Again, if you suspected this problem, you'd probably hope that people take you seriously and would offer help. There's not much that I can do to convince anyone here except to repeat more examples of the neighbor discussing what I'm doing.
I think that it's as odd as people stated that there's a peephole in a wall that I can't see. That's why I'm asking for ideas.
For the constructive posts, thanks. The sound-activated device and listening for a knee-jerk response is interesting. For the post about the camera and collecting evidence, I'm guessing that my best shot is to search the next unit after I confirm the existence of a peephole. I believe that a former Hooters' manager just got a
3-year sentence for peeping on girls changing, but they found lots of video, and I'm not expecting to find evidence that they actually use the peephole. I thought that maybe a police search might scare them into patching any holes.
The sidenote about backing medicine cabinets is interesting.
Like the post above joked, I'm not great looking either, so I'd think that they'd try to cover any holes to AVOID seeing anything. And I'm not female or underage, so these types of issues are irrelevant.
As a last resort, I can just pull the mirror and check. I don't have anyone to help me, don't want to deal with putting the mirror back, don't want to risk breaking the mirror, and was hoping not to tip off the neighbors, so I thought that I'd try here first. I don't mind the skepticism, but I wasn't expecting so much flaming.
For a mirror to be transparent a light shown from behind will show this if it exists, which I dought. Removing the silver will be evident you would see it. Id say you have a cheap bldg and crappy tennants that cant see you but hear you and harass you. A camera would need a hole apx
1/16" look for the hole or forget it you truely sound over paranoid. Why would they go to the expense? they would not as I see it.
fwiw; I've seen the mirror trick done fixing a wobbling wall cabinet in a bathroom. Took it out to see where I was going to drive nails or screw into tooo... Backside of the mirror looked to have two coatings if I recall correctly, silver with black on the far back. The black was removed/scraped off messy but left a neat non glossy silver spot. From the from reflective side of the mirror it looked like a water spot discoloration on the back side. Maybe about the size of the tip of a new pencil eraser.
guy lived alone, must have spied on his guests because it looked into his own main bathroom, he would have had to yank that cabinet out and stick his head in-between wall studs to see anything if he used it.
i bet you've spent more time worrying about it than it would have taken to remove the mirror and check. ooh, i forgot. its too risky!!! do you even bother to go outside any more?
you clearly dont like the neighbors, why do you care if they catch you catching them peeping on you?
If you are an ordinary specimen of mankind like the rest of us there isn't really much worth looking at. To satisfy your neighbor's curiosity why not take a nude picture of yourself and hang it right in front of the peep hole. She gets her jollies anytime she wants and you get your peace. If the peeper is a he then your problem isn't just a peephole's.
I mentioned one example above that the neighbor commented on my eating pizza in the bathroom while working on a kitchen project, but I hope that you're right.
"A camera would need a hole apx 1/16" "
I'm not assuming that they use a camera.
"Why would they go to the expense?"
If a great-looking girl lived here before, I can imagine some jerk making a hole. I'm not sure that it'd be much expense.
"you truely sound over paranoid."
I don't see why you can't acknowledge that this is a plausible problem. It's not a great leap of faith that this sort of thing happens, and I'm not over-reacting to the situation.
That's interesting that the silver might not be completely removed. I'll look more closely for irregularities by cleaning the mirror and using a flashlight.
For your experience, I w> fwiw; I've seen the mirror trick done fixing a wobbling wall cabinet in
I take you seriously; you didn't cut and run on this post, for one thing. For another, I've been aroudn the internet and I've *seen* what is out there. Also, there are occasional criminal cases.
I will say that one of our tenants believed that the former landlord, who lived upstairs of her, was spying, as he always seemed to be right above her. I've been through that place and haven't found anything. So paranoia does occur too.
Usually the mirror's silver will be scratched in an inconspicuous place like a corner. The other option is one-way glass (aka, incongruously, "two way mirror"), which would have a different appearance from a typical bathroom mirror. They tend to be metallic and cloudy. If there's any light on the other side, you can actually see back through, and you can also see through dimly if you get up close to the glass.
(I used to work in a place with psych interview rooms.)
If there's really a hole in the *wall*, though, you'll have to remove the mirror to prove it's there. Mirrors aren't that hard, they're just fragile, awkward, and heavy. ;-) Find out how it's supported; sometimes they are just resting on brackets and clipped in place at the top. Removing those clips would allow you to tilt the mirror out without removing it completely.
Odd. Like a false wall, you're thinking?
(Tell us more. Is this a standard apartment building, or a converted single-family house, and when was the conversion done?)
