I live in my own condo that I own. The people that live below me are renters and smoke cigarettes. It stinks in here. It stinks specific times of day during the week and then all day Saturday and Sunday. I have electric room air cleaners in every room that help, but there's nothing that makes it better when they're smoking.
I've read over the hints to clean everything and even put out vinegar. But my house doesn't stink really when they're not smoking. I'm perplexed and very upset. I do own my condo and they are renters and I'm between a rock and a hard place. I do have hard floors and they are new to me over the last 2 and 1/2 years. Any ideas out there would be very much appreciated.
You may be uncomfortable doing this, but politely ask the renters below you to NOT smoke indoors, and tell them why. They just might agree to your request. If not, you may have to DIY or hire someone to seal all gaps in your floors, baseboards, outlets and switches, heat vents.....anything that might be letting even the tiniest bit of smoke into your unit from the one below you.
If the smoke is getting into your condo from the one below you will need some professional help to get this one fixed. You may need to hire a company to come out to seal the floors and anywhere else smoke is seeping up from the condo beflow it to your condo. You may want to ask the owner of the condo below yours if they allow smokers in their unit or not. Let them know what is happening and maybe the owner can talk with these people. Other than this speak to the HOA and see what can be done.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My disgusting chain-smoking neighbor sits on his porch and smokes constantly. The smoke wafts gently over to my house which is approximately 100 feet away. The 30 foot high cedar hedge between us does nothing to stop the smoke. The neighbor sits on his ground floor balcony. The smoke comes in my main floor windows which are about 4 feet higher than his balcony.
I need fresh air. I was thinking some kind of fan to suck the smoke away from my windows. Where should I place the fan and at what height. My property line is about 20 feet from my windows. Please help if you can. Thank you.You can set up a fan in one window, close the other windows, and blow the bad air out of your house. This works quite well, especially if you open a window on the opposite side of the house so the air comes in one side and goes out the other. You could add a nice perfume scent to the fan blades, but I'm sure you don't want your neighbor to get the wrong message from you!
How can I prevent my neighbour's smoke from coming in my windows without having to keep my windows closed? They smoke in front of their house more than 10 times a day, about 4 people smoking. My house is attached to their house. I have 3 little windows in front and can not circulate air through my house or open my front door without smelling smoke. Maybe I could plant something in between our houses. Help please!
By Loni C.
Have you tried talking to them? If they seem approachable you might be surprised at their shock and horror at the thought they've been inflicting their cigarette smoke on you.
Hopefully you and they can brainstorm some kind of solution. If your homes have a back door, maybe they could smoke back there at their side of the back garden? Maybe at the side, or in their private garden area if they have one?
Good luck, I hope things work out for you. I'm a smoker and would be horrified if I found I'd inflicted my smoking on my neighbour-I hope yours feel the same way. You shouldn't have to keep your windows closed to keep unwanted smoke out.
Could you place a fan on your porch aimed at their smoke? Might not be too obvious! Or even place one in your window(s) to blow it back out and away. What a horrible thing to have to experience. I just can't believe people continue to smoke with all the evidence against it!
I have been physically ill for the better part of a year, because... according to the apt. complex's manager (also a smoker!), the "rights of a smoker supersede the rights of a non-smoker!" While I am an educated, bright woman (and I've done my research! The idea that "smokers have legal rights non-smokers don't is a complete fabrication!)... If you have someone in a position of authority that makes decisions based on their personal feelings, it will be a rough ride (if you decide to fight the ignorance). I am now to the point, physically, where I have to visit a pulmonary specialist...
P.S... There is no logical reason why non-smokers should have to foot the bill for fans, air "purifiers" or anything else meant to keep a smoker's deadly smoke from coming into our homes and our bodies!
We moved 5 times since 2008 because of the disgusting narcissist smokers. We are at our wits ends. Nothing has or is being done. The problem is shared housing and communities. Seems like the managers that run these places are all smokers and side with the smokers. Sorry with left NY in 2008 for Arizona.
Cigarette smokers are NOT concerned with your health. I have a chain-smoker next door. Her patio smells like a pig farm, I can't even enjoy my back yard. She has a patio on both sides of her house and refuses to use the other side. Don't expect cooperation from a smoker. I told her it triggers migraine, she said it's not her problem.
I support you, even I faced this situation sometimes, somehow or other.
I too am suffering from a next door neighbour constantly smoking. It has affected my health drastically. The housing association won't do anything and yes non smokers are the victims. I've paid out £600 up to now trying to combat this.
I lived in a community in Southern California that did not allow smoking outdoors or on patios. If they smoked it was to be done inside there home. They even threatened a fine.
My neighbor smokes his cigar at different times and his smoke wafts in my master bedroom when my window is open. I like him would love to enjoy the wonderful breezes but, I have to keep my window closed because I never know when he is going to light up and the smoke permeates though my home from that window. I have been told by the Management that there is nothing they can do (even though we have an odor policy) because he's on his property. My neighbor said to me that if I can't take it I should move along with verbal assaults. Because of the verbal assaults, I phoned the police and was told to go to the sheriff's department to file a civil order of protection (yeah right) and to keep my window closed. I was told by an attorney that there's nothing he can do for me and that he would not suggest I call the police again because they could arrest me. I'm dumbfounded that someone can invade my home with a Class A carcinogen and kill me and I have ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHTS in protecting my home. My precious dog was diagnosed with Lymphoma and I am in remission from cancer and my neighbor knows this but does not seem to care. There should be another word that I could call him other than neighbor because he does not live up to that definition.
I am in the same position with a next-door neighbor. I have lived here for 2 years and I've been very happy. A few months ago a neighbor moved in next door and we have Lanai's across from each other and she smokes like a train. I've even smelled it in my house and forget going on my Lanai if she's out there smoking. I had to give up being in a choir that I auditioned for because I have been so congested and recently realize it's from the cigarette smoke. Before I went to work today I was all congested my chest was hurting and I was coughing and I'm never sick. I have been talking to the landlord who lives in another state and he is fed up with me I think and told me just to get a fan to blow it away. That's easier said than done since our lanais are only a few feet apart. I see no end to it and I have no rights because I've been told she can do anything she wants on her property. She all but lives on the Lanai and that means doing everything on it and all the noise from it comes into my room on the other side of our sliding glass door to the Lanai. I really like my place but I'm renting and I don't want to move because I am close to 70 years old and I just don't want to move again.
You can sue them depending on what state you live in. Smoking IS NOT a right!! But it is the right of non-smokers to breathe fresh air. Since you have had physical illness from the smoke (and can prove it through doctor notes) you have a great case. Good Luck!! I am in a similar situation the bottom floor condo owner smokes continuously on the back balcony. I can't use my balcony or open my windows. It is ridiculous!! I love my place but have seriously considered moving because I cannot enjoy it anymore.
I am going to try to talk to him this weekend to see if we can come up with a compromise.
