Removing Smells from a Home-Help Please!!! (Centreville, Fairfax: real estate, how much, buying a home)

[BrendaMPZ]

Hello,

We love a house in Centreville and would like to make an offer. The only problem is the smell. I mean, serious nasty fish smell. We have visited twice and it was the same both times. My real estate agent asked if it was ok to wait outside the second time we went! And the second time I went it was at 9am and the I had to hold my gags. I mean, geez. There are a lot of people living in the home. The owners and their three children sleep in the master bedroom and different people sleep in the other three bedrooms in the top level. The basement has a small kitchen and three other occupied bedrooms, so lots of people cook there, I guess a lot of fish. The house is beautiful in a very desirable neighboorhood and I know offers will fly in, even in this economy. I want to make sure this odor can be removed. My mom told me not to buy. She told me that even if I rip the carpets, the smell of 5 years of frying fish with the windows closed has probably been absorbed into the drywall. Does anyone have have any idea if deeply absorbed odors can be removed from a house? How and how much can that cost. Thanks a million!!!

[South Jersey Styx]

You may try posting this problem on the House forum for more responses.

You can wash walls, even with a bleach solution, and then repaint. Primers come in different levels and will seal your walls. Rip out anything porous as it has absorbed the smells. Sanitize, lysol everything, get rid of the bacteria (as this is what causes the smell). Once you air out that house and clean really well I am confident that the house will smell better. Also, I think there are cleaning services that do this kind of work in case you need them.

BTW, can you negotiate on the price because of the nasty stank smell?
Good luck!

[austindoxie1972]

I think your mom might be right about this one. Removing smells that have seeped into the walls, floors, etc, will be difficult -- if not downright impossible. Really consider this before buying. Good luck! It's a hard decision.

[Yankeesfan]

There are a multitude of other houses out there, with owners anxious to sell. Don't waste your time on this one.

[ISOnewplace]

I also agree with your mom. A house with a consistantly bad smell is usually indicitive of other underlying problems. Are you sure this is due to cooking and not major mold or plumbing issues? It is very difficult to get rid of smells in a house as anything porous has absorbed it as the other poster said. Paint and disinfecting will NOT do the job. If you buy, what happens if you can not get rid of the smell. Are you content to live there.

If you do decide to go forward, there is a commercial product you can buy used by agents to get rid of humidity and smell. It is a canister or bucket or something that you open and leave in a closed up house. Then, you will still likely have to rip out all carpets, wallpaper and perhaps even the drywall and replace it. I'm not sure what this product is but you can probably google it or ask a real estate agent. I know this because we looked at a house where heavy smokers lived. I loved the house but it was GROSS. We passed! Good luck.

[athousandlogins]

Originally Posted by ISOnewplace

I know this because we looked at a house where heavy smokers lived. I loved the house but it was GROSS. We passed! Good luck.

My mother is a chain smoker, and she has not been able to sell her home. I'm convinced the smoking is the reason. But she won't listen when my brothers and I implore her to do her smoking outside. "I need to be comfortable when I have my cigarette," she says. But nobody wants to live in an ashtray...

[michgc]

I would stay away. I had a friend buy a home a few years ago. There were scented candles at the open house and he never detected a cat urine smell that the house had until he moved in. He tried EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING to get rid of that smell. I'm not sure if he ever did. But he called every specialist he could find and tried all different means of getting rid of the smell. If he did finally get rid of it, it was after considerable expense, time, and frustration. I know that cat urine smell is notoriously hard to get rid of, but I wouldn't want to risk it on another smell either. I'm sure it's hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. There will be other houses.

[DC Oldtimer]

Fairfax County is full of beautiful houses. I'd find another one.

But for the record, activated charcoal is good at absorbing annoying odors.

[Gottasay]

Yeah, I'd say...next! No pun intended, there's plenty of fish in the sea! Do a serious cost-benefit analysis before buying a home b/c there can be lots of costs after you move in that you might not have factored in.

[Fleur~de~lis]

Don't do it!! You'll regret it - find something else. Smells can be seriously hard to get rid of, if at all. Good luck!