Neighbour smoking

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Gambit37
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Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

I live in a flat in a purpose built block of 12. My front door and the front door of my immediate neighbour are behind a fire door, in a tiny corridor that has no ventilation.

When my neighbour smokes in his flat, the smoke leaks out into this tiny corridor and enters my flat because it has nowhere else to go. As he works strange hours, he's home late at night and smokes then -- so when I wake up in the morning my flat stinks. It's not only disgusting but has health implications too. This week I'm home recovering from a double knee operation, so it's even more unpleasant.

I've taken to opening the fire door and wedging it open, then opening a window in the main communal hall -- this helps disperse the smell, but doesn't remove it from my flat for ages. Plus it's against helath and safety obviously (ironically!)

I've not yet spoken to my neighbour. He's a reasonable guy and I'm sure it would be fine, but he's entitled to do what he wants in his own home and I can't exactly ask him to stop smoking at home, that seems unreasonable to a fair minded person like me. He obviously knows it's a problem because he sees the wedged open door, and for 3 months I ran a plugin air freshner in the hallway (though to be fair, that was more ghastly than the smoke!)

Any thoughts on how to handle it? I'm especially interested to hear smokers views: if a neighbour discussed such an issue with you, how would you react?
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Bit »

There is no compromise.
The one who came later should have asked if there are people of the 'other side' before moving house.
And yes, I'm such a smelling one and I already had the problem with some neighbour who stayed anonymus.
I also don't had to have a problem with this ~5-children somalian family in a two-room-house being a nightworker and having to sleep at daytime, paying the tickets for driving too fast in speed-limited-and-therefore-at-night-noise-protected areas having frankfurt-airport next to us - for that this family gets money from town to survive.
I'm just glad that I am pretty old now and have human insanity almost behind me - but wait - the doctor said my blood-values are unbelievable... something went wrong - I should be sick like hell.
Has someone ever asked what evil virus may develop in pretty clean air (*hides and runs*).

No Gambit, I don't want to mock about - this problem is serious. But - can't be solved.
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Gambit37
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

Bit wrote:There is no compromise.The one who came later should have asked if there are people of the 'other side' before moving house.
I came later. He has lived here for years, but didn't smoke when I moved in. It's only recently that he started smoking, I think it's his new girlfriend's influence -- it was never a problem before. In fact, he seemed like a fitness freak previously. Love clearly is blind!
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Jan »

Oh my, this is a very tricky situation. Of course, try to talk to that guy first. Then think of some technical solution.

The smoke gets into your flat through the door, right? What kind of door do you have? Is there any chance of sealing / tightening the door better?

How is your flat disposed? Do you have some kind of an entrance hall? Is there any chance of having a ventilation system in that hall to divert the air out or simply elsewhere? I mean, IMHO, "all" you have to do is to try to make the air flowing out of your room. Think of something like "reverse osmosis".

I'd bet that if you send a plan for your flat to someone like Tomi, he'd propose a technical solution to this - although it might involve several air pumps and two aircraft engines. :lol:

*runs and hides*

Gambit37 wrote:This week I'm home recovering from a double knee operation
Oh, I hope you'll get better soon. Knee operations are no fun - I mean, no operations are fun, but knee ones are really really baaad.

EDIT: OK, this all may sound a little bit naive and childish! Don't tell me "oh, thanks, it's really very helpful". :) But don't give up! Consult an architect or someone! You'll find a solution! :D
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Paul Stevens »

I agree with the idea that pressurizing your apartment
with respect to the hallway is worth a try.

Modern homes are rather air-tight. Even my old
house has become very air-tight after all my weather-
stripping efforts.

Do you have hot-air heating? Does it share air
with your neighbors? That would negate any
such effort.

If you have electric, hot water, or steam, it is
likely that a tiny bit of air from any window or
exhaust vent would cause air to move from your
apartment. Run a kitchen or bathroom or dryer
exhaust vent backward?

In the summertime, a window fan would do the
trick easily. In winter there is the problem of
balancing heating costs with fresh air. But in
a tight space a fan the size of a desktop power-
supply fan might do the trick except when the
wind is blowing hard from the wrong direction.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by linflas »

Gambit37 wrote:It's only recently that he started smoking, I think it's his new girlfriend's influence -- it was never a problem before. In fact, he seemed like a fitness freak previously. Love clearly is blind!
Kill them both.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Jan »

Yeah. Or seduce his girlfriend. Or him. Or start smoking. Or I don't know.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

Some interesting suggestions there! ;-)

@PaulS There's nothing by way of internal air-conditioning that I could reverse. I open my windows to try and get air circulating which helps a little. I have a floor standing fan -- would it be worth putting that in the hallway near my front door and blowing that way? I can't get anything fancy installed as I rent and the landlady won't do anything beyond basic maintenance.

@Jan: Thanks for the get well wishes. It's all pretty painful right now, can't wait until I can walk properly again!
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Paul Stevens »

would it be worth putting that in the hallway near my front door and blowing that way
I doubt it.

