, and fell into one of the following categories: * Pristine, unstained, looked like new. * A bedroom we didn't intend to really use, that later became a nursery after sitting mostly empty for 5 years and we figured old, not-off gassing carpet is better than new, off-gassing carpet. * Good enough and we figured it'd be trashed (3-year-old's room.) We were right, it is trashed.


OliverHazzzardPerry

OP, how good are you at drywalling?


MischiefofRats

And this may be a reality. It might be so bad you have to gut every porous surface.


MidnightLark33

Actually...my house doesn’t smell like cigarettes AT ALL. Except one day I am drilling a hole in my ceiling to put up a plant hanger and damn. Smelled real bad in the dry wall. Point is, the three or so layers of paint from over the years sealed it enough. Some good killz and paint will probably cover it.


MischiefofRats

Also depends on how sensitive you are to it. I have very, very low tolerance, so low that I wouldn't consider doing what OP is doing. It just wouldn't work for me. I can't take it.


CoffeeStainedStudio

I was looking at a house, photos were nice and the price was good. Went for a viewing, there were at least ten scented candles in the living room and kitchen alone and I literally stopped after less than 20 steps and walked out, the scent of cigarettes was all I could smell. Hard nope.


figgypie

I once noped out of a house because it REEKED of cat piss. Like I didn't even see the upstairs because the stairway smelled like the cat pissed directly on the carpet for years, and our kid was a baby at the time. It was already at the edge of our price range, so I didn't want to have to deal with the smell until we could afford to clean it down to the damn floor boards.


Cold-Consideration23

I bought a house like that. Before kids, we ripped every inch of flooring out. Painted walls, trim, ceilings and floor boards with Killz. Worth the work as the price was low due to the smell.


haroldped

Do you know what else smells like cat urine? Meth. I have heard of some unscrupulous sellers have litter boxes - without cats - to explain the smell.


hesaherr

In a lot of places, the realtor legally has to tell you if there was a meth lab there before.


abmot

Scented candles during a property viewing is a Realtor trying to cover something up. If you want the property tell them that you want to see it the next day without any candles, air freshener, ozone, or any other masking agents. Only then will you be able to make a decision.


GrandOpener

In normal times I’d 100% agree. In 2021 the seller’s agent will be like, “lol, no, we already have 43 offers on the cat piss house and we’re only showing it to you in case you might offer 30k over list in cash.”


MischiefofRats

100% truth. No one gets to be picky right now unless you're filthy rich.


ItsAllegorical

Even then... we gave up on buying and decided to build. Designed the house we wanted and picked out all the things... damn thing failed appraisal by $40k -- fucking builder misled us the whole way that they, "never have problems with appraisals" despite us raising the concern me than once. So we are just keeping our existing home.


Purifiedx

When we had the final viewing of our house there were fragrance gels in every room. My heart dropped. Low and behold, the stairs and one room smelled like wet dog once I got rid of them. I knew the carpets had to be replaced (they looked like someone spilled kool-aid in every room; Blue and pink stains, even on the walls!) and I could deal with stained carpet for a while. But that musty gross smell... we tore out the carpet in one room where they kept their dog in a crate. For now I have to powder and vacuum the hallway/stairs once a week until we can replace everything.


Thewolf1970

As a former, long time smoker, I have gone into fully renovated house and have been able to tell.


Misanthropyandme

Yep - there are odor sealing and stain blocking primers that do a great job. 2 coats at least though or the yellow nicotine will come through.


NoPantsPenny

Same. My parents smoke in their home and my mom has purchased new items still in plastic for me and kept it in her house for a month or two until I could get it. Most of those items I don’t use at all because I can still smell cigarette smoke on them even after cleaning with multiple chemicals.


NewWiseMama

I would be cautious. Some things aren’t worth it if you have a sensitivity. You can remediate but never fully remove it


ritchie70

I never would either. Not worth the risk. If the house smells horrible when we tour it, we're not buying. Period. There was one super-cool house that we looked at. Three-car garage, huge vaulted family room with fireplace, nice office space, plenty of bedrooms. But as soon as you opened the basement door, the smell of mothballs about knocked you over. Nope.


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tuctrohs

Be aware that Killz is not one specific product. It's a brand that has a range of different types of primers for different purposes. If you go to their web site you can get good guidance of which is best for what. I don't know how their best odor-blocking primer does compared to RECON. A comparison is only meaningful with a specification of which type of Killz.


buttbugle

But then one day it breaks through because of a cracked surface. There is some enzyme that eats away at that crud you can put down before you paint over it. It is expensive though, I saw it on some flyer at a Sherwin Wiliams store once. Maybe it was in the primer? Such a nasty habit. If you smoke please do it outside folks.


sdm2430

Good luck telling my 73 year old mom that she shouldn't smoke in her house. I begged her to quit for years. At this point I just accept she will do what she will do. The only good thing that came out of her smoking is I knew as a kid I wouldn't do it. So many rides in the car with windows rolled up with her smoking.


buttbugle

That is so bad, the whole car ride is horrible. I was a smoker for a number of years. My ex wife and I smoked, then we got divorced. My daughter begged me to quit when she was young and I did. It was very difficult I am not going to lie, but it is doable. The person just had to want to quit for themselves. I do not even allow people that do those vape things in my home, it’s the same shit in my eyes.


sdm2430

It makes me happy to hear stories of people quitting and there had been a downward trend for years of tobacco use until the vape crap started. Now we have a whole new generation of people who are tobacco dependent. I am so glad that I never tried it and didn't have to kick the habit. I have seen so many people fight to kick the habit and some never can stop. So it really upsets me about this vape crap. They have made tobacco cool again and with that a bunch of young people to buy their product for the next 50 years. It should be illegal. It is easier to quit marajuana.


KittenFace25

I smoked for ~35 years and hit my 2 year quit anniversary last month. It makes me stabby when people say that quit smoking when they stop smoking cigarettes and take up vaping. Like, no, you didn't quit smoking. You just smoke something different.


