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?

We viewed a couple of heavy-smoker houses when we were looking, and the one consistent thing everyone told us turned out to be true:: the smell lives in the soft and porous stuff, not the hard surfaces. Carpets, curtains, blinds and any fabric wallpaper go straight in the bin, no negotiation. After that the fix is boring but works - sugar soap every wall and ceiling (twice), then a stain-blocking primer like Zinsser BIN before any paint goes on, otherwise the yellow bleeds back through within a year. The kitchen is easier than it looks - melamine and gloss doors degrease well, and replacement doors for a standard carcass are cheaper than people assume, far less than skimming ceilings. The two things I would not skip are the loft insulation (it holds smoke for years) and getting a proper cleaning companys nicotine-remediation quote before they offer - it is usually a few hundred pounds, and having the number in writing turns "it smells" into something they can actually negotiate with. Untill they have that quote, any offer is a guess. The good news is smoke is one of the few problems that money genuinely fixes, unlike damp or subsidence, so a yellow ceiling at the right price can be a bargain.

My relative's mum's car was the same. They attended many hospital appointments in their later life and would sit and smoke in the car, especially when it was cold weather. Same with shopping trips, they would sit and smoke in the car to "warm up" between shops. When she died, the car was just over 3 years old (relative had got it brand new) but absolutely stank.

Relative ended up having 3 deep clean valets (where they use those professional cleaning wet hoover things that suck all the water out) and 3 smoke bomb things to remove the smell and even now, if the car is shut up for more than a few days there is still a faint trace of smoke.

My advice would be to rip up all flooring especially carpets and sugar soap the walls - when I brought a rental property about 20 years ago - the previous occupants were heavy smokers and as soon as we ripped out carpets, stripped walls, the smell started to diminish.

Keep windows open when you can too, it helps!

My parents bought a house like this. All the wall paper had to be replaced, ditto carpets. Complete sugar soap and repaint of the ceilings. Wash down of everything else hard like the kitchen cabinets.
The house was absolutely lovely once they had done all that.

Don’t buy it. It will never go.

Thanks everyone for your replies and very useful tips. I will pass them on to my nephew and his partner.

They could make an offer with a reduced amount so they can afford to replace all carpets, hire an extensive deep clean team and clean then repaint all the walls

Yes that's what they plan to do, but they want to have an idea of just how far they need to go to clear the smell.

Nope, I’d never buy a smokers house. Took years to sell my grandparents and ended up taking 75k off to shift.

After a deep clean, repainting and replacement of carpets it will be fine.

Im sorry to say that if they’re very heavy smokers that smell will never clear. The smell of stale cigarette smell is horrible and permeates every fibre of the house. I speak from experience.

Yes, I’m interested as well

Ours took a bit more than this.

We did but it was a full refurb anyway. We ripped all the downstairs carpets and took every curtain down straight away. We did have a cleaning company in but they weren't a specialist so it was pointless. Every surface was washed multiple times. The loft insulation all came out but we ended up with a loft conversion anyway so that was fine.

We have 2 rooms to do - both have been cleaned but not repainted yet. If we are away for a week without the windows opened you get a little whiff when you first open the door but it's definitely nearly gone.

Really? Once you've done these basics, windows open, fresh laundry on the go, new furniture, curtains etc. Can't smell any remnants of previous smoking at all.

They’d need enough off to replace all flooring and redo all walls and ceilings. Also consider any built in wardrobes.

I think I once read a smokers house would be worth about 10k less than an identical clean one.

the smell lives in the soft and porous stuff, not the hard surfaces.

Correct. It's normal to replace carpets & curtains anyway. Cigarette smoke is oily, so products like sugar soap and Flash remove it efficiently. You have to do this before decorating anyway.

I had this with the last flat I bought. I stripped out carpets, wallpaper, lampshades, radiators etc. Washed walls and floors with sugar soap several times. New electrics. New central heating system. Walls and ceiling skimmed. Then redecorated. It's doable but price needs to reflect the work needed at a move in stage.

Seriously? Neither DH & I nor DS& GF thirty years later could afford to remove all the carpets immediately. They were removed in stages as we could afford to replace them.

Pencils seems to be making stuff up.

Saying that people who smoke ‘neglect themselves’, so they will neglect their house; and not update the electrics, or plumbing.

And comparing smoking to poor mental health.

I hear a lot of twaddle on here, but man alive.

Pencils seems to be making stuff up.

Saying that people who smoke ‘neglect themselves’, so they will neglect their house; and not update the electrics, or plumbing.

And comparing smoking to poor mental health.

I hear a lot of twaddle on here, but man alive.

This

I would avoid tbh

Agree. It doesn’t go and they’ll always be smelling it. It gets into everything.

It wasn’t Pencils, it was @TheLightSideOfTheMoon.

But I’d have thought that the sellers’ estate agent would have pointed out how stinky & discoloured their house was even if they couldn’t smell it themselves. Shouldn’t it already be reflected in the price?

Apologies, @PencilsInSpace