You need to pressurize your apartment with respect to
the hallway. Moving air around your front room will
not accomplish that. You need to move air INTO
your apartment from a source of fresh air.

Opening a window a bit might even be counter-
productive if the wind is blowing in a direction
from inside to outside as it would create a negative
pressure within the apartment. The lee side of the
building will have a negative pressure and the
windward side a positive pressure. I put plastic
film over my windows to save heat in the winter.
I can tell which way the wind is blowing by whether
the film balloons out from the window or forms a
concave surface towards the window. It is just
a fraction of a millimeter of pressure difference
but it is enough to determine which direction the
air wants to move. You want the air to move
out your front door.

What I would try.....A piece of plastic or plywood
that could fill the space of a partially open window.
Weather strip around it or tape or whatever to make
it relatively air-tight. A hole in the middle to mount
a small fan. As I say, in winter you don't want much
cold air that you will have to pay to heat. Again.
make the fan-mount relatively air tight. Now you
can inject fresh air into your apartment and it will
try to get out at every available crack, including
the cracks around your front door. And, probably,
the cracks around your plumbing fixtures and the
cracks around electrical outlets and the cracks
around other windows and so on.

Again, this will not work if you have hot-air heat
that shares airspace with other parts of the
building. Only if the apartment is reasonably
air-tight. Too many cracks!!! It would require
too much cold air to keep it pressurized.
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Gambit37
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

Paul Stevens wrote:Only if the apartment is reasonably air-tight.
Hmm... loose windows probably mean your suggestions wouldn't work, but if I can do something about that, I'll give it a go. Many thanks.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Jan »

@PaulS: A remarkable application of scientific knowledge and wisdom - and life experiences - into practise, Sir! *bows*

(I had basically the same thing in my mind, but couldn't express it so precisely and clearly and practically. Simply, in theory, always keep a higher air pressure in your flat than in the outer hall. But make sure you don't blow it up. *runs again* )
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by cowsmanaut »

Indeed what Paul suggests sounds like a good idea, a fair bit of work to do right, but a good idea. Though I think just the addition of a fan blowing in from the opposing direction would be good anyway. Something else worth doing is to identify, if possible, where the smell is coming in from. If it's from the vents, then you can close off yours, or ask him to close off his when he has a smoke.. if it's from the door, then installing a flap for the bottom of the door to block airflow from there is also easy enough to do. The only thing with the vents is having him remember to close them, or you remembering to close yours when you leave. If the smell is coming in from the outside, ie out his window and in yours from a breeze.. then the fan won't help all that much unless from an opposing side. So I think figuring out the exact source is key. Ideally, it'll be where it smells strongest when it first starts to seep in. you can even get him to help you, by getting him to spray some kind of arisol near his window.. check.. wait.. then try a vent.. check wait.. and then near his door.. check.. wait.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Twiggy »

Cows post has a lot of merrit I think. Think you're going to have fun doing all this with a stuffed leg though :)
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Bit »

Gambit37 wrote:
Bit wrote:There is no compromise.The one who came later should have asked if there are people of the 'other side' before moving house.
I came later. He has lived here for years, but didn't smoke when I moved in. It's only recently that he started smoking, I think it's his new girlfriend's influence -- it was never a problem before. In fact, he seemed like a fitness freak previously. Love clearly is blind!
Ah - the girls again, as always. I damn the day I started smoking btw, not just because of the missing money for holidays and other things. If he just started - you can try with ...the arguments !
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by cowsmanaut »

it's true, smoking leaves an awful mess.. I lived in a house with two other smokers and within a year you could see the yellow stains even on the windows.. just shows how much comes out of those things and goes everywhere.. and well if in just a year it's covering all the walls and windows.. what's it doing to your lungs? i mean enough tar to cover your walls in your entire appartment.. and think of lung surface area.. just gross..
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Jan »

Yeah. I'm so glad that all people around me (at work, at home and so on) are non-smokers.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Ameena »

I personally don't understand why people smoke. Anyone with half a brain cell knows it's bad for them, yet they do it anyway. I would find it hard to have any kind of sympathy for someone who smoked and then got some kind of horrible respiratory disease, because they brought it on themselves. If I wanted to kill myself, I'd find a much quicker and less disgusting way of doing so. Of course, if people mnear me are smoking, I don't kick off and start ranting or anything - if they want to sit there inhaling tarmac, fine, that's their choice. I just (silently) disapprove of it, that's all, and try not to position myself downwind...though actually, no matter where I seem to be standing when someone smokes, that always seems to be the case, so I always have to move or stand there coughing lots. A smoky atmosphere gives me itchy eyes too, but fortunately I don't spend too much time in an enclosed space with smoke. When I was on holiday we played Snooker in one room of one of the hotels one night and everyone else was smoking (me on holiday with four other people, and they all smoke), and afterwards my T-shirt stank :P.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Jan »

Do you know who said "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times."?
Spoiler
Mark Twain
, one of my most favourite writers.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Ameena »

My sister gave up smoking - she kept her fags on her but just kept on deliberately putting off having one - "I'll have one in a minute", "I'll have one in half an hour", "I'll just finish this, then I'll have one", but not actually smoking on. Because she knew she could have one any time she liked, she didn't get all frustrated and stuff because she really couldn't have a fag. And after a few days or a week or whatever, she found she didn't want one anyway 'cause the craving had worn off or whatever, so she gave her fags to someone else 'cause she didn't want 'em any more.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by MasterWuuf »

I don't know about the immediate effects of the smoke smell.
However, the 'long lasting' odor can be helped with an ionizer.
It pumps negative ions into the air.

