ᐅ Wall and ceiling turned yellow after 4 months!!

I had an apartment handover yesterday. I rented the apartment from May 1, 2008, to September 30, 2008. The walls were freshly painted at that time. The management believes that the walls in the living room (about 22 m2 (237 sq ft)) are now yellowed because I smoked and wants to charge me $600. I have to say that although I am a smoker, I work full-time and spent two-thirds of the time with my partner. It was summer, and during the time I was there, I kept the terrace door open.

My question is: is it even possible for the walls to have yellowed so much and so evenly in such a short period, or could the problem lie with the paint that was used back then? I would consider consulting an expert who could come on site and examine the issue personally. Or can anyone give me advice on how to defend myself in this situation?

Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Marzena

Hello Marzena!
Of course, it is possible for walls to turn yellow from smoking. We had a similar case in the neighborhood. The lady didn’t live here long and always smoked inside the apartment. When she wanted to hand over the apartment, the owner complained about the yellow walls. She then had to repaint everything. But regarding your case: 600 euros do not seem realistic to me, so you should definitely seek advice from an expert.

Why didn’t you just repaint the walls? That would have saved you money. Though 600 euros is way too much...

But if you smoke a lot inside the apartment, usually it’s the ceiling that gets discolored, not the entire apartment. Especially not evenly!

Could it be that the walls are not in good condition? I would suggest asking your neighbors how things look on their side. If you haven't smoked much in the apartment, I find it hard to believe that this would affect the walls that much.

I would say this is a completely normal use. After all, smoking was not prohibited in your apartment! But I do find it quite surprising that the wall has already started to discolor after such a short time; I didn't expect that!

Hello,

If a lot of smoking takes place in an apartment, the walls can become discolored. However, if there wasn’t much smoking, it’s impossible for the stains to be caused by smoking. You just need to check how the ceiling looks or the area above a radiator. That’s where the heat is generated, and you will first see nicotine stains there!

It is also possible that previous tenants were heavy smokers and only regular ceiling paint was used. Over time, the nicotine stains then reappear. When painting walls where smoking has occurred, you need to use a special nicotine-blocking primer, so the nicotine does not bleed through the paint.

mantafan