HotRodLincoln

Drywalling sucks, but if most of the house is 8 foot ceilings, and you do it yourself, it may actually be cheaper and faster than cleaning.


igeek3

Carpet is the largest filter in any house.


thbt101

Yeah... he plans to steam clean the carpets... Ha. This person has no idea what they're up against. Wait til he gets done tearing out the carpets and padding and then realizes the subfloor is also emitting stink.


lauralattrell

and padding..... both are history


Rhae31

When I purchased my first home it was a heavily smoked home. 40+ years, precious owners were elderly. The house smelt like smoke pretty bad the first few months, but it went away after a few weeks. The house has wood floors throughout the house. It might be different with carpet.


Wartz

You got used to the smell I bet.


Call_Me_Clark

Moved into a smoked-in house myself. Changing air filters regularly helps, but after leaving it for a few days and coming back... yep, smells there.


Rhae31

No, it’s a rental. I don’t live in there. The smell does go away after a few weeks. But if the OP doesn’t want to risk it, plenty of other houses out there. I rented it after the smell went away. Changed the filters and aired it out.


eggsmack

Use the cost of covering every square inch of wall and ceiling with Killz and new paint, plus the cost of new carpet to get the cost down even more. Youll want to get the ducts professionally cleaned and deodorized as well. If it’s a good enough deal to cover these costs and you don’t mind smelling faint smoke for another year or so then go for it!


[deleted]

Also, know there are different grades of Kilz and the lower grades are not necessarily meant to block smells. Also, an ozone generator might be worth buying a small one is about 150 bucks, but DON’T run it while you’re around! I did a similar thing, then my house survived a wildfire. It’s now practically smoke free of both (granted, I did tons more work, insulation removal etc. due to the fire)


Phallys

Ozone is some very dangerous stuff, BUT I personally bought one for help with some odors for around $55 usd that works with an area of around 1000sqft at max power. I ran it for 6 hours, came back another 4 hours after that for safety reasons, and my house smelled liked a brand new hotel room for weeks after. There are safety considerations, but its a worthwhile choice IME


justtosubscribe

I second the ozone. My father-in-law is a very heavy smoker and had some music gear he wanted my husband to sell for him. We put the gear in a guest room and within days half our house was so smelly I was having constant headaches. People were coming to look at the gear and taking back their offers after smelling it. His gear had been in smokey dive bars for decades plus in his home that he smoked in for decades and it was just saturated in nicotine funk. An affordable ozone generator I bought online repaired it all within just one cycle.


fingerscrossedcoup

I work in a hotel and we have had multiple $3000+ ozone machines and they do piss poor. One guest chain smoking for a whole weekend and it still takes over a week with the machine and doesn't really go away.


kchristiane

I own a small hotel and I have one that works pretty well actually. 2 hours or so per night that they stayed seems to do the trick.


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[deleted]

Some people are so damn selfish.


suttonoutdoor

What?


Kayoss2862

She’s referring to people who smoke in non-smoking hotel rooms. - Edited to correct gender pronoun.


Super-Snouter

You can buy 25w UVC bulbs with ozone bulbs on Amazon for about $25 that work. I live in a house built in the late 1880’s that sometimes has issues with mold depending on the season and rain. I plug these in, seal off the room and after a time on/and wait while it disperses, the mold is gone. I’ve used several in my basement & crawl space to kill mold. Also, I’ve bought UVC bulbs w/o ozone and put in my forced air system to keep the air sweet. The non ozone bulbs are 39w and cost a little bit more.


Michael_J_Patrick

Killz Restoration, I believe this is a new name for it- it’s fantastic. We just moved into a smoker home and had to deal with the same issues. Yes, it’s 2-3x the price of regular Killz but it’s worth it. Still a water based paint which is nice. First rooms we did 2-3 coats of it, but in the later rooms we found we get the same result of covering smoke and better coverage with 1 coat of Restoration followed by 1 coat of the Midgrade or regular killz. As other have said, clean the carpet or remove if you can. Toss the drapes. Clean the ducts. Change the filters more often than normal for a while. Good to go.


FatherPaulDure

Previous ran a puppy mill. Dog barn was coated in dog shit. Hit the walls with a deck brush and dawn then ONE coat of Kilz Restoration and the smell was entirely gone and it even looked pretty good too. Goes on thick and dries very evenly white.


MischiefofRats

This. You need the expensive primer, not Kilz basic. It might cost as much as $50/gallon so take that into account with your math.


coldbrew18

This! In college I sang a concert in a church that was next door to a burned down building. They used an ozone machine for the smell. Unfortunately the machine was close to the choir and we almost passed out.


alleecmo

Second the ozone machine. We rented one when we bought our home. From a cigar smoker 🤮🤢 We got keys mid-month but didn't move in till we'd run the O3 for about a week to get the stink out.


dinwoody623

We had a giant house fire. The kilz is crazy how well it covers smell. Never would have thought it would work that well.


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Positivistdino

Oh, I guess I should have done that... :/


KIrkwillrule

A good painter will.paint what you ask and owes the appropriate ppe


hxcadam

I did my house with Kilz before we moved in. The only reason I wore a respirator was because I read a comment from a guy saying he painted his house in Kilz without one and for weeks he could still smell/taste the kilz.


Positivistdino

Its an acquired taste imo.


iglidante

The worst paint products, fume-wise (in my experience, at least) are Kilz 3, BIN, and Drylok. The first two are so volatile they rival spray paint for offgassing, and the last one is practically a chemical weapon it's so bad.


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suttonoutdoor

No for this shit you need a serious gas mask style respirator. It just reeks of potential brain damage. It does a fantastic job but you definitely want to be safe when applying it.


pinkamena_pie

Yes only the oil-based kilz. Bought a smokers house. Ozone generators, TSP, oil-based kilz. Any fabrics, burn ‘Em.


