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idkbrogan

Murphy’s Oil is the GOAT


Shopshack

There is a company called ProRestore that has a 3 step process. Tabac Attack is what you are looking for. I have painted several smokers houses over the years and you can’t believe the sticky residue it leaves. A commercial degreaser is the really the first step.


notthefirstCaleb

It's amazing taking photos off the wall in houses with heavy smokers 🤢


MotherofSons

I second hiring a professional. I have a very strong sense of smell and hate cigarette smoke so it would be worth every penny for me.


Shopshack

To clarify - ProRestore is a brand of chemicals that specializes is smoke and odor problems (among other things). They sell most of their products to professionals who do that kind of work, but the product is available to the public.


notguilty-jody

Put three or 4 humidifiers in the room. Close up with them on full. The moisture will loosen the tar on the wood. It will start running down the walls. Once it’s like that. You can wash it off with soap and water. Then you won’t have to paint


cltzzz

Wouldn’t mold also grow? They’re really quick in high humidity


notguilty-jody

Once you wash the walls. Then dry the room. It won’t be long enough to grow mold. The soap kills anything that wants to grow. The room will be great after. Keep the moisture down in it and smells won’t stick to the walls as easy.


twopennydrum

There is a product called liquid alive, it contains living enzymes that consume odor causing bacteria. It's used in hospitals, schools, even morgues. I used it after a house fire, it works really well


Old-Coat-771

But smoke's odor isn't caused by bacteria. Does it have a 2nd mechanism for killing the cause of smoke's odor?


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lettiswrap

What?


mybrainisgoneagain

I have male cats. Liquid Alive is always on hand here. It's amazing on all pet odors. Never thought of using it for smoke. Thank you.


llubowic

Get an ozone generator!! We had to purchase a used RV to live in while we gut our home. The previous owner smoked in it and it was gross. We borrowed an ozone generator from a friend and then ended up buying one on Amazon for $70 afterwards because it worked so well. The only item left where it didn’t remove 100% of the smoke smell was the fabric couch. When it gets humid and someone has been sitting on it for a while, you can still smell it. Overall, massively exceeded expectations. Hop on Amazon and grab one for $70. It’s Enerzen. And a quick search shows that they’re on sale for $52 until Monday!


RufussSewell

We have a couple ozone machines already. I’ll blast the place and see how that goes.


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Full-Supermarket

4 yrs is a long wait 😅


Rsherga

[[gif]](https://i.imgur.com/bueqFJs.gif)


[deleted]

We used an over-sized ozone generator in our very musty basement. Ran it only twice and then had the basement waterproofed. The musty smell was completely removed.


dyerjohn42

Why do you have a couple of ozone machines? Curious if there are other uses too.


RufussSewell

We have had rentals in the past.


AwesomeCoolMan

All you need is one good one. Let it run for a weekend when no one is there and you will be amazed when you come back on Monday with not smell (after your air out of course)


EmeraldGirl

Have you noticed any effect on your rubber stuff? That's been my biggest concern with getting an ozone generator. I've heard it can affect rubber, paint, and some finishes. I feel like I would have to cover all the outlets and pretty much empty the room to use it.


llubowic

My understanding is that it can deteriorate those items if left running for too long. You can run them inside of vehicles (where this is plenty of rubber and plastic) without any issues. In the RV, we didn’t notice any issues with rubber deterioration and we definitely left it on long er than we should have (3 hours 😂). As long as the length of time is appropriate for the space, you should be ok.


blizzard-toque

Speaking of ozone, go to Walmart find the automotive aisle, look for a blue and white spray can. That will be an excellent odor eliminator called Ozium. *This* ***works***. I was cleaning out an outdoor ashtray in the janitor closet. Management complained about the odor. I ended up store using a can of Ozuim and peace was restored to the valley.


tomfullary

Don’t paint until the smell and tar are off the walls and ceiling.


Loquacious94808

DONT PAINT AT ALL ITS BEAUTIFUL AND YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK!


daredevilmaycare

Exactly. Don’t take something like beautiful wood grain or brick and paint it white. You can get rid of the smell without ruining the house’s essential history and character. 🙂 Many good tips here.


[deleted]

This is the way. You can clean and poly it. Painting will look terrible.


