Painting over nicotine/tar stains on wall.

RSKY · Apr 8, 2016

How do you remove smoke/tar stains from walls before repainting?

I had a post about a month or so about helping a young lady move things out of her father's house and transporting the furniture four hours away. She has nobody left in our area and is kinda like a third daughter to us. So now we are getting her father's house ready to be put on the market. I think the term is flipping it. It is a very nice 2 bedroom, 1 and 1/2 bath in a good location. The problem is that her dad was a three to four pack a day smoker. He could not understand why his only child would only visit him at his house for an hour or two then come here or our daughter's house to spend the night. She would visit him then come over here and shower, change clothes, and my wife would wash her clothes so they would not stink up her car on the four hour drive home. Said it would take her days getting the smell out.

After being closed up for a year when we opened the doors the stench could be smelled all over the yard. When the pictures were down off the walls what we thought was a tan color turned out to be blue. You can see were he sat at night because the ceiling is brown above that spot. The miniblinds on the windows we thought were brown were only brown and the top inside part. The outside bottom was white. They were so tar covered they felt slimy when you picked them up. I wish every smoker could have toured that house. It would make you want to quit. It has literally made my wife and I sick the first couple days trying to clean it up.

And people wonder why nobody wants to stand and talk to a smoker, even when they don't have a cigarette lit.

Double GAG!

Anyway, we have all furniture out. She is bringing laminate flooring down tonight that she has been given. We will put it down tomorrow.

We want to start painting but have been told by several different people, including the real estate lady, that we will be wasting our time unless we remove the smoke stains. Apparently it will bleed thru primer and paint. One lady my wife talked to said she put primer and five coats on a wall and it still bled thru. Does anybody have any suggestions?

This young lady has been making payments on this house plus the house she just bought in Louisville for nearly two years now. Due to her mother getting sick she has not had time to deal with this. Think she also had some "survivors remorse" about selling it. She needs to get rid of it ASAP.

As a side story I have been surprised at the real estate lady. She has been at the house several times helping us clean. I know it will help on her payday but even though she knew we were working on it she still shows up with gloves and a clothes basket full of rags and cleaning material. Very nice lady. Widow in her sixties and I had worked with her husband in the same factory but didn't know her.

Now in this rambling post don't forget my question. How do I remove smoke stains from walls and ceilings?

Anyway, life goes on.

rswyan · Apr 8, 2016

How to Remove Cigarette Smoke Smell and Color From Walls | Home Guides | SF Gate

supertaster · Apr 8, 2016

This is what I use. Get it locally at our building supply stores. It's also here at Walmart.
Try washing the walls first with T.S.P.
B-I-N(R)

It is a great product for this purpose.

mrmikey · Apr 8, 2016

The father in law lived in our basement apartment and smoked as did my mother in her apartment. When they passed each time was a nightmare cleaning. Like you said, it felt like ......snot when you were cleaning and stunk.
Lots of rinsing the rags, hot soapy water, using spray 9, fantastic or similar was the only thing I found that worked and it sucked having to do it. If you use those, be sure to use rubber gloves as it's corrosive and will dry your skin out something terrible.....Mike

Wakey · Apr 8, 2016

My favorite spray cleaner and it is dirt cheap. I have a bag of micro cloths purchased from Costco. *edit* I agree, use rubber gloves and open some Windows. I can not overemphasize how important micro cloths are. Wash and dry them separately. Bulk LA’s Totally Awesome All-Purpose Cleaner, 2 oz. at DollarTree.com

dmccarty · Apr 8, 2016

Good Luck RSKY, sounds like TBNers have cleaned up this before but it sounds like a lot of work.

When I was looking to buy my first house, I looked at a house that had a smoker living there. The carpets had been replaced and the walls painted but the place still stunk. Stunk bad. :shocked: This was quite a few years ago, and if I remember right, the house had a popcorn ceiling that was brown from the smoke. :shocked: They had not cleaned the ceiling because of the popcorn, which I understand, but that ceiling needed to be cleaned...

The smoker only smoked in one room of the house, supposedly, and the stains seemed to have backed up just smoking in one room, but the smell was all over the house....

Bought a house few lots down from the smoker's house I did. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Good Luck and you are doing a good thing. Makes me smile that people still help out other people. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Dan

vidio1 · Apr 8, 2016

Primers, Specialty Paints & Concrete Care Products - KILZ(R)

They make a primer that wil cover anything, no pre-cleaning needed.

DT86 · Apr 8, 2016

vidio1 said:
They make a primer that wil cover anything, no pre-cleaning needed.

When it's as bad as OP situation then that is not gonna work. This stuff is thick enough to feel by hand, it's doubtful primer would even stay stuck to the crud.

Trisodium Phosphate scrub down, then the Killz.

RSKY · Apr 8, 2016

Wow!! All these responses within an hour. I am impressed. Once again TBN has to be the most knowledgeable forum on the Net. Thanks guys.

One more question. How do I get the smell out of the central unit and ductwork? Hate to do all this cleaning and then every time the unit kicks on the smell comes back.

RSKY