On 12 Jul 2006 12:56:34 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "Kyle"
quickly quoth:

My wife and I recently fixed up a house to rent that was previously
owned by a heavy smoker. The entire house _reeked_ of old tobacco when
we bought it. We removed all the wall-to-wall carpet, we screbbed all
walls and ceilings with bio-degradable TSP substitute, primed (with
Kilz) and painted (two coats) all walls, ceiling and trim. The oak
hardwood floors were thoroughly scrubbed. We also had professionals
come in a clean the HVAC ducts, replaced the standard air filter and
are now cleaning the broken electrostatic air cleaner in the HVAC.

Repair the air cleaner NOW! It'll really help if there are odors in
the house.

Where in the house do they smell smoke? Any particular rooms/areas?


However, our new tenants say there's still a stink of tobacco smoke,
and they're concerned enough for their 1-1/2 year old son's asthma that
they're saying they'll have to move out if we can't get rid of the
smell.

Let them move out and continue your smoke abatement without them if
necessary. If they're opaque enough to confuse odor with asthma,
they're not your ideal tenants by any means. When (not if) the kid has
an asthma attack, one of their litigous friends will talk them into a
lawsuit against you, and you'll pay even when you show that you have
done everything right. Nobody needs that.


We can't go back and re-prime the walls and repaint with something like
B-I-N (which I discovered doing some research in the newsgroup). What
other _reliable_ options do I have for abating the old smokey stench
the tenants say is in the house?

Do you smoke? If so, you're out of luck. You'll never smell anything.
If not, does the house smell like smoke? If not, tell them you've
tried everything AND LET THEM MOVE OUT!

When I quit smoking 19 years ago, I got new carpeting and padding,
washed the walls, ceilings, drapes, and inside and outside of the
cupboards and closets. After a few weeks, the smell was gone, and I
have a -picky- nose. I can't stand to go inside a home which has had
smoke damage from a fire even after supposed renovation. Cigarette and
cigar smoke is much less piquant, luckily.

This new house I bought 4 years ago had a heavy smoker in it before
me. It was horrible to walk into. I had a cleaning service come in and
do the walls. They forgot to do the little office off the garage and
it still reeks, but I seldom go in there. Good primer and paint cover
what small amount of odor it has after cleaning.

TIP: Don't forget the closets and small niches, inside the cupboards,
attics, basements, etc. Everything exposed to smoke will smell forever
unless washed and painted. Shellac helps exposed wood if you don't
want paint on it.

One last thing: if there are any openings or crevices into the areas
behind the walls, smoke will have found its way there. Caulk every
tiny opening into the house well. Sash windows hide some of these
cavities.

G'luck!


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