Cleaning advise on relatives house

AnnieO1234

Can I ask hon where his body was found ? If it was the floor you may need to look at replacing that section of floorboards. Speaking from experience to some degree, the odour of decomposition gets into the backs of your nose. Once you've done all you can; get a third party to come and smell the place. Don't put any air fresheners to "hide" it, you need to neutralise the scents.

To a degree coffee grounds work, after fires and smoke damage better than anything I've ever seen. But if the scent is in something you may need to replace that something (plasterboard, concrete, floorboards) rather than waste time attempting to clean something that will never truly clean.

It's not an easy thing hon and I would suggest you maybe get professionals in anyway due to the nature of what you're doing. Xxx

thorsoak

BarryBlue wrote: »

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.

With all due respect, BarryBlue, the OP is requesting help in deodorising a house in which a relative died on his own and was not missed/discovered for a fortnight.

It's a bit more personal and poignant than looking to buy a house wherein smokers have dwelled!

Mojisola

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

I would suggest you maybe get professionals in anyway due to the nature of what you're doing.

I think this is one of the occasions when it's worth paying someone else to do the job. The professionals will have the experience and the right stuff to do the job properly.

pixie12_2

Thank you everyone who has responded with your suggestions (apart from some). You have all been a really good help

pixie12_2

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

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..

Thank you for this. This is why I did a brief and simple explanation about it as the facts why he wasn't found sooner does not change anything

oliviamoore81

my family and I were in a similar situation to this a few years back. we tried everything we could think of. gutted the place including carpets like you have done but nothing seemed to work. in the end we got professional cleaners in, which did the trick. i can't remember exactly how much but it was around £600 for the whole house (3 bed semi-detatched).

Savvy_Sue

BTW, if you also need to clear the house, I thoroughly recommend professional house clearance. The company we used were just brilliant, not cheap but worth every single penny ....

Trek_girl

thorsoak wrote: »

With all due respect, BarryBlue, the OP is requesting help in deodorising a house in which a relative died on his own and was not missed/discovered for a fortnight.

It's a bit more personal and poignant than looking to buy a house wherein smokers have dwelled!

I think the point is that some smells get so ingrained e.g. Into plaster, that no normal cleaning will help.