The call came from a client whose mother had just passed. The home needed to go on the market, and the family wanted it done right — not flipped, not rushed, but properly prepared so they could close cleanly and move forward.
We've done pre-listing work before, but this one had more layers than most.
What We Found
The home was livable but carried years of accumulated history. The client's mother had been a smoker, so the walls, ceilings, and surfaces held the kind of residue that a surface-level clean won't touch — visible staining in some rooms, and embedded odor that you don't get out without treating the walls directly.
In the front bedroom, the problem was structural. A sprinkler head had been hitting the exterior wall for years. The repeated water exposure had worked into the coquina stucco and caused it to lift. Once that seal breaks, moisture gets behind the wall — and what we found when we opened it up confirmed it. The drywall had absorbed significant water intrusion and had to come out completely.
In every closet throughout the house, the original wire rack systems and old doors needed to go. They were dated, some were damaged, and a buyer walking through would notice them immediately.
The Full Scope
We walked the home with the client and put the complete plan in writing before we touched anything:
- Full smoke removal treatment — walls, ceilings, and trim throughout
- Deep clean of the entire home
- Front bedroom: pull water-damaged drywall, full replacement, tape, bed, and finish
- Full repaint — every room, every ceiling, all trim
- Remove all wire closet rack systems throughout the house
- Replace closet doors throughout
"This is someone's mother's home. We treat it that way — clean work, no shortcuts, and we leave it better than we found it."
Smoke Removal: The Step Most People Skip
Before any paint goes on a home with smoke history, the surfaces have to be treated — not just cleaned, but sealed. We applied a shellac-based primer to all walls and ceilings to lock in the odor and staining before putting on finish coats.
This is the step that most DIYers and rushed contractors skip. If you paint over smoke residue without sealing it first, the smell comes back once the paint cures. Buyers can tell. We don't skip it.
The Front Bedroom Wall
Once we opened the exterior wall in the front bedroom, we found drywall that had been sitting wet. The coquina stucco on the outside had been breached by years of sprinkler exposure, and the moisture had traveled through. We pulled everything that was compromised, let the wall cavity dry out fully, and came back in with new drywall.
Two coats of mud, properly cured and sanded between each. The wall came out cleaner than anything else in the room — you'd never know.
Paint and Closets
The repaint was a full house. With smoke treatment, the shellac primer coat is as important as the finish — it's what actually solves the problem. We ran two finish coats over the sealed walls and the rooms came out clean, bright, and buyer-ready.
The closet work changed the feel of every room. Pulling out decades-old wire racks and hanging new doors is one of those improvements that sounds minor until you see it. Buyers open every closet. A clean closet with a working door signals a maintained home. Old wire racks signal the opposite.
The Result
The family was able to list within two weeks of us finishing. The home showed clean. The front bedroom wall was indistinguishable from the rest of the house. The smoke odor was gone completely.
That's what this kind of job is really about — helping a family close a chapter the right way, and making sure the home reflects the care that went into it.