Smokers' House

[JudyTeeny]

My nephew and his wife are hoping to buy their first property. The one they like best is a house in a pleasant, safe area near good schools, so higher prices than some surrounding areas. The problem is that the house is currently owned/occupied by smokers and the house stinks of smoke. The ceilings downstairs are yellow and even the white, fairly new kitchen cupboard doors have a yellow tinge. As soon as you walk inside the smell hits you. They are going to make an offer that reflects the condition but are worried whether they will be able to get the house clean of the nicotine and get rid of the smell. Does anyone have similar experience and how difficult was it to get the house clean?

I wouldn’t unless there are professional companies and can replace all carpets and strip wallpaper

Would they consider taking up smoking? That way they wouldn't notice the smell? Cigarettes are expensive so make sure their offer reflects this.

Failing that they could get a dog or cat to cover the smell?

@AllTheToddlers They're worried about carpets and especially the kitchen cupboards and having to have the ceilings skimmed. It would be beyond them financially. I'll suggest they see if they can find a professional cleaning company and how much it would cost
Thanks.

A family friend did this and they ended up having to have the plasterboard ripped off the walls , skirting boards/door frames replaced, even the loft insulation. And there's still the faintest whiff when you walk in many years on.

They said they'd never have touched it had they known how tough it would be to remove the odour.

If they got a quote they could offer less the cost of refurbishment and cost of time/inconvenience. See if that works.

I bought a house withe sever damp years ago, got a quote for all works required to fix it, and then re-decorate due to damage, they accepted the lower offer.

I’ve been in my flat over 25 years it was previously occupied by an elderly lady who smoked, mostly in the kitchen as the ceiling was brown ! Stainblock was my friend.

I don’t think it retained the smell after I decorated, nobody’s ever mentioned it.

If I were them and it’s the property they want I would say go for it. Unforeseen costs come up anyway in renovations.

Nicotine GROWS.

I wouldn’t touch that house with a barge pole.

As well as the stench, people who don’t mind if the ceilings are stained yellow probably haven’t given much thought to the state of the roof, wires or plumbing.

It would be an absolute money pit.

I am surprised at everyone saying no. But Light side makes a good point about general care and maintenance. If they really like every other aspect of the house then they can reduce their offer to take account of expected cleaning costs. Carpets would need to be removed (and curtains if included) the whole house aired with doors and windows open for days. Walls and ceilings given a good scrub. I would not repaint straight away ...give the walls time to air out. Good luck

We did- although the flooring was laminate mostly, we repainted ceilings and stripped wallpaper off - curtains disintegrated when I took them down. It was a long time ago but I don’t remember smell lingering for too long - the cat piss in the downstairs loo took ages though

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I suppose it will come down to whether or not the vendors are willing to drop the price by enough.
@B0D thanks for the recommendation.

When the smokers leave the smell will linger and grow. It will be in the whole fabric of the house, including wiring, cupboards and plaster. To get rid of the smell they will have to gut the whole house. If the smokers have lived there for a long time it will be in the woodwork, although there might be some products to help with the contamination (that is now what it is). Flooring, carpets and anything soft will definitely have to be got rid of.

Make sure they factor in the need to possibly replaster as sometimes the smell goes really deep and decorating isn't enough.

We did and I don’t even think they were heavy smokers but but the smell of smoke lasted until we replaced the carpets. There were also burn marks in the carpets themselves! In fact, it might have even been the previous owners as they hadn’t been there long. So a good few years of stinkiness!

So factor this in.

Nicotine GROWS.

What do you mean?

You think that someone who smokes so doesn't see the point in painting their ceiling white every year would fail to have their roof repaired or replaced if it fell apart? Would willingly happily live in home that was falling apart? Or the electrics don't work? Water pouring through?

Smoking doesn't make you stupid, lazy, incapable of caring for your home, mentally unwell, negligent or have a high tolerance for living in outdated, wet and dangerous housing conditions.

It just means you happen to smoke.

My mum's flat was like this, We used Murphy's sugar soap for the walls. It is bloody hard work, and gross to see all the liquid nicotine run down the walls, but it can be done. We replaced the carpet and repainted as well. It's now a very pleasant place to be that doesn't smell of smoke. I'm not sure I could have managed doing what we did to a whole house, though.

I would be wary. If it has been home to heavy smokers for a long time it's likely the smell has absorbed into the plaster and sometimes even the wood.

It would require all soft furnishings (carpets, underlay, curtains, insulation ect) to be ripped out and replaced at minimum so they will need to offer based on this. They may need to also rip the kitchen out if the smoke has embedded in this.

There are specialist companies that will clean homes that belong to heavy smokers but they can be very expensive and not always guaranteed to work depending on condition. I have a relative who had her mother's house cleaned after she died, her mother was an 80 a day, inside smoker for decades - everything was yellow/ brown stained. The cleaning company came out and gave a price and also said to get a quote for knocking all the plaster off the walls and reskim as it might be cheaper than a clean as it could take multiple cleans and even then it could end up with having to replace wood and plaster in the end. They pretty much had to replace everything to remove the smell.

We had to rip out the entire house. Cupboards, anything built in, doors, carpets, everything needed changing. We were scrubbing the floorboards and walls.

I wouldn’t go for it, the smell will have penetrated the walls, woodwork, carpets etc. You can get zissner paint that blocks the smell, and is very effective from my experience, but it’s the time/money to do this all this, especially if entire house needs doing. There will be other houses - why take the risk with this one.

I bought a car off a smoker.

Had it valeted, but the smell didn't go.

Perhaps 3 years into my ownership I stopped noticing it, so it went eventually.

No not worth the hassle or anxiety. You would practically have to build a new house from the inside out. And even then there’s the chance it still slightly smells

Well surely you would be doing that anyway if you just bought a new house

I wouldn’t buy it unless they can afford a complete refurb. Some people are quite nose blind to smells but if you’re at all sensitive (I get migraines from strong smells) then it’s really unpleasant.

My sister bought a bungalow from an older lady smoker and everything had to be ripped out, including wardrobes, kitchen units, all carpets etc. as just re/decorating walls and wood paintwork did nothing to hide the stink.

I’m not saying smoking makes you stupid or lazy. However, if they neglect themselves they probably neglect their surroundings.

I’ve been there myself, so no criticism. I didn’t smoke but I’ve had periods where I’ve completely neglected myself due to MH and my surroundings also suffered.

During those times I wouldn’t have thought about repairs, etc.

If someone has MH issues then they can definitely neglect themselves and their homes. I've been there too.

But inaling combusted tobacco because lt was normalized for decades and is highly addictive doesn't have anything to do with mental illness.