Scrub walls to remove smoke damage

[Ken Nyczaj]

Hey Everyone,

Just closed on my first flip in Maryland. The seller smoked heavily in the property, house is 1250 sq ft and is a rancher style. I was thinking we needed to remove carpet, scrub walls, and then prime, but my business partner thinks primer will cover up any smoke smell.

Just curious if scrubbing the walls with soap is necessary and recommended.

Thank you

[Account Closed]

TSP -> ozonate -> kilz-> probably a second coat of kilz if brutally bad -> paint it.

It would be a fraction of 1% of homes, and probably have to be a noticeably hot climate, that would require rehanging drywall. Any soft surface like carpets or drapery is gonna need replaced.

The above worked for me on my first rehab and that was a 580 sq ft home where the tenant chain smoked rollies to the point of the walls dripping with yellow/ brown scum when I hit them with the TSP. Furnace filters hadn’t even been used in a decade or more.

Even then, cat piss was worse to deal with and the above + neutralizer on the concrete worked for it.