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?

[Heath S.]

@Nathan May

Great question.

Nathan all good practices that I have used with a “smoker house” or not. I have had two houses that continued to emit odor after those remediations. I can still smell it just thinking about it. I think if you have really want to remove the odor you should replace drywall and insulation as well? The problem is that on rainy days you will still smell it.

All the best!

Heath