It could be a plywood or fiberboard of some type. What kind of sound does it make when you plonk it with a finger? Does it have any "give"? But I doubt it's in the material so much as in a convenient corner or molding.
I tried turning off the light, hoping that the light
That would be wise, of course. You could "stake out" the room by sitting there in the dark before they come in, if you can hear them. That might give you a flash of light as they open the door, telling you where the hole is.
Let the police take care of it. If there is any evidence on *your* side that you can show them, then they will have probable cause for a search. If not, they will need the permission of the other tenant, or the landlord. Proving it was used, without evidence like video, would be the hard part, and possibly not worth it to you. (It will take months to come to trial, the prosecutor will put you off, etc.) Consider just moving instead. If you have evidence, the landlord will probably quickly evict the other tenants, though, so you could wait that out. The landlord has a duty of care to give you privacy.
Anyway, a sanity check. Are you sure there's no way they could see you (eating pizza, say) without "peeping" -- e.g. a reflection on the next door building's windows? That happened to me once -- neighborhood teenagers would hang out on their deck and even though I couldn't see them directly, they could see activity in the bathroom reflected in their windows, generating raucous laughter. We solved it by getting better shades.
I appreciate the responses from yourself and Jim Yanik. Nice sanity checks
You seem very experienced, so let me explain my situation if you don't mind and get your thoughts. I'm working with limited available time to prepare this property to sell ASAP, so I'd rather not deal with this at all. My understanding is that part of disclosure to buyers is that you must state any problems like "nuisance neighbors" or fix the problem before disclosure. Given the responses here, I suppose that I might claim that I'm not paranoid and that there are no peepholes, so no disclosure is required. The other approach is to start with a reasonable amount of investigation and follow where it leads. Do you think that I should just forget about this?
In response to your post:
I'll try your mirror inspection technique when I return home. It's a quick check before pulling the mirror, so why not? I thought that I'd also try turning off the light and angling a flashlight beam to spot irregularities. Another quick check. I'm using my time on the road to gather info after suspecting this problem last week.
I also like the idea of tilting the mirror since it is mounted with brackets, which I'm pretty sure that I can do myself.
"Tell us more. Is this a standard apartment building, or a converted single-family house, and when was the conversion done?"
Given everyone's wondering about why I can't just see a hole, I think that I might skip this problem and focus on the mirror, but thanks for offering your help.
I might try your idea about sitting in the dark. I'll just choose an appropriate moment like making some noise rather than waiting forever.
There are no windows in the bathrooms, but that doesn't mean that I'm not wrong about the peepholes. I'm wrong about many things.
X > I'm fairly certain that there are peepholes in my two bathrooms X > in the walls shared with a neighbor's bathrooms. X > X > One peephole is behind a mirror. I've heard about this problem in motel
Assuming the mirror cannot be removed easily, what about slipping a piece of thicker paper/thin cardboard between the wall and mirror? Be sure the paper can be removed. If there is an in-use peephole the person on the other side will probably try to restore the peephole, making a hole or at least marks on the paper. (Remove the paper to check.)
X > The other hole is somewhere in a wall that's made of something the X > thickness of heavy cardboard on my side but finished to look like X > drywall. Any ideas on what this material is and how to find peepholes
Initially "never heard of this... crackpot" came to mind but then I recalled the local busses are mobile billboards. They're covered with some sort of vinyl with micro-perforations over the windows. From the outside the surface looks solid (windows and all), but passengers can see through to the outside.
To "solve" the thin-wall problem, perhaps put up some sort of wall covering on your side. Easiest would be paint. (So what if they take a few dollars out of your security deposit?) I would probably use a white: any activity from the other side should show more easily than if you used a darker colour. I would also use a thick paint to clog any micro-performations.
If you can't/won't paint a solid curtain using a spring-mounted rod (a shower curtain rod would probably be longer and sturdier than one for window curtains) and lined curtain might work. (Most curtains are not lined but some have liners to reduce deterioration of the sun's UV rays and provide room-darkeing. We have a line of curtains at the store where I work which are vinyl-ish. Reminds me of something used to cover a picnic table in the 60's.)
- ¯ barry.martinþATþthesafebbs.zeppole.com ®
Nagline: Always wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident.
if you are serious, then do something productive. stop trying to outsmart yourself with your primative detective work. call the cops and explain the situation. ask them if they can recommend a professional you can hire who knows how to find these things.
Have any good female (voice) actor friends? you could lure them in with sounds of a promiscuous nature. then go knock on the door and see if she hears them leave the bathroom, or if they answer the door all hot and bothered. ;)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.