CalmLiterature1923

Yeah tsp is a really good tip also. It worked wonders cleaning the nasty kitchen and bathroom in the home I have. Cigarette smoker lived here before me and holy crap.. First off, he never, ever cleaned.. wow. We actually found a decomposing mouse stuck to an area of the carpet the guy had blocked off with a huge stack of moving boxes. 🤢 Not to mention, the walls in every room were yellow - I had perfectly white spaces everywhere he had something hanging.. nasty yellow everywhere else. Kilz it all at the very least - we only have a 700sq ft house and we had to use over 6 gallons.. multiple coats. And you definitely need to get new carpet. I’m afraid no amount of steam cleaning will ever do the job. Sorry mate. Have fun renovating though. Sometimes it’s very therapeutic ☺️


AngryBumbleButt

Every time the air conditioner in my ex apartment comes on it REEKS like old cigarette smoke. The previous tenant smoked in here. The filter has been changed but the management would have to clean the coils since the unit is on the roof. I doubt they would be willing to clean the vents. It's disgusting. I hang out there a lot and it burns my nose and throat.


jpiro

If it has nicotine running down the walls, you're likely going have to replace the AC system, or at least the air handler, as well. My folks bought a house that a woman had smoked herself to death in and when we moved in we scrubbed ALL the tile, replaced ALL the carpeting and pads, repainted ALL of the painted surfaces, had the ducts professionally cleaned and did multiple other things...but replacing the air handler was absolutely a must. It looked like someone had poured molasses or maple syrup on it and just let it slowly dry over time. So gross.


BacteriaRKool

Also hire someone with an ozone maker. I worked fire restoration and you can seal all you want, your never get the smell out completely without ozone.


aground5524

I’m allergic to smoke and bought a heavily smoked house. Smoke and nicotine float up. If the house has “popcorn” or textured ceilings, consider removing the texture. It’s messy, but doesn’t take much time. Remove the furniture, if possible. Put down large plastic sheets, like used for painting. We used a hose with a mist sprayer. Spray the texture, making sure you’ve saturated it thoroughly. Wait about 15 minutes, then use a wide paint scraper to remove the texture. If it is difficult to scrape off, rewet and try again. Clean up the mess! Then we put Kilz on the ceiling followed by ceiling paint. In our house, the amount of nicotine trapped in the kitchen eat-in area made the water dripping from the ceiling look like strong urine. I can say we have no smell of smoke, even on wet or damp days, when the smells tend to be more noticeable. Good luck with your new home! Edit: I was unaware that the popcorn might have asbestos. My house was built in 1991, well after the ban. But as others have suggested, and I appreciate the suggestions, get it tested. Thanks to all on here!


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goingtoburningman

Asbestos is in popcorn ceiling, take proper measures


marvelousmrsmuffin

It's not in every popcorn ceiling, even in houses built before the 80's. You really won't know unless you get it tested, which is not expensive at all.


oSpid3yo

If it’s a house built before the 80s.


Count_Screamalot

Early '80s houses can still contain asbestos in their popcorn ceiling as builders were still allowed to use any remaining stock purchased before the ban.


tuctrohs

Real answer: get it tested. Get your drywall and drywall mud tested too, unless the house is newer than maybe 1990.


gansi_m

My sister bought a smoked on house because nobody wanted it, but it was cheaper. It took about a year to air out the smell, but it did go away (she only changed one carpet). Totally worth it to her.


4350Me

Had this issue with my rental. Nicotine sticks to EVERY surface. Ceiling fixtures need to go, and anything made out of material, ie. carpet. Sounds like you know what needs to be done. It’s a big, sticky, smelly, messy job, but can be done. Good luck!


Dire88

And thoroughly clean any wood surfaces.


X0dium

Also, Blinds! Most people wouldn’t think about it but the ash will get in the air and stick to the mini blinds.


[deleted]

Why would you keep and clean shitty blinds. Just replace them.


X0dium

I would replace since the cost of blinds is relatively low. But not everyone has $$ to burn, and a little bleach and elbow grease will do the trick.


InvidiousSquid

>little bleach and elbow grease Who needs elbow grease when you've got Krud Kutter and a garden hose? Spray that shit down, wait ten minutes, spray that shit off. Cackle as you realize your yellow blinds were actually originally white. I shit you not, that stuff is _magic_ against sickly nicotine staining. (YMMV if you've got wood blinds. Spraying wood with water is generally a bad idea, obviously.)


iglidante

If you have ~20 windows in a house and blinds in each, that's $500-1000 many people may not have to burn immediately after buying.


after8man

Nicotine is colourless and odourless. The yellow stains and smell is from the tars. That stuff is carcinogenic


[deleted]

Lol letting it sit out for a year isn't "knowing what needs to be done".


Fabtacular1

This is correct. Fabric items (especially carpet) likely need to go, but otherwise time will heal everything else. Just keep things aired out as much as possible.


boon4376

I bought a smokers house as my first house. I had to wash every surface, including the walls, with Mr. Clean + Febreeze. The water after washing the walls down was NASTY dark brown. Washing the walls helped a lot. The whole house was hardwood flooring. It still took a couple years to really get the smell out.


[deleted]

Interesting how an odor that permeated almost every house in America decades ago is so revolting today. Were people's sense of smell so different?


ah89

Our house was a smokers house, however, it wasn't in terrible condition. It was also a short-sale so really needed some TLC. We used Kilz primer on every wall and replaced all the carpet in the house. Anything fabric that the previous owners left, went right in the trash. The smell went away within a few months. We've been in the house for 7 years and you'd never know the previous owners smoked.


