Example: converting a cigar den into a baby's room

The plan and how it went

Illustrative example. Not a real job or customer.

Expecting parents buy a single-story brick ranch. The rest of the house smells mostly clean, but the den off the living room, with knotty pine paneling, a built-in bar and wall-to-wall carpet, smells heavily of cigars. It is the only room near the primary bedroom that would work as a nursery, and the baby is due in about four months.

1. The parents close the den door and cover its supply register and the nearby return with plastic and painter's tape, to keep residue out of the rest of the system while they plan.
2. They remove the carpet, pad and tack strip and find a concrete-slab floor in that wing, stained in a circle where a chair once stood.
3. A refinisher looks at the paneling. The finish is an old, worn varnish that has absorbed odor, and the pine behind it is raw. The parents decide to paint the paneling rather than try to restore it, after cleaning and sealing.
4. The built-in bar cabinet smells strongest inside. Its interior is cleaned and sealed; the cabinet doors and countertop are replaced.
5. The branch duct to the den is cleaned along with the main returns, and a new filter goes in.
6. The ceiling, paneling and remaining trim are washed, then sealed with a shellac-based primer and painted. The slab is cleaned and sealed before new flooring.
7. The room sits closed with the heat running for a week, and the parents check it each morning before deciding it is ready.

The nursery is finished about six weeks before the due date, giving paint and flooring time to air out. The parents keep the den's old brass bar fixtures and give away the leather recliner that came with the house.