Have you ever seen this? (smoker damage)

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Have you ever seen this? (smoker damage)

Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

This apartment was occupied by smokers for 16 years. I I bought an apartment last year that had smokers for 30 years straight and it still didn't look this bad. Nasty!

This is my favorite. It looks like an actual confederate flag hanging on the wall but that's just the way the wall stained. It a very detailed pattern and even includes folds! My wife saw the picture and thought it was still hanging there.

What's your worst smoker unit? What are your tips for cleaning it?

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Steve Vaughan
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
8y

That one of the flag is cool looking!

I've had a few in my day as well.  I'll post a pic of one with 12' ceilings.  They smoked in it a few years then power was cut off so....they

grilled in the living room!

To clean this one I used a garden sprayer with vinegar and water 50/50, a sponge mop and another guy with a towel.  Mostly cleaned, then ran an ozone machine forever.  Then primed and painted.  1250 sqft, 12 ft textured ceilings throughout.

I don't rent to smokers anymore, whether they say they only smoke outside or not!   Bonus pic of the way another smoker left my apartment...

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  • Steve Vaughan
    Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    8y

    That one of the flag is cool looking!

    I've had a few in my day as well.  I'll post a pic of one with 12' ceilings.  They smoked in it a few years then power was cut off so....they

    grilled in the living room!

    To clean this one I used a garden sprayer with vinegar and water 50/50, a sponge mop and another guy with a towel.  Mostly cleaned, then ran an ozone machine forever.  Then primed and painted.  1250 sqft, 12 ft textured ceilings throughout.

    I don't rent to smokers anymore, whether they say they only smoke outside or not!   Bonus pic of the way another smoker left my apartment...

    3Reply
  • Ashia W.
    Member since 2018 · 11 posts · 5 votes
    8y

    This is nasty.

    0Reply
  • Chris Szepessy
    Catskill, NY · Member since 2018 · 636 posts · 668 votes
    8y

    The flag is cool...the rest is just disgusting! I feel like I can "smell" that place just by the pictures. 

    1Reply
  • Charlie MacPherson
    China, ME · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    8y

    @Nathan Gesner Can you imagine what their lungs look like?  YUCK!

    2Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    8y

    @Chris Szepessy it would be neat to cover it in plexiglass and frame it like a piece of art. But most tenants don't want a confederate flag hanging on their wall.

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    8y

    @Steve Vaughan my process was similar. I hired a cleaning company to steam-clean the walls. It was fast, inexpensive, and did a really good job. It helped that the walls had an oil-based paint underneath. The paint was almost 30 years old and still in good shape!

    After everything was clean, I pulled the flooring. Two layers of industrial carpet (this was a converted motel) and then tile. The backing of the bottom layer had to be scraped/sanded off.

    After the flooring was out, I ran my ozone generator and washed windows (three times each). Then the smell was finally gone.

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  • Kyle Brown
    Rental Property Investor · Mount Laurel, NJ · Member since 2015 · 55 posts · 9 votes
    8y

    I had a similar situation with a duplex I recently bought, which was also my first investment property. One unit had a smoker for years, we cleaned the walls and ceilings multiple times and the yellow stain kept seeping through. We finally sealed all the walls, ceilings and floors with Zessner odor killing sealer which helped a lot, purchased an air purifier, and kept the house open as much as we could. At the same time we cleaned down everything with bleach and other cleaners like TSP. The smell is finally gone, but I did notice all the smoke smell and stains are trapped in all the outlets, so they all need to be replaced too. We repainted the walls and are getting all new flooring installed.  The trick of leaving coal or white vinegar sitting out did not work for us. 

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  • Corby GoadeBusiness Member
    Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    8y

    Wow, that is disgusting! Best bet is to burn it down and start all over. Good luck!

    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    8y

    @Corby Goade it would cost approximately $60,000 to build a comparable unit. Cleaning and renovating cost me about $3,000 and a little elbow grease. I think I'll stick with cleaning and renovating! :)

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  • Corby GoadeBusiness Member
    Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    8y

    @Nathan Gesner, I was just being kidding, but man, that's a mess. I have a house that I bought ten years ago that a smoker had lived in, and it was not THAT bad. I did all of the stuff that people recommend; a thousand layers of oil based primer, replaced a bunch of drywall, painted, new carpet, refinish hardwoods, etc. Ten years later, there's still just a hint of that smell....These days, it's a no go for me, even if the money is right, it's just too gross. You go get it- best of luck!

    1Reply
  • Dawn P.
    Rental Property Investor · Sumter, SC · Member since 2015 · 334 posts · 531 votes
    8y

    The flag stained onto the wall is pretty cool. This is the worst smoker house I've dealt with, not the best picture but you can see where the pictures were hung even after I peeled off the old grasscloth. It stunk. The whole house did, really. Scrubbed with TSP, coat of Kilz and some paint...no more smell.

