I have heard of people having good results using an ozone generator, which you may be able to rent from an equipment rental place. The only hitch is that you can't be in the house, or at least that part of the house during the time that it is running. I don't know how long they recommend that you use it, I think a day or two.
I have also heard about an odor remover called Pure Ayre that is supposed to work well.

Definitely do the ceiling! And replace the blinds. Try another coat if it still smells. I bought an ozone generator that I use regularly to removed odors. Okay, some odors are from my dogs, but also just the musty closed up house smells. The air has been on all summer, it's been terribly hot! Anyway, the ozone generator has different settings depending on the job. If I need a MAJOR deodorizing I set it at the max. But today I left it on the lowest setting in the master bedroom with the door closed just for a little freshening up.

What is the flooring? If it's paintable, you may have to paint it (and EVERYTHING else) with a good quality primer like Kilz.

I've also heard that a bowl of vinegar in the middle of a room can help absorb odors too... though it can make the room smell like vinegar!

A bowl of vanilla also works well, and smells better than vinegar.

My DH and I smoked for 29 years in the house we sold last year (I quit smoking about 10 years ago, DH is still a chimney). We painted all the walls and ceilings (did not use any special paints), had all carpets cleaned, replaced or cleaned all window treatments, Febreezed my furniture like crazy and I made DH puff outside. House smelled great. And trust me, as an exsmoker I was very attuned to the smoke smell. We never got even one feedback comment that the house smelled like smoke.
Good luck, Kathy G in MI

Try scrubbing the ceiling before you paint with very hot soap and water. Every inch of the room is going to have to be scrubbed throughly to get rid of the smell.

Home Depot & Lowes carry 2 products Greased Lightening & Krud Kutter. You might also be able to find it at the food store. I would use this on whatever you can, window molding, inside the window, even the baseboard. If the door is wood you can try Murphy's oil soap, if it's painted use one of the products above. Using either Clorox clean up or the above will also work on the ceiling. I also would have washed the walls down.

After using the cleaning products on the ceiling, use the Killz 1st, then paint it. I would rent a carpet shampooer before ripping the carpet up. If you have to do that, then you have no choice. I would try the Murphy's oil soap on the floor if you have the carpet out, if it still smells, use the 2 products listed above.

My parents house was bad. I used the Greased Lightening & Krud Ketter which made a world of difference. We did not wash the walls down (I wasn't in charge of painting we hired out) the nicotine bled through. We then used the Kills, can't remember if it was one coat or two but it did work.

Washing the windows made a huge difference also. You have to make sure that every surface gets wiped.

Look in the phone book under janitorial supply or commercial cleaning supply stores and go by. They have always given me great advice and have products that can do any job quick and easy. Hope this helps.

My parents has a tenant that smoked heavily. When the tenant moved out, my father had to was the ceiling a dozen times before it was clean enough to prime. You'll definitely need to remove most of the tar and nicotine before priming.

I think there's plenty of good adivice here already, but if you exhaust it there's still the more drastic options: take the wallboards down, strip the flooring down to the subfloor, remove the ceiling and have it replaced, etc. Eventually you get to uncontaminated surfaces and can start building up with fresh materials. Depends on just how bad the smell is. Also, I'd advise a company come in and clean the heating and AC ducts - just because you don't smell it in other rooms doesn't mean that there's no tar and such in the dust of the ducts.

The little house I bought in town was occupied by four smokers. I smoke, but it even stank to me. We first pulled out all the carpet. Then we washed absolutely every surface in the house with a grease cutting cleaner. Ceilings are particularly likely to have a lot of accumulation. I scrubbed the register runs as far as I cold reach. I took off all the globes to light fixtures and washed them, I even took the switchplates off the outlets and replaced them. I also pitched all the blinds. There was a dropped ceiling on one bedroom and it bit the dust since I was going to replaster that ceiling anyway since I hate those things on a grid. But if I weren't, I'd have purchased new drop in tiles and not even tried to salvage the old ones.

Then we used Kilz on every painted surface in the house and repainted. Replaced all the filters to the window air conditioners.

