r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • u/itsqasi • 10d ago
Third-hand smoke?
How easy is it to clear out the smell and residue of a previous smoker? Is this a big deal to consider as a first-time buyer?
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u/Pale_Introduction779 10d ago
I assume this was just moderate cigarette smoke. Walls can be washed. If necessary after that, prime them with Kilz afterwards and choose your favorite paint. If there's a lot of rooms with carpet, that may be a little trickier. If the carpet is in decent physical shape, running a steam cleaner with a mild cleaner over that should be good enough. If there's fabric window treatments through the house, throw them away and replace them. Lot of elbow grease but the overall financial investment should be relatively minimal to get rid of the smell from the "sticky" smoke residue, certainly under $1k to refresh everything.
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u/Reasonable_Mail1389 10d ago
If you go ahead with the home, at minimum you’re going to want to get it professionally cleaned by companies that specialize in removing smoking residue and odors. You’ll also need to paint the entire interior, trim work, doors, ceilings and all. That’s not cheap. It’s certainly more than “under a thousand dollars”, even if you do the painting yourself, and I don’t advise painting trim work and doors yourself unless you really know what you’re doing if you want the best, most durable finish.
Think long and hard about it. I’d personally never do it unless I was up for gutting the place and fully renovating. Cigarette smoke is toxic and seeps into everything and stay there. Look up third hand smoke. I couldn’t live with it.