Rental Property Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2016 · 132 posts · 91 votes
An investor friend of mine is purchasing a SFR. The tenants had done a lot of smoking to the point of staining the walls. Will replacing carpet & pad, and all new paint take care of it, or are other measures in order? I'd like to hear from anyone who has experienced this.
Property Manager · Henderson, NV · Member since 2018 · 501 posts · 317 votes
5y
@Rich Kniss I just purchased a SFR rental property here in Las Vegas that has the same cigarette smell problem. I ripped out all the floors, baseboards, and window treatments. I hired a remediation company to wash all the walls, ceilings, and basically every surface. I have an HVAC technician cleaning the coils and the ducting. When the house is painted we will use a good primer so no smell seeps out. I am very focused on making sure there is no smell because the worst situation is after renovating, moving in the tenant, I then get a complaint from tenant of cigarette smell.
@Rich Kniss Ozone machine. You can buy one and have it to use again or just rent one. Also helps with pets smells.
Beat me to it! Ozone machine for sure.
Repaint, remove carpets, have HVAC ductwork cleaned out, open the windows for a week if it's fair weather. If that doesn't work, burn the house down and start from scratch. ;)
Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2018 · 403 posts · 474 votes
5y
@Rich Kniss When I have dealt with this, replacing carpet and pad, Kilz and repainting the walls, ceilings, and trim worked. Painting just the walls won’t cut it.
First, don't just think short-term! First, rip out carpeting, pad, all window coverings, and any low-cost flooring. Open bags of barbeque briquettes in each room. A professional ozone generator costs under $200. Close rooms and let it run for at least a day. Do not run it within 1 hour of people in the house! Then, hire cleaners to come in and wash floors, walls, ceilings, fixtures, fan grills, floor grills, and especially inside and outside of all cabinets and shelves with TSP (trisodium phosphate). This, and thorough cleaning of ductwork PLUS cleaning of furnace blowers and filter replacement may be enough.
If not, move to next level. Use Kilz or another blocker, preferably oil-based, on the walls and ceilings, possibly the floor and subfloor; you may also need to do this inside and outside cabinets (personally, I'd take a couple down from the walls to check behind, where nicotine tar can hide). Replace the kitchen and bathroom fans. Nicotine smoke is very corrosive and they fail much quicker. Replace all electrical receptacles.
Good luck! It might be the 'smell of money,' but it might also be LOTS of time, maintenance. When done, bring in someone with smoke allergies and see if they breath okay. Seriously, this can be a really big hassle, so do it right!