How to remove that pungent Cigarette Smoke Smell from your home...

I showed a house in Orangevale a couple weeks ago...as soon as I got to the front steps I detected a very pungent odor. When I opened the front door, the air seemed thick with cigarette smoke. The walls were yellow. My client and I checked out the house in just a few minutes. I could smell the smoke on my clothes later. UGH.

I frequently encounter homes where there is a cigarette smell and am asked how to get rid of it. I spoke to one of my go-to contractors Jon Shepherd, President of JDS Construction (License # 962347), who does work like this all the time. "I once was hired to paint an apartment after tenant smoked for 40 years! Tar seeped out of walls like tree sap." He described a very long painstaking process to rid a home of cigarette smoke. "Wash tar off walls. Prime with denature shellac alcohol based solvent and re-paint. Remove and replace carpets and pad. Spray oil based Killz on the subfloor or slab." He has also had to replace central heating and air ductwork and attic insulation in extreme cases. 

There are other methods of smoke removal. A local Sacramento company "Smoke Busters" claims to eliminate smoke odor by pumping "Photonic Oxygen" into a home.

Whatever method you use -- the expense can be in the thousands of dollars. But I will say that the decline in value your home will suffer will likely far outweigh the cost to remove the smoke smell. This particular Orangevale home was probably priced $25,000 under a comparable property with no odor.

So I guess if you or a family member smokes -- you may want to strongly consider NOT smoking inside your home.