Help Please! We have a rental property business, and have recently purchased a great house, but is smells really bad! Normally removing old flooring and painting can help, but this house had no flooring when we got it, and the new paint made no difference. You can smell this house before opening the door. The smell is of old musty cigarette smoke, and we've already tried lots of things. Does anyone have suggestions or know of a good company that could take care of this? The house is in the Sherman-Denison area. Thanks so much!
There is a product called Zorbx. They have a web site, https://www.zorbx.com/newsite/odor_remover_zorbx.asp, that will detail the product. We bought a small bottle to eliminate the ashtray smell from an old recliner that someone gave us. Worked well. You can buy it at Lowe's or on line if you need larger amounts.
I feel your pain!! We got a great deal on a house that smelled like cigarette smoke. We changed the air filters, replaced carpet, removed curtains, and even used 100% chlorox on the walls/wall paper before painting. We used pinesol and Old English on the cabinets and that helped a little bit. I think the wood soaks up just as much as the carpet.
We finally had to bring in a fire-restoration company and they used an industrial strength bacterial spray on the house. It is the same stuff they use when there is actually a FIRE in the house. It worked, but after 3 months of messing with it I would have preferred to spend a little more on the house. They do sell a non-industrial strength version of the bacterial spray at home-depot depending on how bad the smoke smell is. They also recommended we change out the air filters every week until the smell was completely gone.
Good luck I know how frustrating it is!
I have had great luck with a product call ODO-Ban. You can buy it at Sam's Club or on their website. My husband smokes and when I have to drive his car, I spray the seats, headliner and carpet w/odoban and the smell is gone. We also used it to help my friend clean her house after her doggies made a horrible mess (poop and pee). This stuff is great.
Good Luck,
D.
Just a thought, have you tried cleaning the ducts?
H.
An AirSource might just do the trick. It's an air cleaner. They are expensive, but probably cheaper than all the things you are trying to do.
http://www.shaklee.net/healinghappens
Then search: Air Source
Try using a mixture of baking soda and vinegar for cleansing. Also orange/apple peels in boiling water emits citrus smells...
Check out www.marthastewart.com might be a solution there.
Brings back bad memories! We owned rental properties and one of the tenants we inherited had a couple that both smoked 3 packs a day! You could smell it outside. We literally replaced almost everything in the house. We had to paint every room and I think we actually had to do KILZ twice and then paint 2 coats of paint. We had to paint walls and ceilings because they were all yellow. We tore out all of the carpet and replaced the kitchen floor because of cigarette burn holes. We removed all of the blinds. We had to clean all of the windows, including any woodwork around the windows, baseboards, stair railing, doors, cabinets, etc. I believe we washed it all and then I used orange glo on the woodwork (it was stained not painted). When we wiped down the windows the towel was pure yellow. It was a disgusting job and hard work. We never allowed smokers in our properties again. We had basements where we lived and we had to kilz and paint the cement walls down there too because of the stench! It was awful. Hope that helps and good luck to you. After all of that was done, including new carpet and flooring it smelled like a brand new home!
Rental property is not for the faint of heart. I have a total of 27 apts that I manage plus 4 houses in my spare time and have many stories. I have found an absolutely wonderful product called X-O, which I believe I bought at Elliot's. It has worked to remove the smell of dead rats in the walls, as well as one horrible apartment where the girl left two large cats virtually unattended for more than a month and they had their way with the floor all that time. Had to apply it a few times but it did work. However you do have to remove the source of the smell; X-O interacts with the smell and changes its molecules. So you should take the advice of all other posters and clean everything meticulously. Then use the X-O numerous times (come back every few days and re-spray). For us, it worked. Also open doors & windows and air out. good luck.
A few things you will need to do .
first have the air vents cleaned properely
then you need to use KILLS primer on the walls and then repaint just painting over the walls will not get rid of the tobacco odor.
Good luck
A. J
You could google ozone machines and see if they can help. You may be able to rent one.
My father in law is a former realtor. He is retired now but sells stuff for Ecoquest. I know he has talked about other realtors and landlords that he has helped with the same cigarette smoke problem. He has air purifiers/cleaners that get rid of the smoke smell in houses and duct work. I am not sure if he just sells them or if he rents them. If you are interested, just shoot me an e-mail and I will give you his name and number.
L.
____@____.com