    1Reply
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Steve Vaughan:

    That one of the flag is cool looking!

    I've had a few in my day as well.  I'll post a pic of one with 12' ceilings.  They smoked in it a few years then power was cut off so....they

    grilled in the living room!

    To clean this one I used a garden sprayer with vinegar and water 50/50, a sponge mop and another guy with a towel.  Mostly cleaned, then ran an ozone machine forever.  Then primed and painted.  1250 sqft, 12 ft textured ceilings throughout.

    I don't rent to smokers anymore, whether they say they only smoke outside or not!   Bonus pic of the way another smoker left my apartment...

    I think my guys used Killz as the primer.. been in many a foreclosure were someone lived there 10 to 30 years and well walls were yellow

    and we wonder why folks get lung cancer..   that's why in the old days working in smoky bars was bad.

    I used to go watch Monday night football at a cigar bar and had to take my cloths off in the garage before coming in the house.. 

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    8y

    @Nathan Gesner  I would accept that if that tenant paid for 16 years without a turn over.. that's a nice run.. turn over kills landlords.. 

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    8y

    That looks pretty comparable, @Dawn P.

    Here's an apartment I bought last year. It had the same paint for almost 30 years and a smoker lived in it the entire time. You can see how the walls glow yellow.

    This is the same place after cleaning and painting.

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  • Brad Miller
    Flipper/Rehabber · Jackson, MS · Member since 2017 · 11 posts · 11 votes
    8y
    @Nathan G. Looks great after the make ready. I went into one almost as bad Monday. Walls and ceilings completely yellow from smoke. It had been vacant for months and I had to leave because my eyes started burning! Didn’t buy It because of that. Well that and the floors were falling in.😂
    1Reply
  • Dennis M.
    Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    8y
    It’s amazing to me people still smoke in 2018 . Look at the walls then think of these peoples lungs . It’s incomprehensible to me someone would spend 10$ per day for decades only to give themselves a painful drawn out terminal disease .ive heard it said by physicians that when you see a healthy lung compared to a smokers lung it’s shocking . Apparently a smoker lung looks way darker and the tar is so thick In It that when you push on the tissue wIth your thumb, brown goo comes through the surface
    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Dennis M.:
    It’s amazing to me people still smoke in 2018 . Look at the walls then think of these peoples lungs . It’s incomprehensible to me someone would spend 10$ per day for decades only to give themselves a painful drawn out terminal disease .ive heard it said by physicians that when you see a healthy lung compared to a smokers lung it’s shocking . Apparently a smoker lung looks way darker and the tar is so thick In It that when you push on the tissue wIth your thumb, brown goo comes through the surface

    ...and that's why I stick to chewing tobacco. ;)

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  • Haley Backus
    Flipper/Rehabber · Pinellas Park, FL · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 1 vote
    8y
    @Nathan G. I would suggest dawn and vinegar mix, a good bleach rinse, and then a heavy coat of Killz before you paint
    1Reply
  • Martin PulrangPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Eden Prairie, MN · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 10 votes
    5y

    I am dealing with the same issue in my first rental and I am sooo thankful for these posts guiding us newbies. Thank you all for taking he time to post about your experiences!

    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Martin Pulrang:

    I am dealing with the same issue in my first rental and I am sooo thankful for these posts guiding us newbies. Thank you all for taking he time to post about your experiences!

     I'm glad you were able to find it and that it helped you out. Good luck!

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  • Jill F.
    Investor · Akron, OH · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    5y

    @Nathan Gesner Yikes! How long did they live there? 

    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Jill F.:

    @Nathan Gesner Yikes! How long did they live there? 

    16 years. They were there for six years before I took over management so the damage was done and we kept them as long as possible, knowing we would have to gut the place when they left.

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  • Patricia Taveras
    New Bern, NC · Member since 2017 · 246 posts · 173 votes
    5y

    @Nathan G.

    Hi Nathan. I bought a smoker house to move into. It was almost that bad! We scrubbed everything with TSP, Dawn soap, and degreaser in the kitchen. We ripped out all carpet and replaced with laminate. We primed everything with Kilz, including ceilings, and painted everything with a high quality paint. Painting with the right stuff is really took care of the smell. Cleaning alone barely touched it!

    1Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    5y
    Originally posted by @Patricia Taveras:

    Hi Nathan. I bought a smoker house to move into. It was almost that bad! We scrubbed everything with TSP, Dawn soap, and degreaser in the kitchen. We ripped out all carpet and replaced with laminate. We primed everything with Kilz, including ceilings, and painted everything with a high quality paint. Painting with the right stuff is really took care of the smell. Cleaning alone barely touched it!T

    That was my experience, as well. 

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