Cleaning advise on relatives house

Wickedkitten

Look up Trauma Cleaning. You are going to need something that goes above and beyond a normal cleaning companies remit.

Trek_girl

One thing I heard once is to get as much jeyes fluid in a bath as you can. Then open all the internal doors of the house and the jeyes should absorb the smells in a week or so. Never tried it myself.

Have also heard about leaving saucers of vinegar overnight to absorb smells but again, never tried it

sammyjammy

Poor man, dead for two weeks and no contact with family or anyone.

19lottie82

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/261857953617?adgroupid=&hlpht=true&hlpv=2&rlsatarget=&adtype=pla&ff3=1&lpid=122&poi=&ul_noapp=true&limghlpsr=true&ff19=0&device=c&chn=ps&campaignid=&crdt=0&ff12=67&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff14=122&viphx=1&ops=true&ff13=80

try a couple of these before you go for the high cost option?

jobbingmusician

Also, at some point in the process I suggest you get a friend to check to see what they can smell. You have been through a trauma, I suspect, and the memory of the smell will linger far longer for you than it will for a dispassionate person.

jrtfan

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Also, at some point in the process I suggest you get a friend to check to see what they can smell. You have been through a trauma, I suspect, and the memory of the smell will linger far longer for you than it will for a dispassionate person.

Yes, absolutely.

(I've just googled Trauma Cleaning as per Wickedkitten's suggestion, because I was curious. They're right - it will require very specialist techniques to freshen the place up properly again.)

jrtfan

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Thanks but it didn't work

Sorry about that, it was worth a try though! I haven't had to deal with tobacco smells before, have you tried googling Kim and Aggie to see if they had any good suggestions?

Tuesday_Tenor

sammyjammy wrote: »

Poor man, dead for two weeks and no contact with family or anyone.

Yes, it's a sad situation but there's an implied criticism of the family here which isn't fair as we don't know all the facts. Holiday season; family could well have been away for several weeks, and maybe the gentleman had previously rejected/driven away all other visitors/callers.

I'm late 50s, live alone, and am well aware that it could be weeks before anyone found my body if I died suddenly and unexpectedly at home.

That's despite being a very active member of my community and having LOADS of great neighbours and friends who I share varied activities and occasional meals with.

It's a combination of factors that lead to the issue:
- only family is a sister who I'm not close to and lives in a different country - we phone or email about once a month.
- I'm semi retired but when I work, it takes me away from home for a week or two at a time
- despite having loads of friends there's no one who sees me on a daily basis or knows the details of all the varied aspects of my life.
There nothing regular about the meeting for meals/coffees as we're all busy people; it happens as and when it can. Friends from my various activities might phone up to see if I was ill, if I missed an event or two but equally might just assume I was working away and had forgotten to mention it. Only if I missed something really important, or a regular activity for several weeks, would anyone make repeated attempts to contact me and get worried about a prolonged lack of response.

In fact, it could easily be more like 5-6 weeks before anyone would be breaking the door down!

It's something I'll have to think about a bit more as I get older, though then I won't be working away as much.

Home alone deaths can only increase as more people live home alone.

jrtfan

It sounds like the OP's grandfather lived in a nice location, anyway - it must have been peaceful being in the middle of nowhere, a person would be able to hear the birdsong and see millions of stars at night.

BarryBlue

jrtfan wrote: »

Sorry about that, it was worth a try though! I haven't had to deal with tobacco smells before, have you tried googling Kim and Aggie to see if they had any good suggestions?

The problem with a house that has been inhabited by smokers is that the smoke contains all that tarry filth that permeates everything. It's not just the carpets, curtains and furniture that absorb it, although they need dumping, of course. It also gets into the wallpaper and even the plaster if it has occurred for long enough.

We would absolutely never, under any circumstances, purchase a smoker's property. We have been on viewings and not got beyond the hall in the past. Redecorating and recarpeting may be an option but replastering a house to rid it of a stink is a step too far. I think estate agents should state in their particulars whether the house is owned by smokers or not.