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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To buy a house owned by smokers

67 replies

NoChella · 30/06/2017 08:04

After some advice please - viewed a house yesterday that is otherwise perfect but in through the front door and the smell of smoke was like a wall.
DP and I both non-smokers so probably more sensitive to it anyway. Smell wasn't too strong at all upstairs so think they probably just smoke in kitchen / living room. Kitchen is laminate floor, lounge/diner is carpet. Think they've been there around 18 months so not too "set in" if that makes sense...

Has anyone who's a non-smoker bought a house from a smoker before? How long did it take to get the smell out or does it stay forever? Any advice on what to do in addition to pulling up carpets would be great please!

OP posts:

Dulra · 30/06/2017 08:45

We bought a house that stank of smoke. It was dated anyway so would have carried out all the following work whether they were smokers or not. Stripped wallpaper, repainted, new flooring, got a new kitchen, new bathroom and once all done and a good clean the smell was gone. Never had to re-plaster or strip back walls. Don't forget when you view a property all their furniture and stuff is there and also stinks when all that is taken out the smell goes down considerably.

happypoobum · 30/06/2017 08:45

As it's quite new you should be able to get away with a complete repaint and replace all carpets.

My friend bought a house that had been smoked in for six years and she had to take the plaster off the walls to get rid of the stench, it had permeated so badly.

Definitely use this to make a lower offer - if you do end up replastering it will cost a lot.

WizardOfToss · 30/06/2017 08:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 30/06/2017 08:48

I think replastering would possibly depend on whether it had been painted or papered - painted plaster is more likely to be permeated with smoke, papered less so as the smoke mostly goes into the paper.

ppeatfruit · 30/06/2017 08:48

Try spraying everywhere with a mix of ess. oil of mint and sparkling water. It;s a lovely neutralising smell.

Cocklodger · 30/06/2017 08:50

I once bought a house that was badly wrecked.
A combination of pet, human (🤢🤢🤢) faeces and urine and very heavy smokers who'd lived there for years.
It was fucking hard work, but even with the fact that it cost me 30k to get it all done (and that was without replacing the aged, dated bathroom and kitchen that cost me more on top) I was still better off for having done it,
The house was a 3bed with attic conversion which was worth 250k at the time I got it for just 60k, and honestly it was lovely, still gutted I sold it when I left the U.K.

Original poster

NoChella · 30/06/2017 08:50

badweek no young children yet.

Am prepared to do a lot of scrubbing and will pull carpets up before we move our furniture in. Also looking at sticking a couple of air purifiers in for a few months. I was looking for staining/ discolouration and couldn't see any at the time

They've alreadyr reduced it considerably due to wanting a quick sell for their impending move, so don't know if we want to risk a cheeky offer....it's such a gamble if someone else wants to offer the asking price!

OP posts:

confusedat23 · 30/06/2017 08:53

We did OP and honestly after we had done everything to it we wanted you wouldn't have known it was a smokers house at all!

You will probably have to replace the carpets and laminate though but everything else is perfectly do-able yourself... You will need ALOT of Sugersoap for the walls but there is nothing more satisfying than seeing the brown/yellow seaping out of the walls and ceiling whilst you are washing them!

You would be suprised how much of the smell goes just by getting rid of the flooring and if you have a local carpet/flooring place they will normally do a good deal if you are doing most of a house.

Cocklodger · 30/06/2017 08:54

The carpets were so bad when we pulled it up we couldn't see the colour!
We were curious so cut a small piece off, put it in the bath with boiling water and bicarb and a small amount of carpet shampoo, left it overnight and when we came back in the morning it was a greyish/cream colour. The carpet had previously been a very dark brown 🤢 And very oily feeling/grimy and dirty. It was dreadfully awful, and we still came up ok for it so I say go for It.
Bicarb is a good one for removing smoke stains from walls/door frames IME. Bleach too (although not with the bicarb) and then essential oil to remove the bleach smell, unless you like that!
I'll never understand people who ruin houses with smoke and I say that as a smoker (yes I stink but I don't even smoke in my garden let alone my house). Very sad to see beautiful properties wrecked.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 30/06/2017 08:57

Are they including carpets and/or any other soft furnishing stuff in the price? Because you can say that you're not prepared to pay for that as it's going straight out, or they can take it with them - and reduce accordingly.

I did this in a different house - they wanted an extra £2k to leave all the carpets and curtains, but I didn't want them, so got the £2k reduction and they took most of the carpets (luckily not the stairs and landing carpets though, as they were moving to a bungalow)

Original poster

NoChella · 30/06/2017 08:58

Exactly cocklodger, I'm really disappointed as it's a beautiful home. Such a shame, but each to their own! My DP on the other hand is furious with her for "ruining her lovely house with smoke" haha
Its not for us to judge - her house, her decision. All I'm interested in is whether we can remove the smell if we get the house! I'm secretly quite pleased to have a legitimate reason to buy a load more woodwick and yankee candles

OP posts:

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 30/06/2017 09:01

Sugar soap is definitely your friend for cleaning though, and bicarb can help too but start with the sugarsoap.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 30/06/2017 09:18

jesus there is this invention called Paint. works wonders I hear

get a discount for the smell!

