Would you buy a smelly house?

[silkcut100]

One that smelt of cigarette smoke?

Nope

No... because I can imagine, knowing my luck, I'd have to knock back to bare brick to get rid of the smell. Plus I hate painting ceilings

I have nothing against smokers it would just smell really strong to me as I'm not around smoke often at all.

Definitely not, unless I was already planning to strip it back to brick... (We brought a damp house, with that scale of renovation in mind).
If I only wanted to do a bit of painting, not a chance.

I did by accident.

They had obviously stopped smoking indoors whilst it was on the market as there wasn’t a hint when we viewed it.

On moving day I was nearly crying when I got in - the smell was hideous.

Took a couple of weeks but the smell went as I went though and cleaned everywhere properly.

No

No as it permeates everything.

I didn’t have to knock back to brick - I neutradol-ed the carpets. Washed the walls down etc and it was fine after a while.

Only if you are going to gut it. We took ceilings down, got rid of plaster etc and fitted kitchen etc and the smell went.

Otherwise it will not go.

We did! It was the biggest house we could afford in the area we wanted. It was revolting! The entire house reeked and the floors were sticky like a seedy nightclub. We bought it knowing it needed everything done but it’s now lovely and was absolutely the right house for us.

It depends.
If you’re planning to rip everything out and redecorate absolutely everywhere and can do that quickly then maybe, but the smell will linger on everything if not and I couldn’t tolerate that myself.

If it was otherwise great and I was happy to replace the carpets yes. The walls would need sugar soaping and we'd need to air it for hours a day though.

Yes we did. The place totally stank of dogs.
Had to remove the plaster and relay the floors to get rid but it was totally worth it in the end.

@Merryoldgoat

I did by accident.

They had obviously stopped smoking indoors whilst it was on the market as there wasn’t a hint when we viewed it.

On moving day I was nearly crying when I got in - the smell was hideous.

Took a couple of weeks but the smell went as I went though and cleaned everywhere properly.

Same.

The smell only properly went when we knocked the plaster off.

We had this many years ago with the hideous vape smell. Was permeated throughout the house. We scrubbed every surface including walls and it wouldn't go. In the end we bought an ozone machine. It was amazing and wiped the smell out after each room was treated.

Only if it was a project that was going to have everything ripped out and replastered

Yes we did. It was a grotty awful mess but it was in a perfect location and we needed to move quickly before school year started. Ripped up carpets, stripped paper, knocked down and rebuilt half the house. Good clean and a good airing. Washing the walls and getting a carpet cleaner helped.

We viewed a house where the owner showed us around.
She told us that the living room carpet was filthy when she moved in, but it had cleaned up really well. It DID look clean, but it really put me off, if the house was disgusting in the past, what else could be lurking?
And I am really not a fussy buyer

No. My friend did and they had to take all the plaster off the walls and replace all the floors by taking them back to the joists. She says she can still smell smoke and urine.

Nope, never again. We bought one once and the smell really never goes away until you gut it. You also have to scrub the ceilings to get rid of the tar coating before you can re-paint.

No.

We did. It wasn’t actually the house but the house next door it was semi attached to, Even though we stripped it back to brick work and replastered, new windows, carpets paint work etc, we can STILL smell it in one room. Where the neighbour clearly smokes and it comes up through the brickwork or something. Horrendous!

We rented one and while we got used to it and thought the smell had gone, even a year later if we had been away for a few days we'd come home and I could smell it.

I think you have to be able to refurb it properly.

Nope. Not a chance. I walked out of one recent house viewing and fed back to the estate agent exactly why I wouldn't consider making an offer. Too many horror stories about having to knock back to bare walls for me to take the risk.

Depends if I was happy with a project or wanted a quick lick of paint and new carpets.

Yes, it fades