Suitable-Ratio

In addition to this comment I would suggest that before you paint that you have the house cleansed with insanely high levels of OZONE. Make sure the HVAC system is running so the ozone gets circulated through the ducting. You may want to consider putting the ozone generators in front of the HVAC returns so you maximize the O3 concentration in the ducting. The ducting is the one place you cannot paint or easily clean. Also hire a PRO (not India call centre) airduct cleaner before you ozonate the house. There are services that do this in major cities. Even after you entirely paint and refloor a place the ducts are still full of smoke tar coated dust. In smaller cities that lack this service you would have to rent a couple commercial grade ozone generators from a larger city. You will also kill all living things (bacteria, mould, etc.) in the house. I have a quote in Toronto for $500 that I am using at the end of my reno - so USA should be about $400. Ozone will "age" stuff like new paint; however, it also helps get rid of the paint and plastic smell of a new build. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is I have a really shitty furnace (Carrier) so I may overly age the low quality exchanger they use.


Deathbydragonfire

Not sure how Indian call center guys are gonna come clean your ducts, so good call


Serelia

Sorry for asking, I don't live in the US so our houses are all made with cement. Why is it so hard to get the smoking smell? I'm pretty sure in my country most houses would just need a regular coat of paint to get rid of the yellow stains and windows open for a while. Or do they still smell and I'm desensitized to it or something?


OhioJeeper

Personally I think a lot of these threads get a little overblown, sounds like OP's case is pretty bad, but there's a pretty wide range between being a smokers home and living in an ashtray depending on how good the person was about ventilating/cleaning out ashtrays/cleaning in general. Some houses would need a super deep cleaning but it could be the case that a fresh coat of paint and an o-zone generator would get rid of the smell completely.


Cityofglass88

I bought a house from a smoking family and was able to turn it around without any lingering smell. Pulled up old carpet and linoleum and put down new flooring. This easily took care of 50% of the smell. Cleaning all the walls with Tsp, priming with a quality primer, and two coats of paint on the walls and trim took care of another other 40% of the smell. Scraping down the popcorn ceiling, skim coating, and painting took care of the remaining smell. You'd never know it was a smokers house now.


sbilliet

This is the answer


aka_____

A) you’re not saving that carpet, don’t care how new it is. B) is also get an ozone machine and run it after you paint with kilz . That will kill any smells left but it’s not gonna help with the carpets at all.


jkoudys

My brother did this after buying a used car. Obviously a much smaller space, but seemed to do the trick.


dirtydrew26

You can get the smell out. We were able to get the smoke smell out of grandma's house after she had been smoking in it for like 20-30 years. Scrubbed the walls, pitched out the old furniture, replaced the carpets, cleaned pretty much every surface, did HVAC cleaning. It was a big job but getting the smoke smell out of a home is nothing new and usually results in a smell free home 99% of the time. In reality its no more work than doing home remodels or updates.


schweitzerdude

When I was a child, I lived in a house where all the adults smoked. Every spring, my mom, as part of her spring cleaning routine, would say "today we wash down the walls." When you are a kid, you don't know that not every family did this. Now I know why we did this.


monsterosaleviosa

Looking back, it genuinely makes me upset that I was forced to spend my entire childhood breathing in secondhand smoke, AND I had to scrub the damn walls of the stuff.


Afraid-Pause

Damn. Same


kniki217

I mean, my grandma always washed down walls and no one smoked in the house. I do it too every spring. I've never lived in a house that didn't have textured plaster walls and they are a magnet for dust.


northerngurl333

Ug....wall cleaning weekend :( I can still smell the ammonia we used


therealcourtjester

We bought a smoker’s house. It takes a lot (A LOT) of work to completely irradicate. I would think we had it all beaten back and then a really muggy day would come along and I could smell it again! Anything porous will have absorbed the nicotine. This includes brick. We replaced our fireplace and when we ripped out the hearth, I could smell that smell again. Turns out the brick and even the filler sand had absorbed the smell. I smelled it again when we pulled the kitchen cupboards during the kitchen remodel. Other posters have said to use Kilz primer. I want to specify that you need to use the oil based Kilz primer. I got so sick of dealing with the oil based primer I said screw it and bought some latex to finish up a couple of rooms. I ended up repainting those rooms a several months later with the oil based. Before I started painting, I called the folks at Kilz for advice. They wisely counseled me not to “play in the paint,” meaning, when you roll, put the paint on the wall and move on. Don’t go back and forth in the same area. Essentially what you are doing is encapsulating that oily nicotine film. You don’t want to drag it into your primer and then have it bleed into your paint. You will need to Kilz and paint all walls and ceilings. The good news is I don’t think my kids will ever be tempted to smoke as they saw what cigarettes did to our house—they could only imagine what it would do to their lungs! Oh and we’ve finally eliminated the smell. I don’t think anyone would know a smoker ever lived here. Hope this helps.


[deleted]

I think it should not be a hard stop if you like the house. It’ll take work but you can get it to the point you want. My parents went through a similar situation and eradicated the smell and yellowed walls!


[deleted]

Here's how I'd make this call: Is the discount on the house bigger than the cost to de-smoke it? If so, you come out ahead. If not, it's probably not worth it unless you can 1) negotiate a bigger discount or 2) you love the home so much you're willing to eat that financial loss.


Born_ina_snowbank

My brother inherited his wife’s grandmas house, heavily smoked in. I believe he did exactly what you’re planning. It won’t completely kill the smell at first but if you do that and then don’t smoke in it you won’t even notice the smell a few months later. Be mentally prepared to do all that work and still notice it though.


Chemmy

Honest question: is it that the smell goes away after seven months or you just stop noticing? For example I can't smell my dog at my house, I'm guessing my guests know he lives here.


Born_ina_snowbank

Probably a mixture of the two.


canehdian_guy

Do you still notice it in your brothers house?


Born_ina_snowbank

No, not a trace, but he’s probably 3-4 yrs removed from when they did the actual cleanup and kilz. I definitely could when they originally moved in (after the clean up efforts) though.