SquinkiesRule · 30/06/2017 09:22

Neighbors did, it was smoke and cat piss.
They ripped out all the carpets and curtains, blinds etc. The floor was cement and they pretty much bleached the whole house more than once. Then painted with some paint that seals everything and the electrician changed all the lights light switches, and plug covers they were yellow. After a few months they ripped out the kitchen and utility room and replaced all that. it was dated and needed doing. It's a lovely house now.

SugarMiceInTheRain · 30/06/2017 09:24

It permeates the plaster. We washed down the walls etc on moving in but when we retiled the kitchen I was astonished how strong the smell of smoke was when we took off the wall tiles, and that was from the people before the previous owners (at least a decade before) so make sure you are prepared for the work.

Clayhead · 30/06/2017 09:25

Be prepared to have to re plaster, decorating might not cut it. It permeates EVERYTHING.

Oh yes. We changed the flooring, curtains etc, washed the walls but we still had patches of yellowy brown sticky coming out of the walls. it took ages to finally get rid of it and even now, after several years, if it gets hot, there is still a feint aroma and the odd patch appears.

Gerardbernie · 30/06/2017 09:25

jesus there is this invention called Paint. works wonders I hear

Paint's not going to do anything on its own!

MacarenaFerreiro · 30/06/2017 09:30

jesus there is this invention called Paint. works wonders I hear

Yes, although I don't think Jesus invented it. He was more the woodwork department.

Not everyone buying a house wants to decorate everywhere, straight away. Most people do it room by room when they have time and cash free to do it. That means living with the smell of smoke - some people aren't prepared to do that.

Elendon · 30/06/2017 09:33

No you are not being unreasonable to buy a house that stinks of smoke. Why someone who smokes can't go outside to have a fag whilst selling the house is beyond me. To have horrid yellow drippings from ceilings and light fittings is gross.

I viewed a house that stank, it was rank, of dogs. I nearly gagged throughout the viewing and thought, no way, not even at a reduced price would I buy this house. I went home from that viewing and changed my clothes and showered.

Elendon · 30/06/2017 09:37

To remove smells use sugar soap as suggested above and then decorate with good quality paint if need be. Air the house out relentlessly. Replace carpets (but you might want to do this anyway.

The odd instance of smoking isn't going to permeate into the plaster, but a 40 a day smoker who never the leaves the house is going to leave a smell that will be hard to get rid of. It's doable though.

MacarenaFerreiro · 30/06/2017 09:43

The thing is that the effort required to remove the stench of cigarette smoke is something that people aren't prepared to do. Or if they are prepared to do it, they want a reduced price in reflection of that effort. Fair enough really.

StumpyScot92 · 30/06/2017 09:47

The house my mum bought when I was living with her was awful. To the extent that when we were steaming the wallpaper off in the kitchen, the yellow ceiling started peeling and we realised it wasn't the paint peeling but a thick gooey layer of nicotine. Totally disgusting but quite satisfying to remove...

A good hearty scrub and we got rid of the smell, the big issue was the living room walls. The nicotine staining was so bad it shone through paint. It took 5 layers of a good quality paint to stop the patches of yellow coming through. (Sugar soap the walls for the smell - its a godsend).

It can be dealt with will just probably need more elbow grease than a non smokers house :)

Starlight2345 · 30/06/2017 09:53

I moved into a house that stank of smoke..HA so not the choice you had..I mainly remember scrubbing tiles in bathroom, having to scrub them one at a time as it was that thick in nicotine.. It is a lovely house now..Would depend if you want a house to just move into or one you need to do some work

WhooooAmI24601 · 30/06/2017 10:00

The first house I ever bought belonged to an elderly lady who'd recently passed away. She was a 40-a-day smoker and the walls and ceilings were yellow after 60 years of her smoking habit. My Dad and I did it up together; we took out everything from carpets and underlay to the kitchen, bathroom and even the plaster and cornicing. It took a good couple of months living in a barren wasteland but once we'd got rid of the main parts the smell went.

If I'd bought the same house without the problems it would have cost so much more and because my Dad did the carpet fitting, put in the new kitchen and bathroom and replastered and rewired everywhere, I didn't have to fork out thousands on professionals.

It was worth it, definitely. But that smell permeates everything, even things you wouldn't think of; I'd never have guessed that the plaster on the walls would hold the smell.

wonkylegs · 30/06/2017 10:11

My first house smelt of a combination of deep fat fryer, nicotine & cats when I bought it
A lot of hard work stripping it back and scrubbing it and redecorating and I ended up with a lovely house.
The deep fat frying left inches of grease in every bit of the kitchen, thankfully we were ripping it out anyway but it was a vile job.
It's worth it if you are willing and able to put the effort in and can buy for a price that reflects the work needed.

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