Neighbour smoking in his own home is affecting me......

Gingernutty

Okay, this is an odd one....

I live in the middle of a Victorian terrace. It is in a poor -ish area, in an historically poor-ish area and the houses, although structurally sound, were built cheap. Each house shares floor joists with its neighbours and roof space.

The neighbours on one side smoke outside. On the front doorstep.

The neighbour on the other side is owned by a local social housing group. It's been left empty after the last antisocial tenant left late last year.

Someone is now preparing to move in. There are all the usual banging and scraping noises of someone decorating - some of it quite late at night.

However, they smoke. In their house. And the smoke and smell is coming into my house up through the floor.

They don't just smoke tobacco either IYSWIM! :eek:

Could I reasonably ask him not to smoke in his own home? Perhaps, pop a note through his door?

Every time I try to compose a note to pop through the door, it sounds unreasonable regardless of the number of "sorrys" and "pleases" I put in.

I'm wheezing and my nose is blocked and this is after three days. I can't go on like this but what do I do?

WWYD?

princeofpounds

A note isn't going to help anything. With pleases and sorrys it is going to come across as passive, and without the niceties it is going to come across as passive aggressive.

Do you rent or own? It will affect your choices.

Gingernutty

I own my house.

artbaron

You can ask but personally I wouldn't advise it. Nobody is going to give up smoking in their own home. There is legal recourse for behaviour deemed a nuisance but it would not apply in this case. If fumes from your neighbour's fire were causing problems then you would have the law on your side. In this instance there's nothing you can do apart from explore structural changes to your own house, but not being a builder I don't know if any exist.

rockie4

No answer I'm afraid but I have the same problem!! My neighbours both smoke really heavily and I can smell it all over my house :mad:
It costs me a fortune in scented candles

StrawberryTwist

Oh no! I feel for you!

Having not long given up smoking (the legal stuff!) and having just completed on our own home I would not want the two to mix either!

You mentioned that you think it is coming up through the floor? Have you looked into something like this:

http://stopgaps.com/

I know people use the stop gaps to help with draughts and maybe it could help with your problem? You cannot see them once they are in.

I can't really think of anything else

Gingernutty

Thanks for all your replies so far. It's just what I thought really.

My house has 'fitted floors' which don't have gaps between the boards.

WestonDave

Not sure to what extent it would work but might be worth looking into a positive input ventilation system. These sit in your loft and push fresh air into your house through a vent in the landing. As I understand them (and I may be wrong so research needed) they create a very slightly higher pressure in your house such that any draughts or air coming in from other sources is pushed back if you see what I mean. Not massively expensive and have other benefits such as reducing condensation etc.

Lord_Baltimore

deleted...

G_M

Although a shared attic IS a fire risk to some extent (fire can more easily move between properties) there is no legal obligation to install a fire barrier, provided the properties met any Building Regulations that were in force when the properties were built (if any).

I don't see how how your swimming hobby is relevant?

Personally, IYSKYDIVE (but that is no affair of my neighbours).

What you need is some other legal issue that can be used. Are the tenants breaching any terms in their lease that you know of?

Lord_Baltimore

deleted...