Anything porous and any type of fabric, including wallpaper will absorb smells. You cannot cover up smoke smells of any kind with another scent. It comes through. If you can smell it then that means there is still particulate matter from the smoke. You don't want that, even if it does smell clean. I like Kilz best for covering the washed down painted surfaces. It really does do a good job of sealing off the last of the smells.

The little house, no matter how long it's closed up smells just downright good. It can be done. But it has to be completely thorough.

What about the interior doors and any trim wood? Did you re-paint or re-stain? If they're stained, maybe a fresh coat of poly would be enough to block the odor. If they're painted, I would consided repainting, as the odor has absorbed into everything, including all the wood.

You could try washing down the wood with something strong like Lysol, but in the babies room, it may be a little too strong. Clorox Disinfectant Kitchen cleaner, which smells like citrus, might be another good product to try.

I've found TSP the best for wall, ceiling and wood washing. It will cut through the build-up. If you didn't wash before using that primer, you will probably need a couple more coats. And don't be surprised if the first time you run a vaporizer, the stuff bleeds through.

Leaving windows open, vinegar or vanilla out just makes the air fresh right then. It does nothing to eliminate the build-up. Don't forget to clean in the closet. Scrub that woodwork and ceiling. If you can touch it, then scrub it.

Gloria

Try Zep Smoke Odor Eliminator Spray. Home Depot sells it.

I swear by Lampe Berger. They make several scented fuels and one that is a Neutralizer.

Zinser primer, the shellac based, and yes you have to prime all walls and the ceiling and last but not least call a clean up company - they usually have to go in and clean after a death, or a fire or a hoarder tennant, and will have several suggestions for you.

MP

The Zinsser BIN shellac based primer should be the correct primer. Look on the can and see if it says "odor barrier". Unfortunately it's just wishful thinking to neglect the ceiling. If it's a popcorn type ceiling, you may have to have it scraped before painting.

Don't use Murphy's Oil Soap or Orange Glo on the wood floors.

It depends on your wood floors, I think. The "new" hardwood floors, like those designed to be lain over a subfloor, have modern polyurethane coatings, and unless they are commercial quality, and designed to be totally waterproof, they could be damaged by oil based cleaners. The homes I have and have had with hardwood floors are actual tongue in groove planks, visible from the basements and were original with the homes built from the 1820s on. They've never been coated with compounds designed to keep them shiny and new looking. They've been simply sanded, stained and oiled. A product like an oil soap works very well for me and I have used them for decades.

So, like any other newer flooring, it pays to read the literature to find out their recommendations.

I had to totally scrub my son's really old mobile home when he bought it-as someone had broken in & left the kitchen faucet run and had put the stopper in the sink-ruined all of his floors, mildewed walls, etc. A new baby was due so I had to do something. I went to Home Depot and the BESTEST product totally eliminated all of the smell, mildew, etc. He replaced all of the affected flooring of course but this product called ODOBAN is by far-the best! You must scrub everything in the room from top to bottom-incl flooring. Make sure you open a window, wear a breathing mask and wear rubber gloves. It will do the job!
(Their brand new home 2 yrs later-was the best remedy however! LOL!

Thanks everybody. The BIN I used (rec'd by my local store for this purpose) was alcohol-based (that's why it was so awful to work with) - DH is at the store getting the oil/shellac based and we'll see if that does it. I did wash the walls before the first coat went on (although not with a special cleaner -- the weird thing is, there's no visible residue anywhere in the room - at least not that I can see.

I still need to figure out what to do about the wood floor which was under carpet. I hate to have to sand it but I suppose that will be my last resort.

Susan, why do you say no Murphy's?

I've never had a problem with Murphy's. I've used it on a variety of wood, old dressers, unfinished wood, wood floor from the 60's, kitchen cabinets that were stained & shellacked, computer desks. When my parents bought their house, they had wood floors put in, I don't think they were real wood, but we were told it was ok to use Murphy's on them.

The Murphy's I use is the bottle that you dilute, not the spray.

I still need to figure out what to do about the wood floor which was under carpet. I hate to have to sand it but I suppose that will be my last resort.

