AIBU to consider buying a house from smokers?

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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?

@CherryPavlova

No, I’d not buy a house that had been smoked in. It lingers everywhere.

You live in an old house don’t you? Do you honestly think it’s never been smoked in?

Our house was awful, we removed every piece of carpet, fabric, furniture, redid the kitchen, windows, doors etc and it’s not noticeable at all day to day but when we come back from holiday I always notice it again. We paid people to sugar soap the walls and the Brown water was foul. We had planned a total overhaul anyway so wasn’t a massive problem How unbelievably pompous

We bought a house when we had DD1 that was lived in for years by 2 smoking brothers. It was so so hard to get rid of the smell. Agree that even the radiators smelt of it. We pretty much did have to strip all the paint off and wash over and over everything we didn’t take out with sugar soap as much as we could. The window frames were really bad on the inside and stained yellow which I could never get off.
I think that the men who lived in that house had been smoking in it for like 40 years. It was virtually untouched from the original baker lite light switches and had polystyrene ceiling tiles

My mother smoked in our family home as a kid and I don’t recall it being as bad as the house I bought with my ex

MyPersona Fair point. It probably has, but not for many decades. Previous owners are non smokers. Before them was a single woman, who lives locally still and has never smoked.
I guess pre 1960s it might have been, you’re right.

I rent properties for a living and had one that had a heavy smoker in for 6 years. I redecorated when he left and changed plug sockets, smoke alarms, light switches and had new flooring throughout. I also aired the property daily for a few weeks. Kitchen as bathroom was also scrubbed with bleach twice.
The new tenants don’t smoke and I can actually smell the smoke when I go in and on their clothing when they approach me. It wouldn’t be something I would do without knowing I could replaster and renew anything that was tainted.

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

I don't need an 'excuse', I'm quite happy to express my disgust of smoking without one.

It's vile. It stinks. I spent some time working g with Primary 1 children (4/5) and your could tell who cake from a smoking house. They smelt horrible, poor wee things. Bad enough making them smell but the damage smoking can do to them as well

@orangenasturtium
Thanks for the tip, I shall look for some water based paints!

Have you actually made a thread about this? Good grief. Maybe they should add a smoker/non-smoker declaration to the legal forms

Sounds exactly like my late grandparents' house. There's a house where people have smoked and then there's a chain smoker's house. They both chain smoked. Everything was deep yellow like a sepia photograph from the 19th Century and I'm not convinced the smell would have come out without being completely gutted. I mean to the extent of not just removal of fabrics and re-plastering, but complete rewiring, central heating replacement, and replacement of all wood including the staircase and floorboards. And maybe not even then.

I loved my grandparents but no way would I ever have bought that house.

she waffles on abit in this video but get to the bit where she's getting the nicotine off and it'll probs give you an idea of whats to come.

We did and had to have the whole house replastered. Still get a whiff from some cupboards but it was instantly 'our' forever home so it was worth it.

I'm really surprised at the number of people who are saying that OP is being over the top and she can just open the windows etc.

Do people who smoke inside really not understand how badly their houses stink?! I used to smoke but quit 10 years ago. It took me a few months but I gradually started to notice the smell of smoke. For people who don't smoke the smell is absolutely vile and it is very strong. It will seep into every crack and crevice of the entire house and be an absolute nightmare to get out. Don't kid yourselves.

As I said in a previous post I was pregnant when cleaning our very smoky new house. The kitchen was the worst and the only thing we couldn’t afford to replace.

Anyway before corona virus came along they’d brought in a new thing where you had to be co2 tested at every appointment by blowing in a tube. I’d always got 0 or 1 (anything under 5 is ok). At one appointment i blew a 4.5 and I couldn’t figure out why. Midwife was asking had I been around people smoking? Do I have to walk through smokers by the door at work or anything? I hadn’t and didn’t, couldn’t understand it. Took me a while to realise I’d spent the whole of the previous day scrubbing the smoky kitchen, I’m convinced that was it. Levels back to 0 at next appointment.

Not co2 sorry carbon monoxide

@TitsOutForHarambe

I'm really surprised at the number of people who are saying that OP is being over the top and she can just open the windows etc.

Do people who smoke inside really not understand how badly their houses stink?! I used to smoke but quit 10 years ago. It took me a few months but I gradually started to notice the smell of smoke. For people who don't smoke the smell is absolutely vile and it is very strong. It will seep into every crack and crevice of the entire house and be an absolute nightmare to get out. Don't kid yourselves.

As a non smoker I’ve bought a house previously owned by smokers and it wasn’t a case of opening the windows. It needed properly cleaning and decorating throughout and we would have replaced the kitchen anyway. It didn’t need the floorboards ripping up or the plaster hacking off the walls and ceilings which is what some people are saying.

I think some PPs must have a very weak sense of smell or have adapted to the pong with time and don’t notice it.
I inherited a set of books from my chain smoking aunt and uncle 40 years ago. And they STILL stink of smoke!

@babdoc - you should have removed the hard covers and destroyed them and soaked the remaining pages in a bucket of bleachfor one week. You wouldn't be able to smell the smoke then (or be able to read them)

@Pinkyandthebrainz

Have you actually made a thread about this? Good grief. Maybe they should add a smoker/non-smoker declaration to the legal forms

I actually think it should be there. Not smoker/non smoker but smoking inside or not. I wouldn't buy from smokers if they heavily smoked inside for long time even when I was a smoker myself. I didn't have money to strip it all

@Babdoc

I think some PPs must have a very weak sense of smell or have adapted to the pong with time and don’t notice it. I inherited a set of books from my chain smoking aunt and uncle 40 years ago. And they STILL stink of smoke!

Exactly. Plus, when you live somewhere you become immune to the smell after a while. Its like when you go on holiday for 2 weeks and return to your house and it smells different (not bad- just different). Its because you stop noticing it - they've done psychological studies on this and your nose just gets used to a smell so all the people saying you cant smell smoke after a while- i guarantee your visiting friends can!!

@Magpiefeather that isn't scientifically possible. The CO is produced by incomplete burning of the cigarette and it is a gas. It would have dissipated quickly from the house. If you've ever had a gas ring go out for a few moments so you can smell gas, it only takes a few minutes with the window open for it to dissipate. You couldn't have released CO by scrubbing tar off your kitchen cupboards.

I'm glad your CO levels went back to normal but if they hadn't I would have suggested urgently checking the appliances in your home.

We once bought a car from a smoker. My God. Even 2 years later it still has a faint smell. For the first 6 months it was terrible. We wrongly thought that opening windows and giving it a good clean would work.

I found hanging one of those things from the mirror helped in the car. They are quite big and when they swing about they can impinge on your vision. But that's a skunk for you.

It got rid of the smokey smell though.

Wouldn’t bother me at all, and I’m vehemently anti smoking. I would just need to factor in the need to replace all the carpets and decorate from top to bottlm.

@Lockheart

You can buy whatever house you like as long as you can afford it, why would you be unreasonable?

🙄

I discounted a house I viewed once because the vendors were cooking dinner when I viewed and the house stank and I was worried they might cook like that every night and the house permanently smell.

So I’d say discounting a smokers house is fine.