I think most people agree that smoking is not the best thing for your health. Even most smokers agree. I have done posts in the past about the effects that smoking has on homes and how it can literally destroy them, turning them into toxic waste dumps----with the walls all covered with a yellow toxic frosting of nicotine and soot. Nicotine is a very toxic substance and in the quantities present on walls can be more deadly than smoking the cigarettes themselves. While the smoker may long be dead and gone, their legacy may live on posing a health hazard to anyone having to clean up the mess later. For infants and small children this can be as deadly or damaging as lead----and yet it seems to be barely on the radar of most people’s concerns. This is a perfect example of what the absence of a little hype and the absence of bad press can do for an otherwise perfectly good problem. Sixty milligrams of nicotine (the amount in about 5 cigarettes) is enough to be lethal to an adult. Historically the stuff created a lot of health problems when it was used as an insecticide. That yellow cast you can see on a home’s walls is concentrated Nicotine----and should be treated with a great deal of respect. It can be very difficult to clean up satisfactorily in some cases. It does not wash off easily. It does not paint over easily. It can coat the inside of stud cavities if there is any air flow into the space. It can make a serious mess of duct work. The duct work of homes that have been heavily impacted by smoking will most likely need to be replaced---can you imagine trying to clean them? At an inspection the other day I found a great example of just how nasty this stuff can be in ductwork. In the picture below, one can see the nice new shiny duct work that has been connected to the Nicotine Coated ductwork that runs throughout the home. Now put your feet up-----take a deep breath----and relax! Charles Buell
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So are you saying the yellow ductwork used to be the same color as the new ductwork? If so...that is the grossest thing I have EVER seen!
Well done Charles "Commander Cody" Buell!
Your picture clearly illustrates the effects the smoke in that home had on the duct work.
Smoke and pet odor are two of the biggest reasons folks walk away from a home.
Karen, that is EXACTLY what I am saying:)
Craig----they are way bigger deal breakers than most inspectors:)
Yuck! I imagine the new owners would be able to smell it while the furance is running.
Vince you mean you don't want your nicotine "re-heated?"
I can't believe the Ick Factor that smoking adds to a home. It can cost the smoker a huge amount of money and make the house take forever to sell. Even smokers hate these places!
I have had people step into a house smell the cigarette smoke and walk right out the front door without even looking at the rest of the house.
Have you seen these advertised? Seen this advertised the other day, and thought how ridiculous...
Patricia----and so much of this stuff merely gets painted over as opposed to removed.
Jan Marie, I do that with restaurants. If I walk in the door and smell cigarettes----I am outta there:)
Hi Charles...Wow! All I can say is my duct work must still be shiny after 15 years of living here. We built the house and no cigerattes have been smoked here. Must remember that as a good selling feature if and when.
Kate
Gross. I've seen homes where you could see where everything was hanging on the wall and the ceilings were stained with nicotine, but I never considered the duct work. EWWWWWWW.
Kate---maybe houses need to come with throw away ducts----or take them with you ducts :)
Tammy click on my link to my earlier post to see a good picture of how bad walls can be.
Yuck! Who knew?
Debi
Can you imagine what their lungs look like???
Charles - Several years ago I remodeled a home for a heavy smoker. The formerly white ceilings looked like your ductwork, requiring special primer before they could be repainted.
Debi, don't you wish you didn't?
Michael----probably similiar:)
John, I know that it is accepted practice to paint over it----have done so many times myself---but when we do that it is still there----couldn't kids eat it the same way they might old lead paint chips?
Yuck. I few months ago I went to a house that was loaded with smoke. Didn't take me very long to get the heck out of there and say no to taking the listing. It was the worst I'd seen in over 20 years. Not to mention a unrealistic seller that thought he'd get 50K more than it was worth. I would not wanted to look at his ductwork!
I am so happy that it is now illegal to smoke in all public places in Washington. The only exception is the Native casinos since they are technically another country. It's okay with me because I don't gamble.
Anna, sounds like perhaps the seller has unrealistic expections for his health too:)
David it really is nice----and I don't gamble either---smoking/gambling----is their a difference?
And people wonder why they can't get rid of the smell in the house!
"This is a perfect example of what the absence of a little hype and the absence of bad press can do for an otherwise perfectly good problem."
That is such an accurate statement and can be applied to another "problem" much more common in homes, fiberglass insulation. The insulation manufactures are not all that different from the tobacco companies. They fund research that purports this stuff is safe. Sound vaguely familiar?
Jay, there is nothing like re-heated nicotine:)
James, I think you know I agree with you on this one:)
Charles that is very very scary. If only some people could see what they are doing to their children.
Jenny----as well as themselves-----but yes children are always the more vulnerable
That is a huge ick! And the addicted smoker will deny this...?
Charles, do you think that in the future the normal required clean-up for a smoked-in house will be with white suits and masks.....like asbestos clean-up now? LOL
Shoshana----apparently:)
Barbara, probably not----there is actually more hard scientific evidence of the dangers of nicotine when compared to asbestos:) (tongue firmly in cheek:)
The first home my wife and I purchase was the home of a heavy smoker. The first winter our furnace was not working right and we had a tech out to look at it. After about 10 minutes of looking he came into the living room, popped the thermostat off the wall and used his jack-knife to scape the nicotine off the contacts! The furnace worked perfectly after that! Pretty gross.
Jim---I have heard that story as well---pretty gross