Third hand smoke...Can this effect the price of a home and inspections?

Hi Peggy, The article suggests that the smoke can linger in a home for a while..even after cleaned. I know I've seen homes that have had the nasty cigarette smell..and have gone back after it was vacant where the seller had to paint every area..walls, ceilings and change out the carpet. I couldn't smell it anymore..so it seemed like this would need to be done.

Hi Dick...oh, don't get me started on cat pee! I showed a home once where the family felt it necessary to sit around and smoke while we were there. The house literally had ashtrays loading with ciggy butts all over the place. We went down to the lower level where a couple of bedrooms were and the smell of cat pee was SOOOO strong that I had to leave. My clients still wanted to make an offer which I tried to talk them out of..she was pregnant with her third and had some young ones still. It wasn't until the inspector came up from the lower level with a mask on saying he found areas where there was a foot of cat poop did they finally decide to not move forward. Now that was one house where I felt the need to shower up after viewing..and did stop on the way home to get those disinfectent wipes for my car.

Hi Peter and Linda, I'm sure it's just a matter of time after more and more statistics come out about third hand smoke. We now have to have a carbon monoxide detector in homes that are on the market, wonder if they'll come out with a detector that you can plug in that will pick up the smoke residue.

Hi Mary, I rememember one of my first jobs was housekeeping in a nursing home. The worst rooms were always the employees loung/locker areas..especially back in the 70's when LOTS of people smoked. I remember cleaning the front of the lockers one day and the nicotine was just dripping down..very discusting for me at the time and thought of how that just sits on all surfaces. YUCK

Hi David, It is a good thing that the smoker homes are not as common as in the past...or like you said, better in certain locals. I still do encounter them though every now and then and the nose picks it right up. Better to have those nice hardwoods than a carpet that holds all sorts of stuff...and they are just SO much nicer looking.

Hi Frank and Karen, It is scary that this stuff can stick around and linger on stuff long after the smokers have gone. Just reading that makes you wonder how often we brush things off as allergies when it could be smoke residue. I guess that is an allergy of sorts.

Hi Charles, Just reading about how a smoker can leave residue on a crib hand rail from there fingers was enough. I remember my sons teething on that rail as soon as they could stand. Non smokers..so not an issue for us, but when you think of all those that smoke..not good. I didn't look to see if there are even tests out that would detect this, thinking too in the early stages for the third hand smoke testers.

Hi Jill, They just changed the law here in Portland last year that you can't smoke in any place...so all those pubs and bars that were places that a smoker could go to are all non smoking. I'm with you, even though I'm not a smoker, I think there should be places that they can go and enjoy a ciggy if they want..their choice and it would be MY choice whether I wanted to go there or not. We've come a long way since we were able to smoke on planes, inside malls and movie theatres! In those instances, I think it's a good thing as they are enclosed public spaces.

Hi Karen, It is pretty gross when you think of how the smoke just permeates into the walls and air conditioning vents. One pretty much has to re-paint every surface, change the ducts, and get new carpeting to get rid of it. This is very costly and not many want to deal with it. I wonder if smokers notice the smell when looking at homes.