Sounds like the carpet is out. Do you have an idea of what kind of wood floor it is?

As Sharon said, you have to clean everything, top to bottom. Also check the heater. If you have baseboard, you might have to wash that down, it's also possible you might need to change the baseboard. It's an extreme, but not hard to do.

If there is ductwork, you want to clean as much of that too. Also make sure you replace filters in the returns. I would also take the screens / storm windows out, soak them in a tub.

I've never used BIN, and wonder if the scent it has is what you are smelling?

Well, it turns out that the alcohol based and shellac based are one and the same - so I did use the "good" BIN and it still didn't do it. Time to move on to the ceiling and floor I guess.

My new theory is that the sellers knew about the smoke smell and painted and put down new carpet to try to cover it up but now it's slowly seeping through. That would explain why the carpet I took out didn't smell THAT bad, and why taking it out had no impact on the smell.

I've also been in there sniffing around and the best I can tell is that the smell is coming from the floor. Does anyone know whether a new coat of polyurethane would help seal it in or whether it needs to be sanded? The wood is continuous with the entire rest of the second floor of the house so I wonder if I can even find someone to sand just that room or if they'll want to do the entire upstairs. Ugh!!!

You have gotten great advice, I'll just add one thing. Aside from scrubbing, put out big cans of coffee. It acts like a sponge and will absorb and clean the air. Yes, it will smell strongly of coffee for a few days, but it really works. We are not smokers and a rental home we lived in a few years ago had this problem. I hated it and a friend told me to do this and it worked. I love coffee, I guess that helped:-)

Amy

re: Murphy's Oil Soap

I believe it hampers your ability to refinish the floor in the future. Go over to the flooring forum and do a search on it. The Orange Glo is reported to leave a residue that builds up over time.

I scrubbed my old wood floors with Murphy's, then wiped them down with old towels to get off any residue and let them dry. I had determined that the floors were finished with shellac, so did a top coat of shellac. I got an orange peel effect, probably due to the Murphy's. Note that I did not sand, just washed and shellacked. Thirteen years later we had the floors sanded and refinished in order to sell.

A flooring refinisher told me that they need to charge extra to refinish floors that had Murphy's Oil Soap used on them. It really gunks up their equipment and takes more time. Floors finished with polyureathane should never be cleaned with Murphy's.

Look in the Yellow pages, or call an insurance group to get the name of a company in your area that cleans homes after major disasters- a home fire type of cleaning is needed. By the time you spend all the money doing it yourself- and the smell is still there- you could of had the disaster cleaning company do it- with great results. Ahome that smells like cigarette smoke is awful! And probably not good for the kids over time. Good luck1

I've been where you are. A few years ago we bought a second home. 2 older people lived there that smoked 6 packs of cigarettes a day between them. You said you primed, but did you paint? (walls, ceilings and trim) You shouldnt need two coats of primer. It should be sealed. As far as the floor, wood floors breathe, it is possible that they are holding in the smell. I would use hot water and white vinegar, just don't let the water puddle because it will ruin the floors.(BTW, this is also what a floor guy told me should be the only thing you use on wood floors) (Damp mop) Go over it a few times, changing the water as often as you need to.

As someone who loves Murphy's and has refinished a load of wood (including floors) I can tell you from my experience use of Murphy's Oil Soap in no way impedes refinishing woodwork or floors. Anyone charging extra to refinish floors cleaned with Murphy's is price gouging.

Saying that, I do prefer white vinegar when wood must be washed.

When washing woodwork, squeeze out your rag until all all excess water is extracted. Immediately dry the wood area with another cloth. Get down on your hands and knees to do the floors as you want to dry immediately.

Paint, paint, paint. As other posters have said, replace everything you can. Switchplates, blinds, lightbulbs, recessed can light trim, etc. While you have the switchplates off, vacuum inside the openings to remove dust. If you have baseboard heat, take the covers off and steam clean the fins. Paint all of the wall/ceiling surfaces, clean them, then paint them again six months later. You might need to do this a few times. Scrub all window glass.

We bought a badly nicotine-coated house awhile back, and it took a few years and a fair amount of demolition to get the smell out.