How to rid house of Smoker's Stench - Landlord Forum thread 327631

How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by June on November 19, 2014 @15:56

HELP!!! I found a lovely house I would love to buy. The owner's are chain smokers. Can smell the stench from outside front door. House has an unfinished basement and it stinks also. Odor is even throughout the hvac ductwork. Is there a way to totally rid house of the stink and any toxic substances or is it a hopeless cause. It's such a shame because it's perfect for me, but the huge flaw is the smoker's stench embedded into the entire structure. Is there any solution? Thanks for your wisdom and discernment.

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Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by Anonymous on November 19, 2014 @16:09	[ Reply ]

One way to do it is burn it to the ground and rebuild. Smokers stench is very hard and painstaking to remove. This is like saying you found the perfect house but it's only 10X more expensive than the market. Move on to another house.

Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by Bill on November 19, 2014 @16:40	[ Reply ]

You will need to start by repainting with a sealer coat and then the paint. That will help a lot but it will not totally do it. You could rent to another smoker if you are not going to live there.

Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by Garry (Iowa) on November 19, 2014 @16:53	[ Reply ]

If it's really as bad as you say it is, I would suggest contacting a couple of the smoke and fire damage restoration companies in you area. They are the real experts on cleaning up fire/smoke damaged properties. You wouldn't have to hire them, just ask them a lot of questions. And if there aren't any in your area, contact your local fire dept as to who to call. Those companies may have special chemicals, or ways of cleaning that we landlords don't know about. If you are armed with a lot of info, it may help you to negotiate and get a better deal if you decide to buy it.

Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench

Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by Bryan (Ia) on November 20, 2014 @02:11	[ Reply ]

Haven't tried it personally, but I've been told placing a few bowls of white vinegar out will remove the smell and will not leave a vinegar smell.

Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by Shaun (FL) on November 20, 2014 @10:51	[ Reply ]

I bought an older home. Thought the old wall papered was gold until we started pulling out the cabinets. Turns out the wall paper was white with blue flowers. I mopped every wall repeatedly with Krud Kutter to remove the nicotine and tar (yellow). Then mopped all walls with vinegar. When all were dried painted with oil base sealer (ceiling bleed through water base). Then top coat. Also kept all windows open and fans running 24/7 during this process. It seem to work b/c no one mentioned smelling cigarette smoke.

Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by Jack (NY) on November 20, 2014 @10:56	[ Reply ]

I try to avoid smokers as much as possible. They just kill the chances of a quick turnover to non-smokers and ruin the rental. This won't help with the clean up but the LPA has a No Smoking Notice that I keep handy. I don't allow tenants to have guests who smoke either.

Re: How to rid house of Smoker's Stench by Chris (WI) on November 24, 2014 @11:09	[ Reply ]

One of my property's came with a smoker. When I finally evicted him for non payment we had a mess to clean up. I did a lot of research and found out the only way to really make a dent in covering up the smell is to use BIN primer. It is fire and smoke restoration primer. I used 10 gal of the stuff and had to cover every painted surface with it. A 1000SqFt ended up having over $1000 in paint and primer to minimize the smell. I had to replace many of the blinds because I could not wash off the stench. I had to take off all the vent covers and try to clean them out as best as I could as well. I ran the vent fans 24hrs a day and installed odor reducing furnace filters. The smell gets into all the wood work and will continue to permeate out for years. If you can get the house for cheap it may be worth the work involved.