Stained. Do I need two coats of primer?What kind would you recommend?I try to buy from home depot --73.52.xx.xxx

You say you "have" a heavy smoker. If he is still in there and hasn't moved out, I would not paint for him. He will just ruin the new paint, too. --76.178.xxx.xxx

Then, I'd realize that it might still smell a bit. --74.135.xx.xx

Zinser BIN is the go to for odor sealing, but you still need to go clean everything with TSP as noted above. --143.105.xx.xxx

If it is just a faint smell the cleaning should take care of it, then seal the place up. My suggestion is to clean and deodorize the place then let it sit while you work on other things to see if the smell returns. Nothing worse then getting ready to show a place and the smell creeps back in. Whether it be smoke, pets or just dirty feet. --47.227.xx.xxx

Jason, if your tenant has moved out, I'd do absolutely as much cleaning as possible first, before doing any painting, as some smells seem to migrate from an uncleaned surface to the cleaned areas. Definitely don't paint over dirty areas. On a house I bought that had mold, squatter remnants, wild animal droppings, long after everything was cleaned up, I finally got around to priming the subfloors. I used Zinzer shellac-based primer. I was surprised at how much better it smelled after that. Seems the floor was still releasing smells. That house has been rented a few years now, still smells good. --72.135.xxx.xxx

Then it's often a gut job or close to it. --73.216.xxx.xxx

It had a wall unit AC, and I tossed it as well. Saw a couple guys driving down the alley looking for scrap. Said if they wanted it they could take it. They did and that saved me from trying to clean it as well as hauling up and down the stairs. --47.227.xx.xxx

Oil kills should work - unless it is going onto a water-based pain surface. --67.140.xx.xx

You need a shellac-based primer: Zinsser BIN. Oil-based won't work. But must clean first w/TSP. --65.25.xxx.xx

I’m dealing with this right now but after only 3 years. In my case the paint was of good quality and eggshell so it didn’t penetrate the surface. I use a swiffer wet sprayed with krud cutter to clean the walls and it pretty much all comes off. So just a coat of paint works. In the past one coat of Kilz has been enough after cleaning. I did leave windows open for a few weeks to get rid of the smell. Obviously everything porous has to be replaced. --162.204.xxx.xxx

Keep this as a smokers unit, don't do more than you have to. Otherwise you have to replace everything including the outlets, fridge, and such. Paint from HD won't work, and paint won't work w/out scrubbing. Just take a sponge mop to the surfaces try liquid tsp or HD purple degreaser undiluted. And get a good ozone machine. --172.59.xxx.xxx

Also, when washing anything covered in nicotine: remember liquid nicotine is a POTENT poison. Don't do it without hazmat protection... --73.216.xxx.xxx

I always do a 'No Dip-backs' method of cleaning. Bunch of clean rags into a bucket of soapy water. Wring each rag out, toss into a second clean bucket. Use each rag once, toss into a third bucket. The third bucket gets carried home, washed three times in the washer before going into dryer. So, the rags come out very clean, the wash water for the walls, floors, whatever I am cleaning always stays clean. I started this for moldy houses, not wanting to spread mold spores, but, thanks to reminders from y'all, I am reducing my risk of nicotene poisoning when I clean ciggy smioke. (And, since I allow smokers....) --72.135.xxx.xxx

TSP...the real kind from a pro paint store. then shellac, again, from a real paint store like sherwin or such. common primer will not work. fun story, i had a smoker move out of a home exactly as described above, 20 years of diligent daily smoking in the barcalounger. the popcorn was brown and when the painter was scraping it for the new texture some of the cottage fell on his bare arms. WELL...that was like 100 nicotine patches and he was soon in the bushes ralphing up his breakfast. if he hadn't been a smoker i think that might have sent him to a hospital. i told him i wouldn't dock him for that extra break. good times. when we scrubbed the place the walls dripped with brown streaks. smoking is a disgusting habit. --67.63.xx.xxx

With a special sponge mop you have to wash all of the smoke effected walls with TSP soap. Let it dry. Then "another day" you apply a Special Smoke Treatment Primer (Thick Coat) to seal in the smell. Then you air out the rental. Wait 24 hours and test (Using your noise) that the smell is all gone, before you paint. --47.155.xx.xxx

Glad that I only have a couple smokers left. Maybe I should buy another pail now and just keep it in storage? --195.242.xxx.xxx