These are great comments, thanks. I'm going to talk to a remediation specialist tomorrow and see what he thinks. The lady is fine with me having anyone come to the property and check it out. It really might be nuts to attempt two projects at once... however there are some snags / red tape with our larger property (building rights and stuff) that may take a couple of months to sort out. The GC thinks we could knock this renovation on the tiny house out relatively quickly, within 6 weeks; even replacing drywall. We're still pricing everything out though, so that might be the deciding factor. I'm torn between wanting to save money on rent while building and not wanting to get involved with a project that might end up being a nightmare. So hard to know. I'd be willing to take it on if a) the red tape with the county really does sap up another 3 months of prime building time, and b) if the amount invested would still save us a bundle on rent, and we'd be able to get something out of it at the end. Tearing it down is definitely an option. The land is priced so that even if you tore down the house and did nothing, the price per acre is still fabulous. And it has 3 water rights which are worth their weight in gold. This is part of why I feel bad about taking advantage. If she had this listed anywhere (we found her by accident, touring our property) it'd be gone in a hot minute, smokey house and all, just for the land. One option might be to tear it down and rebuild on the existing foundation. The footprint is much smaller than our house plans, but the GC still thought there was value there, the electrical, septic, and gas are all in, and the foundation (crawl space) could be altered to accept our home. The last kicker is this piece butts up to the north side of our property! We'd be adding ten more acres to our existing land. It could definitely function as a guest house, housing for a farmhand...

TSP deglosses too. Dirtex does not. I've never had residue left after using TSP. I rinse after TSP with bleach/water (I imagine ammonia would work too but I find the fumes are worse). Then quick rinse with plain water. I work on one patch at a time then move the scaffolding. So TSP the entire wall, Then one section at a time, rinse with bleach and wipe down with plain water in the same section. TSP saponifies grease residue - so it leaves soap basically, that's what you're cleaning off ultimately with the rinsing. Helps to know what you're working with. Also, its not just the walls, but ALL surfaces that you need to wipe down like this when heavy smokers are involved, not to forget ductwork as well. So ceilings, floors, countertops, everything needs to be washed down. After cleaning, 2 coats of KILZ original will seal in even the smell of smoke from a fire. Then paint.

rich69b we had a bathroom that did the same thing!!! I didn't know it was potentially from nicotine, there wasn't an odor. I think I washed and washed the walls, and eventually we repainted/upgraded ventilation and the problem vanished. OP -- with older homes it's inevitable that someone smoked in them. The house we're in now had been smoked in during the past, but we were told it had been at least a decade since that time. Who knows, but it doesn't reek of smoke (it does smell like old house). We had ceilings and flooring re-done, carpet removed. I would like to get the ducts cleaned. I would NOT have bought the house if it at any detectable smoker smell, the thought of remediation was overwhelming. Passed on at least one nice place due to the smoker/nicotine presence. You have to decide whether or not you want to take this risk given your severe allergies.

Good article, Lynzy. Replace every single light bulb. As soon as they heat up the nicotine will cook and ooze. Same with appliances, ceiling fans and light fixtures. Get rid of them. Research ozone generators. We had our ductwork and a/c system professionally cleaned and inspected, in addition to everything mentioned in my previous comments. No smoke smell at all now, but we are having a whole house air purifier installed because of the desert sand. The seller insisted she didn’t smoke, but forgot her cigarettes and lighter the first time we looked at the house. We walked out after five minutes. We came back again when they offered to reduce the price by $20k to cover restoration costs. We threw out every single thing they left here. The non-smoker husband died two months after closing, not sure from what, they were both elderly and unwell. We had neighbors over for a cocktail party and a toast to Jim and they were all amazed that they could not detect cigarette smell. It can be done, but it’s risky and very expensive and should only be done by a professional disaster team. And don’t live there until everything is finished!