Process for removing smoke odor from home

[Nathan May]

Hi all,

I'm doing a flip of a ~1k sqft SFH that had a smoker living in it for ~20 years. I've never dealt with smokers in a property before. Can anyone who has dealt with smoke odor before review the process I'm planning on using to get rid of it?

Here's how I'm thinking about the steps:

1. Remove all carpeting

2. Wash walls with TSP: I would do this myself - can I wash the walls and then wait 2 weeks to paint or does it need to be done right away? Going to have a GC do the rest.

3. Clear vents/ducts: have an HVAC guy come in and clean these ducts

4. Ozone machine / charcoal to suck up all the smell: do the machines work? Is step #4 the appropriate time to use this machine or should I do it before anything else?

5. Seal walls with an oder-sealing primer: any recommendations for brands? I’ve heard Kilz, is there a specific product within Kilz that’s great?

6. Paint walls: Does anything need to change about the paint I would use for a flip that has smoke damage vs. not (oil vs. water vs. other)?

7. Re-do flooring: Hardwood floors in 60% of the house that we will sand, stain and finish and the rest is laminate we will won’t tear up, but will put vinyl with a nice wood pattern over top. Is this generally enough to cover up the smell in flooring?

8. Replace cabinets: Re-doing the bathroom/kitchen so this is a given.

Other questions:

1. Do I need to have someone come in and remove drywall to figure out if we need to tear out the walls due to smoke smell in the insulation?