Even though it's different, maybe one of those firms that cleans up smoke damage. Also, it may be a dumb question, but is new drywall cheaper?

I don't think you need anybody with special training or certified in cleaning smoking NASTINESS (poor you). anybody wanting a job could wash with TSP, once, maybe twice and that would get rid of nicotine.

DH once lived with her smoking sis and when she moved out, we cleaned with TSP. then primed and painted the room. There was a faint ciggy smell but it either faded or we got used to it. However, it greatly improved. Of course, we got rid of upholstered stuff as it was beyond repairing and put some nice new furniture.

You might have to supervise the person to make sure they go row by row, and not willy nilly.

Maybe one of those cleanup after fire places (servicemaster) might do it also but it will def. cost more.

Try calling ServiceMaster and see if they do this. I know they clean fire smoke damaged homes and contents.

ML

Found this article on "Third-hand smoke" on National Geographic.

I would call the remediation companies, but I would also consider new drywall.

Here is a link that might be useful: NatGeo

You can check with your insurance agent to see if they would recommend someone in your area who deals with smoke remediation. Or look in the yellow pages. Service master is one of several cos that do remediation...

I wouldn't use bleach. Try an industrial strength cleaner like Whistle.

someone I know that shall remained unidentified used to love to travel with spouse, visiting relatives around the country. It entailed travelling by car for hours, with windows closed, while smoker puffed away. On one visit, the spouse looked green to me, the person was so sick that needed help getting out of the car. The smoker has final stage enphyzema as we speak and spouse died about 5 years ago. Nobody can change my mind that COD wasn't second hand smoke. they were married 60+ years, so do the fatal math.

back to orig. poster, maybe a few hundred $ spent in new sheetrock might be better than several thousand in medical bills. My solution worked for us and we are not sick, but if you can avoid it (exposure), AVOID IT.

Don't forget the insides of the heat/ac vents and the furnace in addition to all the walls etc. Every time heat or ac kicks on it's going to stink like hell, to say nothing of blowing all that back over your cleaned and new surfaces. Whatever filter was used in the furnace (and I'm going to bet it was a cheap one and rarely changed) could never trap enough to keep it out of the furnace.There are special cleaning services that do that and it may take more than one pass through to be effective. As for cleaning products, the most important thing is to use really hot water with any product because you need to soften that tar to let the cleaner work. My first choice would be to use Spic & Span - I swear by that stuff when there's anything really grungy I have to tackle, like a never cleaned bbq.

The other big thing about wall washing is you need to start at the bottom and work your way up...

It would seem logical to do it the other way, but it yields streaks that way that you will never eliminate.

Good advice so far. We had a small rental house we had to treat the same way many years ago. Had Servicemaster come in and clean/treat as if for smoke damage after all the carpet had been removed. Then before it was painted we had the painters prime with 'Kilz'. Did the job. There are also ductwork cleaners (yeah, one ad says 'we suck your ducts', no kidding). I'd look into having that done too.

We used to deal with this at my grandparent's house before my grandmother stopped smoking. Nicotine yellowed her painted walls, her drapes and sheers, etc. Thankfully she would have all that cleaned fairly often. I'm thinking her painters actually cleaned the walls. I would not use bleach either. You are going to need to repaint every painted surface in the house. I'm linking an article (I googled) which states the nicotine can soak into the drywall.

Here is a link that might be useful: removing nicotine

Along with what everyone else is saying you might replace your wall outlet covers. My brother had to replace even those, when he bought his condo, as they stunk like cig. smoke.

Thanks for the very helpful responses everyone. Unfortunately, new drywall isn't in the budget for the entire house so I've got to work with what I have. I did have to use a mold remediation firm and replace drywall from ceiling down in an attached 1000-SF efficiency, but that was because of a severe issue that couldn't be alleviated.

Dlm, I have indeed replaced the central AC unit (we don't have furnaces here in Miami :) but will also have the vents cleaned and am replacing the vent covers as well--they too are coated with nicotine and grime.

We also have replaced all the windows so that got rid of the nasty blinds. Pulled up carpeting in 2 bedrooms which reeked of smoke and dogs (owner had 2 that never were bathed or groomed and had full run of the place). Basically everything now is hard surface and I will say the stink is much better than it was when we got the place. Actually in addition to the smell there was a flea infestation that was so bad we couldn't even enter the place for several months while we repeatedly flea bombed it. And that was before we hauled out 14 pick up truck loads and one junk removal 30-yard dump truck full. Good times...

I'll start making some calls to cleaning agencies-if nothing else, maybe I can afford to hire some people to at least tackle the ceilings and help me with the worst of the worst rooms, which are owner's bedroom and the living room.

This house has been challenging, to say the least. I've been taking pictures so I can post a before/after with all the gory details once I finally get it done.

Ann

It looks like you have a plan in place. I would just add that if you are going to continue to do some of the cleaning, you could do it without using the bleach. Spic&Span, Mr Clean, or any of the specialty wall cleaners will do the job. Bleach is good for many purposes, but I don't think it is particularly helpful in this situation.

I think a fire clean-up company would be the best option for cleaning up everything except the worst rooms. I think I would replace the drywall in the worst rooms, especially the ones you'll be sleeping in with doors closed. That second-hand smoke is a major health issue you want to avoid. I'm glad the AC has been replaced - when we moved into our house, the very first thing we did was have the ducts cleaned. Dead mouse and 11 years of filth removed in a few hours for a couple hundred bucks, thank you! I can't imagine what the inside of your ducts looked like!
Maybe you can slowly replace the drywall room by room over the next year, to help with costs. It sounds like you've sunk a lot of time and money into the place already, but I think you need to remove the nicotine-soaked drywall and surfaces in their entirety. That's just my 2 cents. It'll be interesting to see the before and after! Good luck!

An O'cedar sponge mop with a bucket of ammonia and water(changed frequently!)should work. Hire someone to do the job, and advise them of the ratio of ammonia to water, usually 1/2 cup of ammonia to a gallon of water. I would also give a fresh coat of paint.

So much helpful information, love this group!

I've arranged for my housekeeper to come over to the house on Saturday and we're going to tackle the nastiness together. No strong bleach this time, we'll try some of the suggestions made in this conversation. I've got TSP, Simple Green and I might get some Formula 409; my husband cleaned a refrigerator he salvaged from the house with that and it came out sparkling.

Great idea to use a sponge mop on the ceilings, Patty-cleaning those is what I dread most.

Once again, appreciate everyone's ideas. Will let you know how things turn out.

Ann

We moved into a house in similar condition. In our case it was decades of accumulated grime from a combination of smoking, cooking, and a poorly drawing woodstove; the white ceiling fan was the same color as the dark wood ceiling fan.While we had planned to clean it ourselves, a delay in moving caused by the PO didn't give us that luxury as my week of vacation had already ended. We hired a commercial cleaning crew, 3 folks for 8 hours, who usually clean commercial buildings. I have no idea what they used to clean with, but they got it done in a day with the smell gone, and that allowed us to move in sooner than we might have otherwise.

Our house was in the same condition when we bought it. The best DIY solution I found to get the walls cleaned was a solution of ammonia, baking soda, vinegar and warm water. Gallons and gallons of it! This worked better than any commercial cleaner we tried and believe me we tried them all. DH and I spent a full month working on it before we moved anything in. Had to replace all electrical outlet, switches, closet shelving, ripped all carpet out, and removed all wallpaper. Then we primed with a stain block and painted every ceiling and wall. It was a huge mess, but we did it.

Good luck!