This house was finished quite a while ago, and I meant to post a topic on this, but I completely forgot until I started going through some old photo's on the SD card.

Background of the House: 14 years old, original owner, heavy cigar smoker/alcoholic that would literally put cigar butts out on the carpet and left THOUSANDS of bottles (empty and half full) everywhere spilling over. I felt overwhelmed at first, but quickly changed my tune once we figured out what worked.

We were originally going to make this house a rental, but decided against that about 30 days in to the rehab. It was a bit further away than I had wanted, and the neighborhood was a bit rougher than I had originally hoped. Either way, we turned it in to a flip, and I'm happy we did.

Getting Rid of Cigar/Cigarette/Tobacco Smoke:
1) Ozone Generator: You absolutely NEED an Ozone Generator. Don't fall for the $1000+ gimmicks. We got ours on ebay, from a place that makes them. We paid $229. Good for up to 3500 sq feet or so. Warning: Ozone can be hazardous to your or your pets health. Please make sure to read warnings & allow enough time for ozone to dissipate before getting back in house.

2) B-I-N Shellac-Based Primer (Zinnser Brand) This will seal absolutely everything. As many know, tar from tobacco smoke tends to peak through after several weeks/months and your white's start to yellow. Shellac Paint absolutely seals everything up. 16 months AFTER sealing with BIN, there was still no yellowing.

3) Time: This is in regards using the Ozone Generator. To fully eliminate, we used it on/off for about a month. We moved it room to room, and eventually set it up to the HVAC intake and had it pumped through the entire house. Along with the Shellac-Based Primer & new flooring -- Smoke smell & stain's were no more.

Some Before & Afters are below. Being our first LARGE rehab, we decided to keep things relatively simple. Rehabs from here on out should be quite a bit prettier & unique :)

These first few will show what sort of damage yellow/brown cigarette smoke/tar can really do. The pictures after are simply before and afters!

Enjoy & special thanks to J Scott! Had a few q's along the way that he was more than happy to help with!

And Before & Afters :)