Can you ever really get the smell of smoke out of a house?

[namechangedbutneedadvice]

Have just been to see a 3 bed 1930's terrace. It needs a lot of work but I've fallen in love with it only thing, it stinks of smoke. A lady lived there for 50 years so the smell is well ingrained and I can smell it on my clothes. I'm well up for some renovation but can you get rid of a smoke smell properly? If so how?

I think you’d have to change the carpets, paint the walls and wash everything down to get rid of it totally. Windows open too.

Oh and anything left behind like curtains or rugs - bin them

My grandparents have just done this in a late relatives house and it was a big job. The woman smoked like a chimney and it was ingrained. They took everything out, and had the walls plastered and painted with special stuff (sorry I can’t be more helpful with actual names!) that are designed to tackle smoke damage. The place was a state when they started, really grim, but you’d never know it now. However, my grandad is in the trade and was able to do an awful lot himself which cuts down costs. Everything had to be replaced, the kitchen and bathroom and all the carpets and doors etc. If the smoke damage is reflected in the price, and you’re prepared to put the work in, you could make it a lovely home. But don’t underestimate just how much effort it will take.

Sugar soap wash down all walls, ceilings & woodwork (wear gloves, sugar soap sounds nice but it’s nasty stuff).

Strip out and bin all soft furnishings and wallpaper - curtains, carpets etc.

Stain blocking paint to stop the yellow nicotine and tar stains from coming through.

If you’ve still got a residual smell that you can’t clear because it’s so impregnated, you may need to replaster.

Sympathies, it’s revolting.

We hired a machine that is used for smoke damage to get the smell out of our house. It worked but there are still some areas I occasionally still smell smoke - eg the kitchen because we haven't replaced it.

You need to strip everything out. Light fittings, units, the lot.

According to Kirsty Allsop on an episode of Location, Location, you have to strip right back to the brickwork throughout, as the smoke absorbs into the plaster on all the internal walls.
It’s not just the revolting smell - it’s a cocktail of 400 carcinogenic and toxic chemicals being continually released into your rooms for you and your children to breathe in.
If you really love the house, OP, you’ll have to treat it as a major environmental contamination hazard and be prepared to throw a lot of money at fixing it.

Definitely need to strip out and replaster.

Thanks everyone. The carpets have already been removed but there's a lot of wallpaper which I could strip off. I'd need to put in a new kitchen and bathroom. There's a lot of artex ceilings... would I need to get rid of those?

My mum was a forty a day smoker for thirty years in her house. She quit 5 years ago (so proud of her)! She's redecorated and replaced soft furnishings in main rooms and you honestly couldn't tell. She's never used stain block but has re wall papered.

Think about cupboards as well, like under stairs cupboards. Radiators etc. All need replacing.

Artex depending when done can contain asbestos, so that's another headache you need to think about.

I am agog here. Strip the walls back to the brick? Replace the radiators? Has anybody really had to do all this to get rid of a smell of cigarettes? I would have thought getting rid of carpets and wallpaper and then washing thoroughly would tackle most of it, and then redecorate.
I suppose the exception might be if the walls are actually running with nicotine stains, which I have seen. But these type of houses were in need of major refurbs anyway, so would probably be replastered in the course of works.

longearedbat I know it sounds far fetched, but I still get wafts of smoke smell when the heating it on or when the kitchen is steamy. Maybe I'm hypersensitive to it but it's definitely there. 8 years after moving in and having repainted, new carpets and new bathroom.

I did this. Previous 2 owners smoke and very little had been done to the place since the 1930s. Took about 6 months to get rid of the smell. Full renovation, artex ceilings skimmed over, new radiators, new bathroom, new kitchen, wallpapers removed, etc. The first 2 months my clothes would pick up the smell of cigarette while drying or just being inside, so I would go to work smelling of cigarette (Febreze helped a bit). Even the floorboards smelled (I had engineered wood fitted on top since). Everything was sticky with nicotine. It was a really big job but the smell is gone (mind you, there isn't much of the original place apart from a few windows and some joists).
Cif cream is great to get rid of the sticky nicotine, especially on plastic/upvc surfaces.
Good luck