AIBU to consider buying a house from smokers?

[vivaladivagigi]

Posting in here for traffic as keen to get a range of opinions, and maybe some advice from people who have done it.

I'm considering buying a house from an old couple. The house smells like they've smoked 50 a day in it for decades. I'd be doing work to it anyway, such as new capets, bathrooms etc. but some people have told me this won't be enough as it gets into floor boards and walls.

What do you think, AIBU?

Years ago some friends bought a house like this. No problem they thought -new carpets, strip walls and everything else. They gutted it and did just that. I mean gutted it.

I visited it afterwards -you could still smell it. It was obviously much much better but a faint hint of the old tar.

They even had the windows replaced and windowsills. I assume that actually it was up in loft in the wooden beams and the particles were just entrenched.

6 years later they put in on the market and again lots of air freshners etc. the first 4 offers fell through due to "a smell" and eventually sold -2 years after that.

I would say no no no.

Don't.

We got our house from an ex-smoker. It was cheap as it needed a fair bit of work doing to it but five years later, you can still smell the smoke. In that time, the entire house has been re-plastered and re-carpeted too. You can especially smell it in the bedroom - presumably the lady liked to smoke in her bed!

I also work for a lady who smokes and even if I go into her home and she's not smoked that day, my clothes, hair and skin smell of smoke and everything has to go in the wash when I get home. I popped to her house the other day and DH was in the car - as soon as I opened the door he could smell smoke. It clings so badly and it's so hard to get rid of.

If the place is going to need complete renovation anyway - painting everywhere, new flooring, etc., personally I’d go ahead - if you’re getting it for a good price.

You’d normally wash surfaces with sugar soap before painting anyway! Fags or no fags.
Most of the work (if it’s done properly) is the preparation.

My house is 200 years old and will definitely have been smoked in, plus had open fires. It’s been painted and decorated over the years but still has plenty of original woodwork and floors. It’s fine. Many people are living in houses more than 20 years old which will have been smoked in, all fine. Most of the people saying no are just looking for an excuse to express their disgust at the very idea of smoking. Replastering 🙄

Could you price up how much it will cost to reasonably get rid of the smell/tar/nicotine stains and offer with that price reflected in your offer? I don’t think it would be unreasonable to cost for a deep clean, new carpets, wood work, resk of plaster etc. It’s not so much the smell of the smoke that causes the damage the tar and nicotine stain everything down to the skirting boards and white UPVC window frames etc

We bought our house a year ago from an older couple who had 2 dogs & smoked for most of the time they lived there (although they had vapes when we went to look round).
The first time we went to look round I couldn't get past the smell, it was AWFUL. The door frames were yellow, anywhere that is high traffic for hands was revoltingly dirty. Thankfully the whole house apart from the stairs is laminate so once all their soft furnishings were out & once we had scrubbed everything to within an inch of its life, aired it (windows & doors open all day the day we moved in), painted everywhere with high quality paint the only dog we can smell is our own if he's getting a little smelly. We can't smell smoke at all and haven't had an issue with nicotine coming through the paint.

*That should be re skim of plaster

Bearing in mind almost everyone smoked back in the 50s - 70s I very much doubt you’ll ever buy a home that wasn’t at some stage owned by smokers 🙄

There’s a good reason that things like caravans and cars are advertised as owned by non smokers, the smell gets into everything, and I remember the sticky layer of tar on my mums dressing table when I was living at home and helping out with the dusting (and it was done regularly). It wouldn’t put me off buying a house from smokers but I suspect you have to be prepared for a lot of scrubbing with sugar soap or getting people in who clean up smoke damage after fires.

People move into or back into houses after an actual fire so I guess that smell doesn’t last for ever?

But it isn't the actual smoke itself that lingers - it's the stench of the tar, toxins and chemicals that were released through smoking. Houses with open fires or where lots of candles were used - and even houses where some of the structure was at one time ablaze - don't have that vile nicotine stink, because it was only coal/wood/wax that was burnt.

I agree that smokers don't usually understand how disgusting the smell is, because they're so used to it and it's simply their normal. Houses that have been heavily smoked in should be considered as renovation projects and priced much lower to take account of this, even though, from a photo, the house may look in perfectly good and well-maintained condition.

OP we bought a house where the previous owners burned incense in one of the bedrooms. We have lived here for 6 years and the room still smells of it when we come back from holiday. I think the only way to get rid of the smell of smoke would be to gut the place so factor that in if the house is otherwise perfect!

We did it. Replaced all the floors, changed all the light switches and plug sockets. Took off the horrid tile stickers and put nicer coloured ones on. Repainted every single surface in the house. Sugar soaped the front door and window frames.

The only thing we couldn’t afford was a new kitchen (just yet). I spent DAYS cleaning it, and could still smell smoke. I was pregnant at the time mind.

We have lived here just over six months now and the smell has definitely gone. It wasn’t easy but it is doable. The house is amazing and was an utter steal because of the state of it so I don’t regret it for a moment.

