Oven fumes from neighbours

spoovy

Sounds more like smoking oil to me though which is a health hazard. 

coffeehound

A positive input ventilation (PIV) unit installed perhaps in a board fixed into an open window in your flat might well solve the problem without having to rely on anyone else to act.  I had a similar problem once and used this method with a ducted fan to prevent cooking smells and humidity rising into the flat

Bendy_House

Throughthebluefumes, do you know if their cooker is located next to an external wall? Ie, could a good extractor be vented outside with too much cost or hassle?

I think the solutions are either that, or else having your floorboards sealed with a mastic in each T&G groove, and especially around the perimeter under the skirting boards. Is your floor 'bare' boards?

I doubt very much that this is a health issue, at least not a physical one. It is, tho', a genuine nuisance, and I think will be hard to live with on a daily basis. Just in case you have to escalate this - ie involve the council's EH department or the department that deals with neighbour's issue - you should keep a chronological log of all the incidents, how bad it was, what the smells were, whether their smoke alarm went off, etc.

Your neighbs just sound like poorly organised folk, with limited cooking skills. I suspect they just chuck things in the oven, slam it up to 200oC, and leave things until they are partially incinerated. They do, however, have a duty of care towards others to not cause a nuisance. In essence, this is little different to a person lighting regular fires in their garden to the annoyance of their neighbs.

Of course, you don't want to escalate this, or fall out with them. But it's equally unreasonable for you to have to live with it.

(Do they have young children?)

user1977

spoovy said:

Sounds more like smoking oil to me though which is a health hazard. 

If you're in the same room as it, perhaps - not if you're merely able to smell it.

throughtheblue

user1977 said:

Sealing it from your side might be the easiest solution.

Being able to smell your neighbours' cooking is not a health hazard though.

It's not about the cooking so much, but the byproduct fumes coming off the oven. If this causes their smoke alarm to go off, and can be smelled in our property then  I imagine  it's a hazard, with smoke breaching our flat from below.

user1977

throughtheblue said:

user1977 said:

Sealing it from your side might be the easiest solution.

Being able to smell your neighbours' cooking is not a health hazard though.

It's not about the cooking so much, but the byproduct fumes coming off the oven. If this causes their smoke alarm to go off, and can be smelled in our property then  I imagine  it's a hazard, with smoke breaching our flat from below.

It really isn't a hazard for you though, because your flat isn't getting all of its ventilation via your neighbours' kitchen, is it? Not arguing that you shouldn't get it sorted somehow, but I wouldn't worry about it being a health hazard.

throughtheblue

Bendy_House said:

Throughthebluefumes, do you know if their cooker is located next to an external wall? Ie, could a good extractor be vented outside with too much cost or hassle?

I think the solutions are either that, or else having your floorboards sealed with a mastic in each T&G groove, and especially around the perimeter under the skirting boards. Is your floor 'bare' boards?

I doubt very much that this is a health issue, at least not a physical one. It is, tho', a genuine nuisance, and I think will be hard to live with on a daily basis. Just in case you have to escalate this - ie involve the council's EH department or the department that deals with neighbour's issue - you should keep a chronological log of all the incidents, how bad it was, what the smells were, whether their smoke alarm went off, etc.

Your neighbs just sound like poorly organised folk, with limited cooking skills. I suspect they just chuck things in the oven, slam it up to 200oC, and leave things until they are partially incinerated. They do, however, have a duty of care towards others to not cause a nuisance. In essence, this is little different to a person lighting regular fires in their garden to the annoyance of their neighbs.

Of course, you don't want to escalate this, or fall out with them. But it's equally unreasonable for you to have to live with it.

(Do they have young children?)

I believe their oven is against the wall but their are cupboards directly above. I think there could be something suitable for smaller spaces though. 

The floor is bare boards. 

Thanks for the advice. I have some logs via email, and everything has been amicable, albeit underwhelming on their behalf. 

throughtheblue

user1977 said:

throughtheblue said:

user1977 said:

Sealing it from your side might be the easiest solution.

Being able to smell your neighbours' cooking is not a health hazard though.

It's not about the cooking so much, but the byproduct fumes coming off the oven. If this causes their smoke alarm to go off, and can be smelled in our property then  I imagine  it's a hazard, with smoke breaching our flat from below.

It really isn't a hazard for you though, because your flat isn't getting all of its ventilation via your neighbours' kitchen, is it? Not arguing that you shouldn't get it sorted somehow, but I wouldn't worry about it being a health hazard.

I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that exposure to certain cooking fumes could be dangerous. When they were using the recirculating extractor without a filter I'd feel as if I had a sore throat, but since they noticed the extractor had no filter it's not been as bad as it was initiailly but still frustrating. 

coffeehound

Also do you have any pipes coming up through the floor from below?  Gaps around those are another way fumes can ingress.  

PS:  running extractor fans in your flat will only make things worse.

throughtheblue

Gaps galore. Between floor boards, around radiator pipes. I've considered sealing everything, but I can imagine I would miss something and feel frustrated spending days doing so if I didn't get results. 

Thanks, I will avoid the extractor. I have looked at a positive airflow. If I got my external extractor working in reverse would this act in the same way?