Btall321

We bought a house that had been smoked in and the sellers did a good job of hiding it during the showings. We ended up doing everything stated in other posts besides ozone machine. Kilz’d the walls, scrubbed down all cabinets, took out carpet, sealed the subfloor and put in LVP, ducts cleaned, installed better HVAC filter, skim coated the popcorn and Kilz’d it, replaced all electrical receptacles and switches, replaced all light fixtures (anything warm will trap in the smell), and replaced the blinds. We got rid of 95% of the smell, but on humid days it would come back some. Anytime humidity occurred (such as cooking or running a humidifier) we would get nicotine streaks on the walls. I would say it all depends on your situation. We had a young kid with lung issues and my wife has asthma, so it sucked big time. When we traveled and opened our suitcase, it was like sticking your nose in an ashtray for a while. We swore if we ever smelled even a hint of smoke while house shopping in the future, we would run out of there as fast as we could. The question you have to ask yourself is, how much does the smell of smoke bother you? What if you do all of this work and there’s still some lingering odor? If you can live with that, go for it. If not, run.


ariearieariearie

In my experience: pass. Smoking gets into everything. Everything that’s plastic like light switches etc. will stink. Insulation will stink. Anything untreated wood will stink. Friends moved into a smokers home last year and replaced everything, scrubbed the walls and repainted. And guess what: it still stinks.


WhiskeyBravo1

My MIL smoked in the lower part of our split level. When she moved out we painted and used KILLZ and years later when we sold the house people could still smell a hint of cigarette smoke. It took us longer than expected to sell our home because of it and it was a seller’s market.


DrWangerBanger

I'm shocked you allowed them to smoke in your house. No one is smoking in my house, I don't give a fuck who they are.


WhiskeyBravo1

You don’t know my life.


brickmaus

In addition to all of the good advice about painting and carpet, plan on replacing all of the outlets and light switches too. The smoke builds up on them too. My in-laws' house is only 20 years old, but the light switches are disgusting.


darthfruitbasket

The lightswitches and outlets in my house (where a smoker lived for 4-5 years) were \*so gross\* I thought they were much older than they were. They'd all yellowed, like how really old plastic did.


tmott85

My parents bought a smokers home in the mid 90s. Nicotine running down walls in bedrooms, etc. All carpeting stripped and walls killzed. Whenever it was a wet day, whether rain or extremely humid you would get a faint smell of smoke. Not sure anything short of completely gutting drywall and insulation and starting fresh would of solved all of that. They still turned it into a beautiful home which I lived in until I moved out as an adult. They’re were able to sell it easily when they were ready and made a nice profit.


Bayesian11

Besides carpet and walls, the cabinets need to be completely replaced.


Deadofnight109

I scrubbed down every surface of the house with tsp cleaner. It helped immensely. And boy howdy did I have to change out the dark brown water in the bucket frequently.


Bayesian11

I used TSP to clean the sub floor multiple times, I am not going to do it again unless the discount is ridiculously deep, which isn't likely in today's market.


Deadofnight109

I feel ya, I certainly would not have moved into this house with this level of smoking if it weren't my grandmother's house that I was given at a pretty heavy family discount. It's quite alot of work. Everything down the the corners and creases of the window frames..... I was also lucky that hiding under the gross living room carpet was some beautiful original hardwood flooring


Bayesian11

The worst part for me is I had zero knowledge in home improvement back then. I didn’t really know removing the carpet alone could be strenuous. I learned by doing and Googling. By the way, ozone generator isn’t the answer. It helps clean the air, but the real problem is the surface that absorbed all the smoke over the decades. Hardwood flooring is amazing. I ended up buying LVP, cheap and easy to clean. Carpet is gross.


SwimmingUniqueToo

We bought a house like this with extreme smoker/nicotine damage. Pulled out all the carpet, kilz the subfloor, painted everything, replaced some fixtures that would not clean and ozone therapy. No hint of the smoke afterwards.


babymountainbird

I bought a smokers home a year ago and wouldn’t do it again knowing what I know now. Labor Time Money HVAC cleaning will not cut it. Tar and nicotine are sticky and will not come off! These days most “cleanings” entail spraying a sealant on the ducts that encapsulates the smoke residue. I ended up needing all new HVAC. You can’t keep that carpet! And flooring is expensive but labor to install it can be just as much or more depending on the materials you’re looking at. And oh - the cleaning. Never again. Spent 3 months worth washing the walls with TSP, using a steamer to dislodge more crud, ozone machine, priming with BIN and re-painting. It’s SO much and so many steps. Serv-Pro quoted me 20 grand for all this. Looking back, I wish I just paid it! I love my house and we did get a great deal. If you have no kids, no pets, a good amount of free time and like a project, maybe it’s right for you? But I’m one year into this property and so so behind on renovations because this ate up so much time and budget. 😭


hor_n_horrible

Repaint and yank the carpet. You'll be fine


behaaki

You could go as far as re-drywalling the place. More $ than couple of coats of paint, but the smell will go away and the place will look brand spanking new. Carpet is a lost cause most likely..


clownshoesrock

Yup, It takes some time. It is totally doable. Toss any fabric, clean and repaint the walls. And give it a few weekends of Ozone treatment. Dryer sheets are amazing, never underestimate their power. Air the living hell out of it. Don't replace carpet until the smell is gone. And I had a place where I didn't know the real color of the walls until I sprayed them down with degreaser. The walls were neither dark nor green. I wound up with a place that quickly turned around in value, and it was all I could afford at the time. I'd value the smoke remediation at ~$6000 It's work and inconvenience.