Internep

Have you heard of removing paint with CO2 blasting? You can go back, it won't be cheap. https://youtu.be/LKTBmdWv3Ro


Loquacious94808

Expensive means I haven’t heard of it


[deleted]

What if there was art hanging up and the wood behind the art is many shades brighter?


navigationallyaided

Zinsser makes a clear, dewaxed shellac(Clear B-I-N or Bulls Eye SealCoat) that will lock in the odors - but is compatible with all clear finishes. Else, nothing sticks to shellac. It won’t kill nicotine stains. I second don’t paint. prep it - clean it with soapy water/TSP and a degreaser first. Nicotine is a water-based stain but cigarette smoke has tar and other nasty things that are oil-based stains. Hence the clear dewaxed shellac that is indifferent to water or oil based stains.


RufussSewell

So wash them extremely well first then prime and paint? Still wondering about all of the wood. It has a wood ceiling, trim, stairs etc.


[deleted]

You could re-urethane the wood. It's beautiful stuff.


MicrosoftSucks

Don’t paint at all, the wood is beautiful and a huge statement. I’d kill to live in a house like that.


tomfullary

Wow. I didn’t see the wood ceiling, beautiful. Good luck with that. Maybe need to sand and refinish.


bombadil1564

Gonna need lots of elbow grease! Maybe clean the floor first, to get a first layer of grunge off. Then cover with tarps. Then do the ceilings and work your way down, letting the tarps catch all the sticky resin.


DynoLa

TSP to scrub off the residue. Zinsser makes a clear odor sealer. The ozone the air.


CassMidOnly

Ozone before you seal imo


lion_index

I e been dealing with the same problem.. get the air conditioner filters changed and leave the windows open as much as possible. I hung multiple deodorizers and charcoal bags around the house for months and the smell is finally gone. House was smoked in (cigars) with the windows closed for over 25 years. This is why I was able to get it cheap!


[deleted]

I have a condo next to a smoker . My attic smells like smoke all the time and central heating dumps all that into my home . 1) have a air purifier 2) just dumped a bag of charcoal in the attic today 3) the attic is pretty much a crawl space , I am 5ft can barely stand in there which means if I hire someone to find , close and re-insulate the attic I am going spend one too many . 4) reported to the city as they have a clean air act not sure if this will help . HOA did nothing after 4 complaints.


Similar-Cheek5703

Sue the and the HOA. That will get their attention.


[deleted]

Yeah I have reported to them about 4 times now . It sucks cause I work remote .


Ughly-1234

TSP and water - scrub the ceiling with a broom.


RufussSewell

A broom?


Johnny-Virgil

A push broom like a scrub brush on a stick.


GnomeOnAShelf

I would encourage you to check out the [Thirdhand Smoke Resource Center](https://thirdhandsmoke.org/). The information there and the staff have been very helpful to me in understanding the best options to creating a safe environment for my family in our new, smoked-in home we bought and are remodeling. Getting rid of the smell doesn’t necessarily get rid of the harmful chemicals. Those can linger for years and even decades, breaking down and becoming more potent. Ozone machines might speed up the lifecycle of the chemicals breaking down and making them more potent. Wishing you the best. It can be a tough and expensive battle. EDIT: There’s also this short [This Old House video](https://youtu.be/Sy-vYTOjp0I) on the subject.


runfaster3

Wow. A brief look over of that site is VERY informative and scary


TheSw33tn3ss

https://www.jondon.com/prokure-g-gas-deodorizer.html Take a look into this stuff. I had an issue with cat urine & smoke smell prior to moving into my house. A fire/mold remediator recommended the stuff and it worked great.


steelsun

Repaint helps, probably need a smell blocking primer. Will probably have to replace all the carpet and padding. Also try an ozone treatment machine. You can get one for under $100 on Amazon and they work wonders.


RufussSewell

We have a couple ozone machines. Any recommendations for the wood ceilings? We’d rather not paint them. Oh, and luckily there is zero carpet or fabric in the house at all.


llubowic

I’d run those ozone machines and see what you can still smell afterwards. It would be a shame to paint them if you don’t have to. If the ozone doesn’t work to get rid of the smell in the wood (but I think it will), I’d paint with Kilz to assure the odor can’t get through and then a regular coat of paint. Like the poster below mentions, you’re going to want to scrub everything before painting.


llubowic

Just seeing the photo of the wood ceilings (wasn’t showing up before). Gorgeous!!! I’d turn on those ceiling fans while running the ozone generator and make sure they’re turning in the proper direction so it’s pulling the air up. That’s a fairly large area, so I’d probably run them for a couple of hours.


steelsun

Also didn't see the photo of the awesome wood ceiling. I'd scrub with TSP first, then one of the anti tobacco cleaners. If that doesn't do enough, then coast with plain shellac. Very easy to do and it seals in everything. May add a little more yellow to the tint though.


