Smell in my house from next door

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When we lived in a semi our neighbours cooked tripe for their dog and the smell came into our house:eek:

glitterstar

Gale_10I am so amazed, I have this problem and its terrible.

The woman downstairs (who has given us lots of trouble - separate issue) smokes like a chimney and makes our house stink. I really hate it, and I worry about the effect of the cigarette smoke on my children.

I have that problem too. Have got in touch with the quality of life department of the housing association im with but they have told me there is nothing they can do so i just have to live with it. I get it in my kitchen, bathroom and airing cupboard where i store all my bedding and towels which now smell of stale smoke!
I find it so bad that im hardly ever at my flat, i always go round my mums in the day instead.

Bibbitybob

Bettyboop wrote: »

Do you have smoke detectors? How sensitive are they? If I were you I would install more and put one as close to this persons house as possible. When it keeps going off and the fire brigade get fed up of being called out....perhaps she will be more thoughtful and not want kill everyone else around her.

Whilst I'm sympathetic to the OP's problem...what a ridiculous idea! The fire brigade are there to save people's lives, not waste time attending houses where the neighbour doesn't like the smell of cigarettes. To me that amounts to the same as prank calling.

afl777777

Smoke will come under/through gaps in floor boards cos usually in old houses the beams holding the first floor go right through the party wall. There are small gaps where they go through and this is where the smells come in....so to cure it you would need to find the beams under the floor boards and seal where the beams go through the wall to next door.

In my house, a 1890 semi the two pantrys are next to each other with a single brick wall between them. The winders for the bottom few stairs....the supports that hold the stairs up.....go through the wall. It's through these gaps that I get smells coming in.

I have done the sealing with expanding foam and although it stopped some it has not stopped it all. However, that is maybe cos I could'nt get right to the last narrow part of the understairs gap. I do think that the expanding foam would work better if it were sealed.

KTLiverbird

Hi to All

We have the same problem as many on this thread. We live in an end terrace and are constantly getting the smell of stale smoke, marajuana fumes and Heaven knows what else through the adjoining chimney breast walls, in two bedrooms. We never had this problem for years and it only became apparent when our current neighbours arrived. They are known drug dealers and constantly have hoards of miscreants in and out at all hours of the day and night and they all smoke, albeit cigarettes or whatever else. This means that we are subjected to the fumes and are effectively sleeping in the stench that comes pouring through. I defend to the hilt, the right of anyone to be able to smoke in their own homes, if that is what they wish, but these fumes are disgusting.

I rang Environmental Health in Liverpool City Council and was told that this is an extremely common problem. Apparently it is to due to a problem with the joists between the houses in the chimney breast. When I asked for someone to come out and investigate, they said it was pointless! He also said that gaining permision from the Housing Authority would be a minefield since our neighbours are council tenants and we are not. He then went on to say that there is no solution but suggested laminate floors in the affected rooms as this sometimes blocks the fumes. We have done this but it did not work. We have been offered no help or significant advice what so ever from either Liverpool City Council or Liverpool Mutual Homes. Quite to the contrary, when I spoke to a Mr Ian Rudd, housing officer, about possibley enforcing any complaint about our neighbours, he basically threatened me and my family with the fallout that would ensue when it was made known to our neighbours who the complainant was.

I'm at my wits end as we cannot afford to move. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

spongebob30

I understand the frustration felt by KT Liverbird and others effected by this problem. I lived a block of flats and unfortunately my neighbour above smokes. I know, you're probably asking how could it be entering the property as the smoke rises? I don't know the answer but I know I can smell cigarette odours which make me feel sick:(

I've attempted sealing fissures in the brickwork, ceiling and dividing wall, and the space between the skirting board and floor but without luck. It's pointless as the odour still permeates the air:( I've not contacted my landlord LMH as I feel they wouldn't take me seriously. With what KT Liverbird said it would be useless going to Liverpool City Council Environmental Department as they need permission from LMH and it's a minefield plus they seem, uninterested as it's a common problem experienced by a lot of people particularly in the Liverpool area who seem to be LMH tenants like myself

I intend to given notice and leave as I'm not tolerating these living conditions!! I feel sorry for people who own their own property as they are forced to sell and buy another property which is stressful and demanding. It puts unnecessary financial pressure on already struggling families. My advice to people is look for somewhere else as that's what I'm going to do. Put your health first and f**k the smokers!