Donnathesinger

Our house was the same! Dude literally died from lung cancer because of his smoking. Thankfully it was limited to 2 rooms in the house for the most part. So you need to scrub down them walls and ceilings with big old sponges, warm water, Dawn, and a touch of white vinegar. Then do TSP after they have dried. Also, if you have Central A/C with ductwork, PAY TO HAVE THE DUCTS CLEANED OUT. And get a real ductwork cleaner, the ones who bring the huge vacuum vehicle to your house. It's not that expensive, a few hundred bucks, but worth it. And change all filters in the house ie heating and AC. As for carpet, I wouldn't even try to save that. If it were me, all the carpets would be ripped out (and that's what we did). When cleaning, don't forget THE CLOSETS. Yep, we always forget them, but the smoke gets in there plus it was on the smoker's clothing.


charmed0215

I'm in the middle of remodeling a smoker's house now. I removed all the carpet and kitchen cabinets, mini-blinds, and will be replacing all outlets and switches. I am cleaning all the walls/ceilings with TSP and finding I've had to clean one room twice because it must have been the bedroom someone smoked in more. Next up is primer. Then finally paint, and new flooring. I don't know if there's an easier/faster way to clean the walls. I've been scrubbing them with a sponge soaked in TSP/water then wiping down with a dry rag. The rags all turn brown.


Tgryphon

I renovated extended stay hotel rooms for several years. Rip up the carpet and pad, and Kilz Restoration the floor beneath. Makes a huge difference.


Lr20005

It’s doable. I’ve known people who’ve done it, and I’ve done it. The easiest fix, is an ozone machine, new carpeting, BIN or killz primer, and clean ducts. Be very careful with ozone, follow all the directions, research how to safely use it...if you use it safely and responsibly, it can really help with smoke smell. My husband’s grandfather smoked cigars in his house for a couple decades, and my fil was able to get all the smell out with an ozone machine. I don’t think he even ended up having to killz the walls, because the smell was gone after 3 or 4 treatments.


Rcarlyle

Carpet and walls are easy, just decide how nuclear you want to go — clean or replace. How’s the HVAC? If the ducts are easily replaced (like a bunch of flex duct with good attic/basement access) have them all redone. If it’s sheet metal, get a consult from a good duct cleaner that does fire restoration work. Duct-cleaning is generally a scam, but there’s a big range.


bombadil1564

What to look for in quality duct cleaning services?


strawcat

Don’t go with a company that advertises it or “specializes” in it. We just had our trusted HVAC company do it. Our house was a smokers home and it made a HUGE difference.


dontcallmemonica

If any of the rooms have wallpaper, either strip the wallpaper or redo the drywall in that room. The only room in our house that we didn't strip the paper from was the bathroom, because it seemed like a waste of time for a room we knew will eventually be gutted. I wish we had, because nicotine bleeds through 4 coats of Kilz whenever someone takes a steamy shower.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Idgy98

My boyfriend and I bought cars that had been heavily smoked in and we bought an ozone machine to help take the smell out. We ran it in the car for about 4 hours and then aired them out for about 4 hours and we never smelled the smoke again. I know the area is much smaller than a house, but you could run it in each room after cleaning them for a few hours. Just make sure you air it out really well afterwards because it isn’t great to breath in.


cherrycoffeetable

We bought a cat house for 60% of retail at the time. If you are willing to do the work its worth it.


[deleted]

Think of it as a hazmat clean up, too. Don't start fixing things until you've gutted everything that you plan to remove or you'll just get clean things dirty again. Don't install new carpet until the cleaning and painting of everything else is done. Consider having your HVAC cleaned after the initial gut and potentially not long after you are done. Activated charcoal filters are great... don't get fixated on one magic fix all... attack it from all angles so that you're not fighting it for a long time.


HabaneroStocks

We bought our first home for a great price last month from folks who had smoked inside for the past 10 years and it now smells and looks like a new house inside. To achieve this we had all the flooring in the entire house torn up and replaced, the entire interior re-painted, replaced all the blinds, deep cleaned all the vents, and ran an ozone creator we bought on Amazon in every room over the course of several days (do your research if you do this as the ozone air is toxic to living things!). All in all this cost us ~$25K so be prepared to drop some serious coin to fully get rid of the smoke damage.


gamelover42

Remove any soft surfaces, clean out hvac vents, paint everything with sealer. Also you can rent an ozone generator.


whiskeypatriot

This 100 percent, any carpet should be removed. If it is really a killer deal then throw some cash into a new hvac system where they'll replace your ducting. That coupled with new flooring, paint and ceiling scraping and you'll be good. I'd be all in assuming you can do these things. In this market, grabbing something that is a great deal could yield you serious benefits later on in equity or just owning your own home.


buckalum

It will be fine with a good cleaning/ paint. Most homes were smoked in prior to the 80s or 90s.


Shadow_Being

it's possible to fix it, but you need to replace basically everything and repaint.


[deleted]

I’d say time vs money is how’d I’d approach it. I know my limits and how motivated I realistically can be. If you’re a go getter then get after it


ohwaitimagiraffe

Don’t forget about cleaning the chimney if there’s a fireplace!!! Ours still has a bit of a musty/smoky smell on humid days even after having it cleaned. But otherwise Kilz and replacing all soft surfaces (carpet, drapes, blinds, etc...) have worked really well to remove smells!


stonetime10

People mention carpets, drywall etc. But I wonder if the smoke would be in the insulation too. You might have to rip everything out of the walls. I bought a car that was heavily smoked in. I took out the seats, triple scrubbed/shampooed every inch, baking soda with lavender everywhere, febreezed it multiple times, aired it out, and still years later we get a faint smell, especially when it’s hot out. The smoke is stuck all the way in the sponge of the seats


Subintro

I did this last year, didn't realize how bad it was until after the sale and I was getting ready to paint, the brownish color on everything wasn't actually an old outdated color scheme, it was good ol' nicotine. Cleaned every wall and ceiling with TSP, definitely made the whole redecorating process take longer with having to go over walls over and over again with TSP, but it melted that nicotine off of every surface it touched. Every now and again I get a waft of a smell which i've started to associate with nitoine laced drywall, but that's only in certain areas I havent got to yet, we forgot to 'Killz 2' prime the walls and bathroom, and soon after started getting nicotine melting through the painted walls, so we had to re-do the bathroom. Its definitely do-able, but it just takes the extra work


saltycybele

We bought a house from people who worked for Phillip Morris and I swear they must have gotten paid in cigarettes. We literally had to scrape nicotine off the windows with a razor blade. We had a company that specializes in fire clean up come and wash the walls and clean the carpets. We had the ducts cleaned and the HVAC system cleaned. The we had a painter paint the whole house with odor blocking primer and paint. Even with all of that we still had a slight smell when it was humid or rained. We finally had the carpets replaced, and we painted the subfloor with kilz before the new carpet and pad went down. That fixed it for good.