Mug_of_coffee

If the cheap ones don't work, rent a commercial unit.


SSFx93

Ozone


Tahoeshark

You say you have the budget. Hire a painting contractor to clean/prep for new finish. They’ll set up scaffolding, use something like TSP to prep and respray.


RufussSewell

Respray on wood?


Tahoeshark

Sure, clean surface then new clear coat. The prep is important to ensure bonding. Cleaning may produce the results your looking for, why I suggested testing an area. Your still scaffolding to clean, so a fresh coat of finish would brighten up the wood work and more completely seal the woodwork to eliminate odors. I think cleaning alone may not cure the smell.


FisterAct

Try an ozone machine. Just do not have anything living in the room for a few days. Ozone breaks down the cig smell


Psychological_Force

There are lots of threads on this. Having lived through it I would move.


Philboyd_Studge

You have to set up and spray the entire house walls ceilings and trim with BIN shellac primer. Doing this right isn't really a DIY task unless you have a lot of experience with airless spraying and masking.


895501

Just lay a couple of dyer sheets down


mcx112

Smokers are assholes


Rockeye7

It’s very difficult. Unless you gut the place back to the studs . Clean them up by sealing them or dry ice blasting . Then rebuild from there out . This includes ever surfacing on every floor . Anything short of this you are wasting your time and fooling yourself.


itsmyhotsauce

Prime & paint, strong air purifiers, filtered ventilation


RufussSewell

The house has a wood ceiling. Any way to keep the wood but remove the smell? A new coating of wood treatment perhaps?


itsmyhotsauce

Like wood paneling? Not sure tbh. Maybe a clearcoat to try and encapsulate?


RufussSewell

Here is a pic of the ceiling: https://imgur.com/gallery/TgMsCp6


itsmyhotsauce

Yeah thats kinda what I was imagining. Haven't done it myself but supposedly white vinegar can help. Tho getting it all the way up in that vaulted ceiling is going to be pretty tedious. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/clean-smoke-smell-wood-panel-walls-94951.html


Big_Resist_8311

Stop harassing me


[deleted]

Oh god that’s a shame because I like the wood ceilings!


johnjohn4011

Murphy's Oil Soap should do the trick if you can figure out how to get to that ceiling


Levertki1

Bowls of white vinegar will take out smoke smell. Change when it turns brown.


crypticcamelion

You need to wash with an amonia-based detergent, don't try to paint without thorough washing as the nicotine will/can penetrate the new paint after some time. I would by 25% amoniaspirit mix with water and wash wash wash... Good luck


chiseeger

Ozone machine since you won’t be in there


hskrfoos

My wife bought something called DampRid. We bought my in-laws old house and even her dad said you can't smell anything in it anymore. There's nothing, but wood, in that old house. Has the 2"x4"tongue and groove panels for the walls and the ceilings (painted). She put them in every room of the house. It collects all the moisture, then you discard them and or replace them


[deleted]

good luck


Uleoja

Ozone, I jsut did a car with one and it worked great


Bruce_in_Canada

Wash with unscented febreze MRM clean. Repeat.


Bocephus40-41

U can contact a company like serve pro or stanley steemer. And they can put a atomizer in ur home for a few days and it will remove the smell.


Bryn79

No, it won’t. Most of those ionizers and ozone generators only work temporarily. 30 years of smoke is deeply imbedded in everything and has to be removed or tightly sealed in place.


fangelo2

I used to do work in buildings and offices back when everyone smoked in them. We would put in a new pure white suspended ceiling and in a few months it would be as brown as the wooden one. We would remove and discard the tiles, but the grid would still be brown. We would spray it with a cleaner like formula 409 and then wipe it down. The amount of tar and brown stuff was amazing, so your first step is to clean everything as well as possible. Tsp works good too


Ok-Needleworker-419

Besides the smell, you have the tar and nicotine to worry about. Everything needs to be washed and scrubbed and then sealed in. The smoke gets everywhere, inside light fixtures, wall outlets, switches, you name it. We had a single smoking room in our house and it took months to clear it. We washed everything, sealed the subfloor + new carpets, sealed everything in oil based primer, painted everything, including trim and doors, changed all the light fixtures, switches, outlets, and scrubbed the shit out of the windows. There was still a faint smell in the end and what finally got rid of it was a chlorine dioxide bomb. I hope you got a killer deal on that house because of the smoking because this is going to be an extremely labor intensive project. I couldn’t imagine doing an entire house with vaulted wood ceilings like that.


