When there’s smoke, there’s a big mess to clean
Q: I have some tenants that moved out of my rental house and when I went to visit it, I almost threw up. The entire house smells like cigarette smoke. I didn’t even realize they smoked until after they left and I saw what I call my “faux saloon.” My question is, how do I get that terrible smoke smell out of the house?
A: Smoke smells are tough to get rid of, and they seem to get worse during hot weather. Have you ever walked through a casino or a bar? It seems that the smoke just grabs onto everything — your clothes, your hair – it sticks to virtually everything. You have a lot of work and expense ahead of you, so you may plan on having a nice tax deduction.
Smoke particles permeate walls and anything porous, such as carpet, pads and drapes. I would recommend replacing the carpet and the pad.
If you are not in the financial position to do that, you can hire a carpet cleaner to try to neutralize the odor. The carpet may smell better temporarily, but the smoke smell goes all the way through to the pad. I think trying to get the carpet smelling better is a Band-Aid fix, as your next tenant may complain and send you to the carpet store anyway.
If you have fabric drapes or curtains, get rid of them. They will be yellowish and smell like a casino. You can try washing them over and over, but it is easier to put up some cheap miniblinds.
The bigger issue is the walls. In houses where smokers have lived, you can actually see where the pictures used to hang on the walls. These areas will look clean compared to the surrounding yellow areas.
Mix up some TSP (trisodium phosphate) and wash the walls (ceilings and floors, too). I’m not talking about saturating the walls to the point where the paint curls off, but you can wring out a rag and wash them down or use a brush followed by wiping the wall dry with a clean rag.
Also, you can remove the air conditioning registers and clean out that area. After the cleaning you can seal the area with an odor neutralizer. All major paint manufacturers carry products for this purpose. It can be rolled on, but a paint sprayer will have the job done very quickly.
A cool tool to get rid of odors is an ozone generator. You can rent these from specialty retailers but you need to stay out of the house while it operates and then air out the house for a few hours. It can remove odors from areas that you can’t reach with cleaners and neutralizers.
A word of caution here: According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, ozone can have potential health consequences, so check with a medical professional, if you wish.
Ozone is a molecule composed of three atoms of oxygen. Two atoms of oxygen form the basic molecule of oxygen that we breathe. The third atom can detach itself from the ozone molecule and attach itself to another substance, which alters its chemical makeup. I understand this is great for smoke, but not so great for lungs. The smell it produces is generally associated with a thunderstorm or an electrical spark.
Once you have gone through these painful steps, you can apply a fresh coat of paint and wipe the smoke film from the windows.
If all of this sounds like you are in over your head, you can contact a fire restoration company to do the work for you. It will cost you a lot more but you will have a bigger tax deduction.
Michael D. Klimek is a licensed contractor and president of Pro Handyman Corp. Questions may be sent by email to: questions@pro-handyman.com. Or, mail to: P.O. Box 96761, Las Vegas, NV 89193. His Web address is: www.pro-handyman.com.