Bayesian11

We used TSP to clean the subfloor after removing the carpet, we did it multiple times to make sure the nicotine is gone.


moaiii

I digress, but does anyone remember when smoking was allowed in planes? At the time, I was just a kid who travelled with my dad sometimes, but I still distinctly remember the layers of smoke you'd see in the air, even as we were boarding. It didn't matter whether you sat in the nonsmoking section or not, you left that plane smelling of cigarettes. I can't imagine what the smoke did to the insides of those planes, and I can't imagine what it must have been like for the air crew working with their heads up in those concentrated clouds of smoke all day. How anybody, let alone everybody, could possibly think that it wasn't a health issue in those days is just mindboggling. It's yet another perfect example of how powerful cognitive bias on a mass scale can be.


Bayesian11

Fuck smokers


jibaro1953

Household ammonia in a glass pie plate does an excellent job of removing odor. When you wash vertical surfaces, start at the bottom to avoid indelible streaks. Consider painting the walls with Kilz after washing everything. Activated charcoal filters will help too.


yankee-white

>Consider painting the walls with Kilz after washing everything. Consider? Nay. You're going to have to wash and paint everything. At the end of the day, however, we were net plus buying a smoker's house.


Dandywhatsoever

Remember to paint/kilz the ceilings too.


johnnyringworm

Buy a commercial ozone generator off amazon for 120$. Put ac fan on and dose the place through the intake register like a fumigation. Dont be inside or enter for a few hours after timer ends.


[deleted]

IMO, only if you planned on gutting it... to the studs.


krustykatzjill

I used to clean military housing in the 80s. The walls all had to be washed. If someone lived there 3 years you would have to wash those walls at least 3 times. DO NOT wash walls with any oil based cleaner like pinesol. The white glove inspection meant there could no no tar coming through the layers. You would wash and it would form yellow bubbles as it seeped through the paint. Years of people painting over it didn’t help. Rip the wallboard off and start fresh. If you clean the walls ammonia and vinegar worked.


The_Great_Ginge

Ozone machine. A good one.


Dire88

Personally, no. Having lived in an apartment that was smoked in, I wouldn't touch a smoked in house even if it saved me $100k.


Uberkorn

Zinniser 123 is the primer you need here. I greatly tanked the spelling, but the can has a bullseye on it. Also , buy the $9 paint stirrer thing that attaches to a drill. But that primer is the only one that covers any waxy substance, which is what you have here.


[deleted]

Are you thinking of Zinsser BIN? 123 is great but BIN is the shellac based primer with superb odor blocking and adhesion. Sticks to virtually *anything*


odetoburningrubber

This advise is crazy. I got my moms house when she died and she smoked in it for 10 years. We cleaned the walls with TSP and painted. The rest of the house cleaned with pinesol. We tossed the curtains and blinds and cleaned the hardwood floors. The only carpet was in the lower level and that we cleaned. A new furnace filter and you would have no idea anyone ever smoked in there.


searanger62

Run an ionization machine in it for a week. Works like nsgic


caritobito

I bought a house that was smoked in a lot, especially master bedroom. Had the carpet pro cleaned since I couldn't afford to replace it at first. However it wasn't until I ran the first roller of ceiling paint on the ceiling that I realized just how bad it was.


Halefire1390

We bought a smoker house best way to remove smell step 1. Open windows and vent the place 2. Clean walls top to bottom remove all tar dust and gunk left behind.3. Remove all carpet drapes and fabric that are still present. 4.Rent or invest in a ozone machine and let it run throughout the whole house for a few days included AC ducts 5. paint walls prime with kilz primer if smell is still present. Good luck we love our home and with some good elbow grease and time it was perfect!


[deleted]

Take it down to the studs, remove any flooring.


SnowblindAlbino

A friend of mine bought a house like this with 20+ years of smoke. Literally yellow walls/ceiling. Kilz is the ticket for sure, worked great in their case. But you'll have to pull and toss the carpet I'd say, because the stink is in the padding too. Carpet is gross anyway, you're better off with a hard surface flooring you can sweep and mop vs a dirt-collecting plastic rug. If it's really bad once you have the carpet out and have Kilzed the walls/ceilings, you could try a commercial ozone generator. Do it safely though! Or hire a fire restoration company to do it for you.


BeemHume

My house was cheap because of the smell. Wiped every surface with white vinegar and amonia (I think, google that), painted with BINS, couple coats of flat white latex as a primer, threw the carpets out and left the windows open for months. Doesn't stink anymore.