If you can afford one, you can plug it in while you are away through the day.

I plugged one into a van I bought. The upholstery had a strong (and stale, I might add) cigarette smell
Spoiler
stench
.
I left it on all night. By the next day the smell was all but gone.

Good luck on figuring a way to make the atmosphere a little more pleasant for you.
I also hope your knees heal well.

P.S. I wouldn't suggest plugging one of these in for long periods of time, while you are around.
I doubt that would benefit your lungs.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

Gosh I feel bad. I just spoke to my neighbour about the problem. It turns out the reason he started smoking was because his sister died of swine flu in January, about a month after giving birth to a baby daughter. :( :(
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by linflas »

looks a bit too much imho..
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

What do you mean?
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by linflas »

looks like a false excuse, like a mass of terrible events. of course, i base my opinion only on what you reported. i haven't seen him.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

Good god no, he's a nice guy, he wouldn't make up a story like that! He was really close to her and fell into depression after her death, it's why I've not seen much of him. We had quite a long chat about it, he couldn't have made up all the details of that tragedy!Anyway, he's trying to quit smoking, as even he doesn't like it (in fact it's been quite smoke free the last few days as he's having success with the quitting).
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by cowsmanaut »

well, h1n1 appears to be higher risk for pregnant women.. death as a result is not always the case, also in a scan of the internet news stories I found only one woman in 2011 to have died of h1n1 in the uk in suffolk and she died two weeks after giving birth to a son. Typically, when someone dies of h1n1 it ends up on the news. It's part of their desire to make sure people immunize.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Gambit37 »

Hundreds of people died from it!
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/05/ ... 306438994/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/flu/8 ... rises.html

The lead singer of one of my favourite bands died from pneumonia caused by swine flu:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bi ... m-12194530

Both of you have never met the guy, yet you're both suggesting he's making up the fact that he lost his sister.... based on what? If you look back at what I wrote about him, I never said anything bad about him, only that his smoking was affecting me.

It's very peculiar that you both jump to the conclusion he's deceitful.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Jan »

That sounds like a really horrible story. I don't think anyone at least partially sane would make it up (especially when trying to explain such a "minor" thing as smoking). I can't imagine myself making up a story of a death of my sibling. Well, but that guy seems to be recovering from the tragedy, so there seems to be a good chance of him quitting smoking.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by Sophia »

It's because they read it on the internet and everything written on the internet is a lie.
Including that statement.
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Re: Neighbour smoking

Post by cowsmanaut »

I know a lot of people died from it, I just specified pregnant women in 2011 at the time mentioned. It neither confirms nor denies the reality of the situation. Nor did I say he's lying.. just pulling up documents as a reference point. It is possible he's trying to get rid of what he may see as a nagging neighbour, on his case about his smoking every day. Or he really is suffering. The reality is, does his sisters death, if real, mean that you need to suffer second hand smoke? I mean seriously.. if his sister died I understand that's a lot of stress, and there are more constructive things he could be doing than taking up smoking. He should seek help... not destroy his health, and that of those around him. His smoke, harms you, disrupts your life.. period. Doesn't make you an mean horrible man to want to not second hand his every cigarette.. regardless of his problems.

Here's the thing.. if he wouldn't be smoking otherwise, then he probably needs to quit. He needs help... and ultimately, I'm not certain his sister would have wanted him dying of lung cancer in a few years. Let alone the rest of his family that is still living. Smoking kills.. So perhaps provide him with a contact to someone he can talk to. If you've been to someone yourself you can say it as a private reccomendation. and point out that smoking probably isn't going to help him in the long run.. in a tactful way. Start him on the journey to a healthier mind and body.

Jan, you'd be surprised what people will make up for the smallest of reasons. I had a roomate who made up all sorts of crazy lies just to get the simplest of things from people. The guy was scum after knowing him a while but if you didn't know him he seemed quite nice. He'd lie his way into womens pants, saying all these horrible sob stories about things that "happened" to him.. or he'd use similar sympathy tactics just to bum a smoke off some person on the street. really no reason was too small.. and no lie too big. These experiences have obviously tainted my views.. but they also opened my eyes to a number of scams I nearly had pulled on me too. I could go on at length my experiences.. I've been scammed more than once as has my poor aunt who believes in everyone..
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