Buying a "smokers" house, is the coil and ducts affected?

[dogdoc]

My wife and I are intereested in a house that was owned by a heavy smoker; the family painted the house to try to cover it up; I was told by a local HVAC company that the tar could build up on the coil and that duct cleaning may help but the ONLY way to be sure is to tear it all out; before you say that is someone who wants my money the house is in another state(would be a weekend lake house) so they have no dog in this fight as we say down south; the real issue is that my 4 year old has some serious allergies including asthma at times.....thanks! dogdoc

[beenthere]

Doesn't need to be tore out.
The ducts can have a sealer applied to them. May or may not find a company in that area that does it.
And the coil can be cleaned.

[Mark T]

http://www.aeroseal.com/

[motoguy128]

You'll never completely eliminate the odor. It gets into the insulation in the walls and attic and even into subfloors, and any flooring material. Replacing carpets is a must...just cleaning won't get it out. Paitning helps... especially the ceiling.

Consider getting a portable HEPA filter unit if you child still seems irritated and place it in his bedroom to run 24-7.

The solution to solution...is dilution. Over time the odor will go away and only be noticeable on hot days if the house has been closed up.

[bwalley]

You'll never completely eliminate the odor. It gets into the insulation in the walls and attic and even into subfloors, and any flooring material. Replacing carpets is a must...just cleaning won't get it out. Paitning helps... especially the ceiling.

Consider getting a portable HEPA filter unit if you child still seems irritated and place it in his bedroom to run 24-7.

The solution to solution...is dilution. Over time the odor will go away and only be noticeable on hot days if the house has been closed up.

I thought you weren't an A/C contractor?

How many units have you dealt with that had smoke related issues?

When you give advice yoiu should clearly state you are NOT and A/C contractor, as a person may think because you have a high post count that you are.

[bwalley]

My wife and I are intereested in a house that was owned by a heavy smoker; the family painted the house to try to cover it up; I was told by a local HVAC company that the tar could build up on the coil and that duct cleaning may help but the ONLY way to be sure is to tear it all out; before you say that is someone who wants my money the house is in another state(would be a weekend lake house) so they have no dog in this fight as we say down south; the real issue is that my 4 year old has some serious allergies including asthma at times.....thanks! dogdoc

What you will need to do is pull all the carpet, pad and tack strip, use an enzyme treatment on the subfloor, then seal the subfloor.

Prime all walls and cieling with a primer like Zinser Bullseye 123, paint the walls and cieling, if the cielings are popcorn, spray in light coats, otherwise the moisture and weight of the new paint and primer will cause the popcorn to fail.

Rent or buy an Ozone machine (a good one will be about $800)and run it in conjunction with the fan motor for a few days if not longer.

Then have an A/C contractor come clean the Air Handler, and Evaporator, they may have to cut the coil out and soak it.

Then seal the interior of the ductwork.

Then run the ozone machine for a few more days if not weeks.

The rest of the house will have to be thoroughly cleaned as well.

It is a lot of work but eventually the smell will go away.

BTW I am not just a Licensed A/C Contractor I am a Licensed Building Contractor as well and I have had to clean up after heavy smokers.

I had one unit that was so bad, you could see the yellow nicotine running down the walls.

[drk]

What you will need to do is pull all the carpet, pad and tack strip, use an enzyme treatment on the subfloor, then seal the subfloor.

Prime all walls and cieling with a primer like Zinser Bullseye 123, paint the walls and cieling, if the cielings are popcorn, spray in light coats, otherwise the moisture and weight of the new paint and primer will cause the popcorn to fail.

Rent or buy an Ozone machine (a good one will be about $800)and run it in conjunction with the fan motor for a few days if not longer.

Then have an A/C contractor come clean the Air Handler, and Evaporator, they may have to cut the coil out and soak it.

Then seal the interior of the ductwork.

Then run the ozone machine for a few more days if not weeks.

The rest of the house will have to be thoroughly cleaned as well.

It is a lot of work but eventually the smell will go away.

BTW I am not just a Licensed A/C Contractor I am a Licensed Building Contractor as well and I have had to clean up after heavy smokers.

I had one unit that was so bad, you could see the yellow nicotine running down the walls.

This is a good plan! It all looks good except for sealing the duct. Have it cleaned buy a good company. If there is any liner in it have that sealed with Foster 40-20. A good Ozone machine will only have to run a day or two. Ozone is dangerous do not be in the home when it is running No pets or people.

[Phasewolf]

A ozone machine should not have to be ran for days on end to get what you want done. My home when I got it was super heavy smoker house (6 people 2 packs a day for over 10 years) What I did was first washed all the walls and floors really good. Then I ran the ozone machine for a day in the basement and a day on the main floor. You will need to stay elsewhere wile the ozone machine is running. Then I primed and painted everything and it was fine. The coil was so bad tho you could not see light through it and needed to be cut and cleaned.

[bwalley]

You can't run an ozone machine too long, 03 breaks down very quickly.