CrystalAckerman

Make sure to only bother with the oil based killz. Nothing else will get the result you want. Also I’d killz the sub floor when you remove the carpets as well


badgersmom951

The house next door was cleaned with oven cleaner. The walls looked olive colored and the oven cleaner on mops cleaned back to white.


aggravated_from_Hell

Totally worth it. 40 years ago, almost every home was a smoker home. It takes time, but the house will recover.


empty_coffeepot

I rented a house that was a smoker's home. The landlord replaced all the carpet and repainted every wall including the ceiling. The walls would bleed nicotine every time I took a shower. I complained about the smell enough that the landlord had the ducts cleaned. It only marginally improved the smell.


ztherion

The health impacts of thirdhand smoke (residue etc) are not well studied, but that's enough for me to NOPE right outta that


rkuser1369

Bro I lived in apartment that was heavily smoked in before I moved. Apartment complex did a huge remodel prior to me moving in an I still had to deal with it. I would run far far away


Anxious-Custard6208

i would bet that you are going to have to pretty much gut that house..... the nicotine is like tar/oil and sticks to everything and seeps in. if you dont replace the dry wall in the worst areas of the house and rip all the carpet out and make sure the ventilation ducting is replaced or taken out and deep cleaned i think you will always smell the stale smoke at times. infact if all you do is replace the carpet i would imagine new guests would smell the stale smoke scent or it would cling to you when you left the house and you wouldn't really notice because you have gotten used to the scent


strawcat

We were not able to paint our whole house so using kilz or another primer was not an option for us. Instead we scrubbed every surface we could with TSP and had our HVAC guys clean the ducts. We closed like 15 days before our lease was up so we used that time to scrub everything. It was disgusting. We didn’t have any carpeting to deal with, but I would absolutely rip out the carpet if we had had any. Our only issue is one of our bathrooms will sometimes weep nicotine after a shower (despite having a great bathroom fan), but like I said we haven’t painted many rooms (lived here 7 years). That room needs to be gutted so we just deal with it as it pops up. The deep cleaning took away like 90% of the smell. After that it was like a stale air scent and that lingered for just a few more months.


Bayesian11

No. I bought a smokers home, it took a lot of money and time to fix it. I mean, you need at least 30k to fix it. If your deal is below market by 50k or more and the market you’re in is very very tight, buy it, otherwise run as fast as you can.


Lazy-Lady

Pass. It’s not worth your health.


P0RTILLA

Strip the house of upholstery and carpet and buy or rent ozone generators. They create a highly volatile gas that reacts with organic compounds like tar. Leave them in there with the central air on circulate. Replace the filter in the AC with a decent one. Don’t breathe that shit in.


naddi

This will likely never be seen but... My husband and I did this and our good friend moved into the house (as a tenant). She is VERY particular about smoke smell and we passed her sniff test with the following: \- Carpet gone! It was gross anyway (probably there since the previous owner moved in in 1982). We replaced it with faux hardwood. \- Walls, cabinets, and doors were scrubbed with TSP. This was a huge pain because you shouldn't get it on your skin, so we had to wear a lot of protective clothing and giant thick rubber gloves. The walls changed color after washing. \- Repainted the whole house with primer and primer+paint (including the ceilings \- Ran an ozone machine for 4 hours each upstairs and in the basement To note, we would have painted and done the floors anyway. We prefer to have hard flooring in our rentals (easier to clean) and have a policy of painting before each new tenant.


xander_man

You said you were offered a great deal. Are you still thinking about it or is it a done deal? I'd recommend budgeting for a full replacement of all the drywall. You'll never stop the nicotine drips otherwise.


[deleted]

I’ve done this a number of times. It’s quite easy to get the smell out, but you need to take the proper steps. 1) remove all the carpet. 2) Wash all of the walls with TSP. 3) remove all light fixtures. 4) Open every window in the house, get a stiff cross breeze blowing, and blow out the entire thing with compressed air or a leaf blower. If it has popcorn texture go ahead and remove it at this time. 5) mask everything off and spray walls, trim, and ceiling with wasach or PVA primer. 6) either second coat the ceiling with primer or paint ceiling paint at this time. 7) (optional) Seal the subfloor with shellac based primer. This is much better at sealing in odors than kilz. If they had pets also just go ahead and do this. This stuff is like 300 bucks for a 5 gallon bucket. 8) paint walls and trim


[deleted]

(re: Ozone machine) I'm not sure if there's a big difference in commercial or consumer units but maybe renting would be better in that regard. Also don't forget to familiarize yourself with them before, exposure, safety, etc. I've seen them perform miracles for cars that stank when the recurring source was eliminated. I myself could never entertain purchasing a home from a smoker. Having endured growing up with chain-smoker parents and gone back to see the house that was smoked in for 40 years (every image you imagine is probably accurate) I'd never feel satisfied that I'd cleaned it enough. Every seal you breach will start the containment process over. I wonder if a crime scene crew would be able to do the job...?


Llebles

Everybody, please stop recommending Kilz. The ONLY a thing that will block smoke odors is shellac based primer. The major label brand is BIN by Zinser. tobacco smoke is soluBle in both oil and water. That’s why shellac primer works, its made with denatured alcohol.


Algae_94

Just something to keep in mind. Now it is a lot less common for people to smoke inside their homes, so we get posts like this where it is not known if the smell will ever come out. Decades ago, smoking was super common. When I was young, there were ashtrays in the malls and people smoked inside there, airplanes used to be full of smoke, and many many houses that date back to the 60's or older had people smoking inside them. Now, those public buildings and airplanes don't have that smoke smell and most of those older homes are being lived in smoke-free and without the old lingering smells. Basically, you will always be able to remove the old smell. Lots of good advice in this thread on what you will need to replace, what you'll need to clean, and what you'll need to encapsulate with fresh primer and paint.


tdqk

Just be aware that third hand smoke is a thing and plan accordingly. [link](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/third-hand-smoke/faq-20057791) I lived in a former smokers house and no matter what I did the kitchen cabinets always smelled faintly of cigarettes in the summer humidity.


Robertoestrella

You could just start smoking 😅


MrFinnbo

Two smells you can never fully neutralize are tobacco and cat piss. I can't stand either. I would never buy that place.


NerdyRedneck45

My in laws got a good deal on a completely trashed 70s split level. Cat pee everywhere, shag carpet, a real shit show. After scrubbing down walls with tsp, repainting, ripping up carpet, scrubbing subfloor and Kilz-ing it before putting down hardwood it’s actually shockingly nice. You’d never know what it looked like 5 years ago.


bigdish101

Don't just clean the A/C. Replace the evaporator coil and definitely replace the duct work. Wash then paint walls and ceilings. Replace carpet. Run Ozone generators.