Lately I’ve been house hunting with my sister, as she is in the market for a condo or townhouse. Almost every buyer has at least one if not many things that are hard no’s. Like many buyers, in my sister’s case, a house that smells like smoke is a deal killer.
We recently previewed a condo that reeked badly from years of absorbing nicotine in the walls, floors and every surface. I don’t think we were in there more than 60 seconds. I looked at another place this week that smelled of smoke, and when I told my sister, understandably she crossed that one off her list without bothering to look.
I’ve listed and sold houses with smoking issues before. Several I’ve sold have had nicotine stains on the ceiling. One in particular had expansive dark brown staining on the ceiling directly above where the previous owner used to sew and smoke. I sold that house to a contractor who fixed and flipped it, getting rid of all traces of smoke.
Eradicating smoke smells is not easy. Although smoke rises, and of the first things that needs to go is the carpets (and padding) because they are notorious for absorbing odors. Plus, carpets are often stained anyway and fresh carpets make a house show better. Then the walls and ceilings have to be cleaned. After cleaning, the walls need to be painted with a layer of shellac to hopefully encapsulate any remaining odor. Then two more coats of paint will hopefully do the trick. However, if it is bad enough sheet rock needs to be replaced. I once spoke with a homeowner who bought a house that smelled like smoke and he had to give the walls 7 coats of paint!
Smoke smells go everywhere in a house. I’ve had to clean out a ducting system because of the smoke. Curtains are rarely salvageable. Wooden kitchen cabinets can also absorb the odor. Basically, when you buy a house that smells like smoke, sometimes the only way to get rid of the smell is by ripping it down to the studs.
Smoking is definitely one of the worst things you can do to a house. Smoke doesn’t just stop at killing deals either, as we all know it kills people too.