Textured wallpaper in a smoker's apartment: Is painting enough?

Hello everyone,

I will soon be moving into a new apartment. Wall situation: woodchip wallpaper, newly papered by the current tenant 5 years ago. All other layers were removed beforehand.
The tenant has been smoking in the apartment for 5 years. According to his own statement, always with ventilation, but you can clearly smell it when you enter the apartment.
However, there is no yellowing visible yet.
Question: Is it enough to paint once to get rid of the nicotine smell? Would painting over with a "Nikotinsperre" be a sensible alternative,
or is it unavoidable to paper the walls again?

Best regards

Jari

Hey,
it’s going to be difficult. After 5 years, you won’t be able to completely get rid of the smell without a basic renovation. If I were you, I would directly prepare for re-wallpapering (including ceilings!). If there are carpets, they also have to go.

Best regards,

Andreas

"Our tenant also said 'Only with a draft.' Result: All carpets & wallpapers completely removed, ceiling panels taken down, everything stripped down to the wall. Then painted with (extremely expensive!) paint and everything rebuilt."

We bought a smoker's house last year. In the living room, we stripped everything down to the ceiling. Bought extra expensive nicotine paint, but it didn't help... still yellow. Then we applied primer again and painted twice with Alpina. That turned out well. From the experience, we removed the ceiling wallpaper directly in the kitchen. In the end, that was faster. There is no more smell (in the living room). However, the previous owner was a heavy smoker and smoked inside. In your case, I could imagine that a nicotine barrier plus primer and a single coat of paint would be enough.