Grunaki

Hi.. Just found this thread on a Google search, and I'm already a member here, so thought I'd throw in my story.

I'm a British Ex-Pat, now living in Canada. My Wife, Son and I just moved into a side-by-side house over here (Basically a semi-detached) and we really like it, but the neighbours on the other side of the wall smoke.

(We haven't met them yet, haven't even HEARD them, but we certainly can smell them.)

Houses over here are generally wood framed, but we have a solid concrete partition between the two houses, and as I said we haven't even heard sounds from next door (I grew up in a Semi in the UK and we could hear muffled sounds of next door talking and walking around sometimes, but nothing here (yet)), yet the cigarette smoke still manages to get in - mostly in our bedroom.

I think that we may have a shared roof void and the smoke may be drifting across that way - the walls are basically wood framing backed with plasterboard on the inside - don't know the state of the insulation - sometimes they use fibreglass matting, sometimes blown-in material like shredded fibreglass or cellulose or sometimes they just leave an air void.
(If it's an air void, then it would definitely allow air to pass through more easily.)

It's not overpoweringly bad, but as a non-smoker I have to say it !!!!es me off.. I don't feel like I've the right to go around and complain about them smoking in their own home, but when my family and myself have to involuntarily indulge in their habit, then it seems quite unfair.

We've only been here a couple of weeks, and my Wife was saying maybe we should move again if the problem is bothering me.. I'm not prepared to throw in the towel and give an estate agent and lawyer another huge wad of cash, though. (At least not two ruddy weeks in!!)

I'm considering buying an Ionizer and seeing if that helps. I've seen one with an activated charcoal filter that runs constantly and costs about $200.

Failing that, anyone else got any suggestions? Anyone actually tried anything that works?

Cheers.

natasha24

We live in a vicorian attached house and live next door to a house converted into two flats. a woman and man live upstaris while their son and his girlfriend live with their baby downs stairs. The whole lot of them smoke and the smell is unbearable because they all chain smoke. We can hear the baby coughing and crying nearly all the time. it's in our airing cupboard, bathroom but worst of all in our hall and landing which means it spreads throughout the house. We have tried everything, including slealing up with expandable foam and even getting thick carpets with the thickets underlay. As soon as the open their side windows (they are at the end terrace) the smoke just blows through into our house. We open the window but sometimes that creates airflow and maks the problem even worse. We also have other flats built by the smae landlord oeverlooking our back garden and all those tenants smoke too so we get yet more of it coming in our garden and in our back windows. We can escape it and we really can't afford to sell and move. My three year old son has autism and I need all the sleep I can get at night so I have the energy to look after him during the day. That family are up untill 3 or 4 in the morning smoking and it keeps me awake. I'm worried about the health effects on my son, the last thing he needs is asthma. We have contacted enviornmental health and they came out to smell but they were smokers themselves and claimed to not smell the stench. We contacted them again to complain and other people cam out but this time they brought a machine to take samples by leaving it in to check for levels of carbon monoxide but they didnt leave it here they said for all we know you could smoke around it to give it a false reading. I was livid. My sons disablility also means that we can't move because he would be petrified, we can't even move furniture in his room because it scars him. We spoke with a solicitor and she said to get an expert out to see where the smoke is coming in and then send the landlord the bill and then when he refuses take him to court. We would love to do this if it would work but we need to save every penny we have for therapy for our son because the nhs is doing nothing for him.
I see so many people with the same complaint. I also read that in the future it will be illegal for parents to smoke at home around their kids and also in the car. I think if enough of us wrote letters of complaint then eventually the law would have to be made to protect non smokers from from smokers dangerous habit.

Antoine1

Dear you should checked out your door may be any rat or other Insect
is died in your door and become the reason of smell..

keystone

natasha24 wrote: »

I think if enough of us wrote letters of complaint then eventually the law would have to be made to protect non smokers from from smokers dangerous habit.

Well you'd better start writing about traffic fumes then too because they are just as dangerous. Of course that won't be necessary if your agenda is just anti smoking.

Cheers