Cigarette Smell in Townhouse

[Justin Baca]

Hello All - I'm under contract on a townhouse that was smoked in for 18-20 years. The seller repainted the walls and replaced the flooring in the entire house with vinyl flooring. The house is vacant but the smell is still very strong (nothing "soft" in the house). We're buying the property as a 2nd home / to use for short-term rentals and I am worried that we will get bad reviews if the smell isn't 100% gone for the first renter.

I've seen many people in the forums recommend ozone generators but I have read that they may damage other parts of the house if it is left running for too long. Is this the case? It seems almost too good to be true that a $500 machine can completely eliminate the smell throughout a 2,000+ sq ft house. I'm almost tempted to just pay the $4,500+ that I was quoted by a professional service...but wanted to check to see if anyone has had this experience first.

Thanks in advance!