I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!
caulk openings between floors, like under sink, around pipes. this should help a lot
frankly I detest smoke and would move.
you could also bring in fresh air from outside, at a low rate creating a positive pressure in your unit, that would help keep the smoke from leaking in
You need to seal around the pipes coming out of the wall under the sink.
If there is escutcheons, things that look like this:
If you use the foam be careful the non latex stuff is nasty to stuff to remove if it gets in the wrong place.
Thanks for the replies - I'll try chalking around the pipes this evening. Thanks again!!!
That's "caulking", not "chalking". They rhyme, though. You need to use the right word because if you walk into a place like Home Depot and speak to one of their clueless associates, they won't be able to figure out what you're looking for, and they'll end up paging the stores "chalk" expert, who'll show up and send you to the coloring book aisle in a nearby supermarket to buy some chalk.
This isn't as far-fetched as you might think. :-(
Never mind that it's a good idea for all of us to continue work on English fluency.
Communication skills are rather discounted nowadays, it seems. Stuff like spelling, grammar, basic logic. Fuzziness rules, on high.
JNo they would try to sell you some chalk for a chalk line. The dispenser bottle would let you shoot it it the hole, but I doubt it would do anything.
Maybe the chalk would fly all over the smoker and they would think "Where's all this red dust coming from, maybe its deadly mold. I think I should move"
Never mind that it's a good idea for all of us to continue work on English fluency.
Communication skills are rather discounted nowadays, it seems. Stuff like spelling, grammar, basic logic. Fuzziness rules, on high.
Never heard of "chalking" except maybe on a pool-cue, or a gymnast's hands.
J
I'm not sure of your ability to relocate but there are smoke free buildings. Other that caulk i'd be tempted to take up clog or tap dancing.
:-) :-) Or, find someone with portable digital recording equipment, record some jackhammers at work.....the rest needs no explanation.
The other suggestions are good, but remember to clean everything that has been exposed to the odor. Washing walls and fixtures will help.
I quit smoking about 30 years ago. My wife never did. I wonder how she put up with me all those smoky years.
Without reading the rest of the thread, i figured someone told him to use (snapline powdered) chalk to check for air infiltration around pipes in common walls.
So, if that turns out to be the source of the smell, wouldn't it be considered pipe smoke? ;)
In addition to the plugging holes advice and funny comments, consider a good quality air purifier. Not fair that you'd have to spend the money on it but they work well. I dated a guy that smoked in his house. But with the air thing, you could walk in his house and never know a smoker lived there. Sue Minocqua, WI Yamaha '00 VStar 650 '04 TW200 (mud = fun) Kawasaki '95 Vulcan 1500 V#15937
Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence.
Move. I used to have a neighbor downstairs from me, who smoked like a chimney and left her front door open so that the whole world could share her smoke with her. I used to know when she went to bed at night, because my apartment would suddenly smell better. In my opinion, there is no effective way to deal with the problem, and it would be best to negotiate an end to your rental agreement and get out of there.
Just start smoking yourself and you wont notice it.
Ditto. The tenant underneath me moved and a smoker moved in. My kitchen stunk like an old ashtray since then. I decided to move and buy a house (from a non-smoker). Maybe they should charge more rent for smokers or put them in a separate building.
Other have suggested caulking. That's probably a good idea, but you have a great deal more caulking to do than you might think. I once lived in an building where idiots in the apartment below started a fire. The firemen came quickly and put it out, before there was any serious damage.
Afterwards there were little "plumes" of soot on the walls in more places than I could count. Every wall penetration showed evidence of smoke. Around every door frame, wall outlet and light fixture. In various places over and under base moldings. Even in small cracks in the plaster. Certainly around every plumbing and heat pipe.
I might add that in another building we lived in there were crevices under baseboards where even MICE managed to get through, although the space didn't look nearly as big as the mouse. Presumably there was a vermin highway in the walls. Based on what I have seen, I wouldn't be surprised if even your floors were not 100% sealed.
My very inexpert opinion is that you will never get it all sealed up. Positive pressure might be worth investigating.
Greg Guarino
If thats the case. The best thing to do would be to have a large crane come and take the upper apartment off from the lower one, and set it on it's own foundation away from the smoker. :)
I'm wondering if he's going to use white chalk, or colored chalk. He could steal a few pieces of chalk from the local school's black board. Or from some kids playing hopscotch out on the sidewalk.
the plugging holes advice and funny comments, consider a good quality air purifier. Not fair that you'd have to spend the money on it but they work well. I dated a guy that smoked in his house. But with the air thing, you could walk in his house and never know a smoker lived there.
Sue
I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW ANY NON SMOKER COULD DATE A SMOKER!
!!!YUK!!!!
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