How do you get rid of the smell from a heavy smoker?

Reply to the comment left by “Michael Barnes” at “21/07/2015 – 11:28“:

Ouch. Painting and carpets will be the thick end of 10k for this size house. He was a very elderly gentleman and a model tenant for 7 yes. But looks like the refurb will be almost one years rent.

We let the house to him as a favour to a very good friend. But we’ll go back to our no smokers rule after this.

elderly or not he will have to pay for the consequences

Reply to the comment left by “Alan Loughlin” at “21/07/2015 – 17:09“:

Sadly he has dementia now, a fall and broken hip has forced him into sheltered accommodation. We have been quite worried about him. We’ll use his £1000 deposit towards the cleaning process. His daughter lives in Dubai so it’s a tricky situation. But we’ve made good money out of him for 7 or so yrs and helped out a good friend who was worried about him. So we’ll just have to bite the bullet. We’d probably have spent a similar amount over the years if we’d had new tenants every 6-12 months.

C’est la vie!

bet he will not be able to smoke there. what a disgusting habit it is, I was speaking to a friend in the car business and he said they reduce a part ex by thousands if if was owned by a smoker as the car becomes almost unsaleable, and the smell can never be got rid of.

I also use cut onions but I liberally cover the carpets with bicarbonate of soda (from hardware shops) and leave for as long as possible to absorb the smells. I don’t allow smokers to rent my properties but I did inherit a house that absolutely stunk of smoke. good luck.

Hi,
I run short term lets, this is a problem we face weekly.
Firstly you need to clean, it needs to be really clean, get the carpets professionally cleaned if you have carpets, you also need to wipe down the walls if he has been smoking in there a while. Then you need a ozone machine, ozone gas isn’t good for you but it will get rid of the smell, you’ll have to do a room or floor at a time depending on the room sizes.
Regards
Tim

Vinegar is your friend.

Washing fabrics in hot water and vineger works really well.

Also try leaving windows open for a couple days, wipe every surface ( walls, floor, ceiling ) with vinegar, finally leave windows open another day to get rid of the vineger smell.

Given this is a big house, it will always be costly in terms of time, but try maybe in one of the rooms, makes a massive difference.