[DanW13]

Instead of doing all this work why not look for another house , I'm a smoker in my house and I have a EAC with all my duct work properly sealed and I run my fan 24/7 in the heating season and when it's not too humid I run the fan during the cooling season as well and theres not too much smoke smell. I bet there's more food smell in the house then smoke smell where people will lack the proper ventilation over there range or cook tops and that smell gets into everything just as much as smoke does. But people get so freaked out when they know someone has been or did smoke in a house, but never think of all the other smells, or odors from other more lingering odors from foods and house hold chemicals that were used.

How about Cats, if the previous HO's had cats or dogs I would put that above anyone who ever smoked in a house and had no pets. I'm just saying !!!!!

[bwalley]

Instead of doing all this work why not look for another house , I'm a smoker in my house and I have a EAC with all my duct work properly sealed and I run my fan 24/7 in the heating season and when it's not too humid I run the fan during the cooling season as well and theres not too much smoke smell. I bet there's more food smell in the house then smoke smell where people will lack the proper ventilation over there range or cook tops and that smell gets into everything just as much as smoke does. But people get so freaked out when they know someone has been or did smoke in a house, but never think of all the other smells, or odors from other more lingering odors from foods and house hold chemicals that were used.

How about Cats, if the previous HO's had cats or dogs I would put that above anyone who ever smoked in a house and had no pets. I'm just saying !!!!!

You being a smoker will not be as sensitive to smoke as a non smoker.

I don't allow anyone to smoke anywhere on the property of my jobs and I can tell when someone lights up a cigarette.

After my mom quit smoking, she told me she never realized how bad it smelled while she was a smoker.

[dash]

Ozone generator,7 days,fan running.

Stay out of the house,while running it.

[DanW13]

Cat urine and dog urine is a hell of lot worse then smoke try getting rid of those 2 odors,kids dropping candy and food down the duct work, there's a million items that are far worse to get rid of.

[motoguy128]

Cat urine and dog urine is a hell of lot worse then smoke try getting rid of those 2 odors,kids dropping candy and food down the duct work, there's a million items that are far worse to get rid of.

Cats and dogs don't pee inside all of the walls and ceilings, permeating the insulation and any pourous material... or basically ALL home construction materials including wood and insulation. Smoke just never seems to completely go away. Everytime we return for a trip out of town, I'm reminded that smokers used to live in our home.

[DanW13]

Cats and dogs don't pee inside all of the walls and ceilings, permeating the insulation and any pourous material... or basically ALL home construction materials including wood and insulation. Smoke just never seems to completely go away. Everytime we return for a trip out of town, I'm reminded that smokers used to live in our home.

How does smoke get inside the walls ?? Thats a first to hear anything like that unless there's a house fire ofr the duct work isn't sealed properly would be the only possiblity. Cat urine gets into the sub floors and carpet padding, and yes they will do there job's jut about anywhere to mark there territory same as dogs do but dog's are alittle smater by marking there space outside Cooking odors go thru out the house just the same grease I guess can't possibly get into the duct work like smoke can right ? The homeowner might just want to pursue a different home instead of having to almost ripping everything apart and washing everything down and replacing the insulation, and subfloors, duct work and the HVAC equipment must replaced also no sense in cleaning the entire inside while it's just as easy to replace. Hell maybe homeowners can claim some of that Tabbaco settlement money to clean there homes might want to look into filing a suit against the tabbaco companies for damages !!!!

[mark beiser]

The best solution to cleaning up a heavy smokers house is to push it over with a bulldozer and start over!

[motoguy128]

How does smoke get inside the walls ?? Thats a first to hear anything like that unless there's a house fire ofr the duct work isn't sealed properly would be the only possiblity. Cat urine gets into the sub floors and carpet padding, and yes they will do there job's jut about anywhere to mark there territory same as dogs do but dog's are alittle smater by marking there space outside Cooking odors go thru out the house just the same grease I guess can't possibly get into the duct work like smoke can right ? The homeowner might just want to pursue a different home instead of having to almost ripping everything apart and washing everything down and replacing the insulation, and subfloors, duct work and the HVAC equipment must replaced also no sense in cleaning the entire inside while it's just as easy to replace. Hell maybe homeowners can claim some of that Tabbaco settlement money to clean there homes might want to look into filing a suit against the tabbaco companies for damages !!!!

The walls of your home are not airtight. They are permeable materials. So yes, smoke WILL find it's way in there if the air in a home is saturated with smoke.... especially if given 20 years or more.

Urine is stinky, but generally a good application of bleach can remove most if not all odors from subfloors.

It also much easier to housebreak a pet, than to convince a smoker to quit. Although some effective techniques can be similar.

Persoanally, if I had to choose, I'd rather have a dog peeing on my carpet than someone smoking in my house. One is just more nasty to me than the other. But I guess we each have different sensitivity levels.

[lynn comstock]

Smell is one thing.
Allegic sensitivity is another. If you have allergic sensitivity, buy another house. There is no assurance that any procedure will clean up the problem to meet the needs of an allerically sensitive person.