The house at a glance
- Era
- Built in the 1920s, brick, two stories plus finished attic
- Heat
- Hot-water boiler and radiators; no ductwork except a later attic cooling unit
- Smoking pattern
- Pipe, nightly, mostly in a paneled library; occasional cigarettes by other family members in the sunroom
- Walls
- Original plaster, some wallpaper upstairs
- Family goal
- List within a few months with an accurate disclosure
How it unfolded
Illustrative example. Not a real job or customer.
Three adult siblings inherit the house. Each lives in another state, and they plan to sell. The library smells heavily of sweet pipe tobacco, the sunroom smells of cigarettes, and the rest of the house has a faint stale note that the listing broker says buyers will notice.
- The siblings start with the contents, using a sorting plan and an estate sale organizer. Books from the library are boxed separately, and two paintings go to a conservator for evaluation.
- With rooms empty, they see that the library ceiling and the plaster above the fireplace are amber, and the sunroom windows have a heavy film.
- A painter warns that the house almost certainly has lead paint on the trim and asks for testing before any sanding. The test confirms lead in the older layers, so prep work is planned to be lead-safe.
- Because the house has radiators rather than ducts, there is no duct cleaning to do for the main floors. Instead, the cleaner pays special attention to the walls and dust behind each radiator, which smell strongly when the heat is on.
- A wood refinisher looks at the library paneling. Its varnish is intact, so careful cleaning is recommended rather than stripping. The raw backs of the built-in shelves are sealed.
- The upstairs wallpaper, already peeling and smoke-stained, is removed before cleaning and priming.
- The broker suggests disclosing the smoking history and describing the cleanup and sealing work, with receipts available to buyers.
The house goes on the market with the library paneling preserved, the odor largely gone except a trace in the attic framing, and a clear written history of what was done. The broker reports that buyer questions focus on the boiler and windows, not smoke.
Decision points worth noticing
- IfOlder house with original woodworkThenA refinisher's opinion came before any cleaning, which protected the paneling from the wrong products.
- IfPre-1978 paintThenTesting first changed how the painter prepped trim and avoided a lead dust problem.
- IfRadiator heat instead of ductsThenThe effort that would have gone to duct cleaning went to radiators and the walls around them.
- IfFaint odor left in raw attic framingThenThe family chose to seal the most affected rafters and disclose rather than open the roof deck.
Questions the family asked along the way
- Should the library woodwork be cleaned, refinished or only sealed where hidden?
- Which items should leave before cleaning, and which should go to specialists?
- How should the smoking history and cleanup be described to buyers?
- Is any part of this work regulated because of the house's age or historic district status?
General information for Cherry Creek, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.