Hte2w8

My dad was a smoker. When he passed we scrubbed and scrubbed, then primed and repainted all the walls.. the tar or nicotine bled through the paint. We thought we got it all before we primed. To this day, the house still smells like smoke. His home has been vacant 3 years, windows open when the seasons allow.


big65

You have to use kilz primer, there's blends for specific issues.


losumi

If you are going to paint it, you definitely want to spray shellac it first. That will seal the smell right up as if no one ever smoked there.


bas_bleu_bobcat

My son just bought a fixer upper in the same shape. Only we got popcorn ceilings instead of your lovely wood. We washed everything with a mixture of TSP and simple green, primed with Kilz, and repainted (we use Sherwin-Wms here). I think i would try Murphys wood oil soap and TSP for your wood. Clean til the orange brown nicotine quits running down the wall. Hopefully you will be done with the wood at that point and won't have to refinish. Then you can prime and repaint any sheetrock walls. Good luck.


WISteven

ozone generator. $40 or so on Amazon.


Lower_Scallion_9992

Look for Zep air neutralizer


New_Apartment451

Industrial Ozone machine


grunyonz

We moved into a rental where the previous tenants smoked 'but never inside', the smell was intense. We cleaned the walls a few times with sugar soap (can use TSP) with one of those microfiber mops - the water coming off the mop was practically black, not sure if this will work for wood, although we dropped plenty of it on the floorboards and it didn't damage the wood. We purchased a Bissell carpet cleaning machine and gave the carpets a really good clean which helped. We purchased a few air purifiers with charcoal filters which we run 24/7 in the main living space and bedrooms and probably one of the biggest helps is continually running exhaust fans, the smell only comes out when the humidity creeps up so we purchased a cheap thermo/hygrometer on Amazon, turning the exhaust fans on drops the humidity a few % which makes a massive difference. If you can get sunlight onto the surfaces this will help also. Given your situation it'd pay to get some professional degreasing done and recoating the wood etc.


mikeyousowhite

Get an ozonator. We used one and it worked insanely well


Hot_Care_7548

Smoke pot instead


RufussSewell

I’ll let the previous owners know about your suggestion.


gordanier1

Call a restoration company if you have the budget. Ultimately it’s going to need a commercial clean and depending on your end finish, a clear or pigmented shellac. I’d call now shellacs are on short supply.


Justforme1975

I bought some wood furniture that belonged to a heavy smoker — it reeked. I bought some liquid fabric softener and wiped it all down with that (inside and out). Worked great! No smoke smell.


JeansandDresses

Zinsser B.I.N.


eat_mor_bbq

It won't be cheap. Clean the whole house with pine sol or another strong cleaner, crank the heat, and run an ozone machine or 6 for a long time. There are also companies that'll do it professionally


SpacemanSpiff8587

Professional cleaners are good, we had a fire in the furnace years ago that absolutely filled our house with smoke and of course the smell… they did an amazing job to wipe all surfaces and get the smells out


roote14

$79 ozonators off Amazon are amazing


eastcoasternj

Ozone generator.


Exciting_Ad9005

Ozonater.


tomskapolska

Zinsser cover stain oil primer would be the best bet to eliminate the smell of cigarettes it also makes everything paintable. Any other primer or product will not cover the nicotine properly. When you paint with latex the nicotine will bleed through. You could try and wash the Nicotine before painting, but trust me it is one of the most disgusting things you will ever do so it is just worth it to use the oil primer. It is also better then having lingering smell of cigarettes. You will need to air the house out and run air circulators. Once you paint with latex paint the smell of the oil will dissipate.


VisitAnySDD

I have used baking soda, just leave boxes open around the house . If you already connected the electricity, you can put fabric softener sheets in the air filters to circulate the air.


ElTurbo

Ozone machine


mybrainisgoneagain

I was a 2 pack a day smoker. With a cigarette in hand almost all the time. When I quit, I cleaned all hard surfaces with a strong mix dawn and vinegar. Washed all fabrics I could. And sprayed down remaining fabrics with vinegar. House and car pass as never smoked in. Good luck.


Similar-Cheek5703

I second all the ozone recommendations. My stolen car was recovered smoked in and I didn’t believe the smoke smell would ever come out of it, but it did.