I think it will be fine. My parent was a smoker and 1 year on the smell has gone from the house. You don’t notice it as you walk in like you used to. Just needs a clean and a really good airing. If you’re replacing carpets and curtains this will really help as Smoke clings to these kind of furnishings. Once all the old furniture is out too you’ll be fine.

I wouldn’t (and I’m a smoker - garden only I hasten to add).

Hi, first time poster here.
Myself and my husband purchased a house 18 months ago and the previous owner smoked. It smelt. I'm not going to lie. We didn't let it bother us though. We moved in (with two young children). Lived in the house and had it redecorated from top to bottom and new carpets throughout. You wouldn't know it was previously lived in by heavy smokers.
I honestly wouldn't let it bother you. If the house is everything you want go for it. I now finally feel like we are in our forever home and am so thankful that I didn't let it put us off.

Nope. Wouldnt do it.

The occasional smoker- fine. But a 40 a day habit - no effing way, that shit REEKS. I knew a woman who smoked continuously- as in, lit one cig from the previous one so was literally always smoking. Her house was so revolting that tobacco would literally run down the walls- everything was brown/yellow. She passed away recently of COPD and I remember thinking no way would I buy her house- even just entering the house after she had gone made your clothes stink. Its going to take years to get rid of the smell in my opinion, even if you redecorate.

Oh and a word to the wise. Buy one of those special radiator cleaning brushes, but prepare for the dust that comes out from down the back will be orange from the nicotine!

Unless you plan on hacking the plaster off and removing the wood, its a no for me.

@vivaladivagigi

Posting in here for traffic as keen to get a range of opinions, and maybe some advice from people who have done it.

I'm considering buying a house from an old couple. The house smells like they've smoked 50 a day in it for decades. I'd be doing work to it anyway, such as new capets, bathrooms etc. but some people have told me this won't be enough as it gets into floor boards and walls.

What do you think, AIBU?

Well....Put it this way, a family member bought a detached house with outbuildings....and one of them had evidently been used to grow weed in. {No plants left, but signs were left like ducting and used pots. The outbuilding didn't smell at all, and everyone knows how smelly weed is. Once you have got rid of carpets and curtains, there will be no smell. I bought a house that had a smoker in, and I had to clean the room they smoked in with sugar soap, before repainting, but it was fine. No smells at all.

People move into or back into houses after an actual fire so I guess that smell doesn’t last for ever

Thats not really the same though as often the house has to be reconstructed in parts so the timber/ building materials are completely removed and then replaced with new. Unless you are going to demolish parts of the house and replace the smell will stay. Redecoration is not the same as replacing construction materials.

I recently viewed a house that on paper was perfect. When I walked in all you could smell was smoke.

It had been repainted and looked fresh but in all the corners of the bathroom fan, the door hinges, the window locks, sockets etc there was the yellow tar.

The place was stinking. It had been an old man on his own who sat and smoked all day.

Seeing as the house was perfect in every other way I looked into deep cleaning etc and it boils down to either sealing the walls and ceilings with a special sealant paint or replacing the plaster else it will still be there or can seep through again.

I would have had to replace all the bathroom fans, sockets, door handles, light fittings in the ceiling etc. It was too much for me but when I walked out I could smell the cigarette smoke in my hair and thought there is no way I want to live like that or have my children smell like that so we didn’t offer.

We bought a house from smokers and 10 years later you could still smell it every time you walked into the house.
We practically gutted it but the smell still lingered. We don't live there anymore but I don't regret buying it because it was a lovely home for us and our little family.
If you love the house house then buy it.

@MyPersona

My house is 200 years old and will definitely have been smoked in, plus had open fires. It’s been painted and decorated over the years but still has plenty of original woodwork and floors. It’s fine. Many people are living in houses more than 20 years old which will have been smoked in, all fine. Most of the people saying no are just looking for an excuse to express their disgust at the very idea of smoking. Replastering 🙄

Most of the people saying no are just looking for an excuse to express their disgust at the very idea of smoking.

Or maybe we just speak from experience, having lived in houses that were smoked in by the previous owners?

There's a big difference between a house being owned by a smoker 20-30 years ago, and buying a home that was smoked in up until the day you moved in. Yes, the smell will fade with time, but you also have to live with it until it does. And it can takes years to go, especially if you don't have the funds to change the carpets or anything like that.

I did. Lived in it a couple of years before I redecorated.
When we steamed the paper off the walls, the steam was turning yellow and staining everything this tar colour. Even the ceiling had to be repainted because of the yellow stains from the steam.
Still glad I brought it though.

Strip off all wallpaper, bin all soft furnishings. Sugar soap on ceilings and walls. Steam clean everywhere. You could sand the floorboards. It's quite cheap to hire a sander for a day. Do this before you move in, it's a messy job.

If you love the house, buy it. Tell the sellers your concerns about the smoke and the house needing a deep clean and see if they are willing to pay for it.