My downstairs neighbors smoke like @$)($#! chimneys and must stop!

[midnight armadillo]

Every night they light up, and the stench of cigarette smoke :smoke: invades our apartment. Both my wife and I are allergic to the smoke and we have an infant son whom I don't want breathing in second hand smoke. This wasn't so bad before winter since they'd have the windows open, but now they just seal the place up and it's got nowhere to go but up. :grr:

I'm going to confront them today. Does anyone have suggestions how to approach them? If friendly neighborliness doesn't prevail I'll go to the apartment management (who are excellent) and see what happens. We've been tenants for 5 years, they've got 4 months, so hopefully we'd have some influence.

help!

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. What does the lease say?

If it's permitted, the best you can hope for is an apt. swap, most likely. If that is an option, be aware that you may also be asked to pay the relocation expenses.

[KCDem]

2. good luck

You have my condolences. Your infant should not be subjected to the smoke as it can set him up for lots of health problems, including asthma.

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. Unless their lease contains a no-smoking provision, and in the absence

of any local law that prohibits the use of tobacco within the confines of one's home, you might want to be prepared to direct your talk with the landlord around inquiries about possible vacancies on the ground floor that you could move to.

[PVnRT]

4. If you want them to stop

maybe you could try buying them some stop-smoking aids?

I've found lots of people want us smokers to quit, but the only help they offer is none at all.

[Loonman]

5. Read your lease carefully

It's all in there.

[unblock]

6. smokers have the right

to spew toxic, carcinogenic, allergenic pollutants at your infant.

says so in the constitution, at least that's what smokers tell me. lotsa luck getting them to stop smoking in their own apartment.


fortunately, you also have rights. there are plenty of perfectly legal things that you enjoy that your downstairs neighbors might not, like subwoofers at 3am, for instance.

they might just exercise their constitutional right to leave, or (gasp!) maybe even to quit. nahhh..

[midnight armadillo]

7. Clarification

I can live with them smoking but they must ventilate or use a big ass air filter.

They way these guys smoke, trying to stop smoking would be futile. Plus I suspect at least one of them smokes in bed since our bedroom (right over theirs) gets pretty bad in the early AM.

[YellowDawgDemocrat]

8. How is the smoke entering your apartment?

Have you determined where the smoke is entering your apartment? I mean, it can't penetrate walls or ceilings. The only place I can fathom that could allow smoke to penetrate is through the electrical receptacles or plumbing. Both can be easily fixed with insulation and foam blocking devices. Even your duct work should be unique to your apt.

[midnight armadillo]

9. Good question

You know, I was staring at my ceiling last night wondering the same thing. The building is fairly old but well painted with many layers of latex paint over drywall which should form a pretty good barrier.

Hmm...if it's plumbing the most likely route of entry would be the hot water baseboards. On my way home I'll grab one of those cans of expanding insulating foam and I'll seal the bedroom pipes to see what happens. I've heard of insulating gaskets for electrical outlets to prevent drafts, so maybe that'd work on those.

I'm thinking of stopping by their apartment with a case of beer and a request that they crack the windows. They were nice enough when they had their stereo cranked up at midnight a few weeks ago, they're 4 Chinese grad students at the local university.

[callous taoboy]

10. You have my sympathies...

I also dealt with downstairs neighbors stinking up my $850/month living space. I was met with belligerence. Smokers need their weed and will get very defensive (at least that has been my expereince...Maybe you have more considerate neighbors). I eventually just moved out. There was nothing in the lease about this issue. It sucked because I loved my apartment, but it was so bad that it was stinking up the clothes hanging in my closet. It sounds like you may have an edge with the amount of time you've been there.
Good luck. You may be able to convince the managers to institute a non-smokers only policy.

[jimbo fett]

11. Get revenge. Next time you take a vacation for a couple of weeks....

put some limberger cheese and some raw meat out.

Of course you'll have to fumigate when you get back.

[ellie]

12. Did you move into my old apartment?

I recently moved to get away from chronic cigarette smokers that moved into the apartment below me. I couldn't even open the heating vents because the smoke just wafted up. It was living in a bar. Thankfully I got out before it got too cold.

As an aside, these same people: never had any garbage, received no mail, and had no phone.

[Dogmudgeon]

13. You could do a couple of things

1. Get a positive-pressure air system. I think they make portable units. What they do is to raise the air pressure just enough to keep anything outside from coming in. There are a lot of them around now due to the Anthrax scare.

2. Get a lawyer. A lawyer may know how to stack the odds in your favor. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, find an anti-tobacco lawyer. If nothing else, you may be able to move to another apartment in the building without adverse consequences to the lease.

3. I used to live in an apartment block of 4 apartments with each of the three couples in the other apartments being chain-smokers. And I mean chain-smokers, each over 2 packs per day. They were all very protective of their butt-sucking, and one of them called me a Nazi, but any time I cooked cabbage, they'd come knocking, usually with butt in hand.

Renting sucks. Landlords are all about money, and it's up to the apartment manager to deal with the tenants. In every state of the union, apartment owners have far more legal power than the renters. Last year, I was "sued for posession" three times because the psychotic apartment manager lost rent checks. (This happened to several other renters.) I eventually moved from the place, which had been the target of arsonists, always had two or more drug enterprises going on at any one time, and was falling apart. Finally, a month ago, I heard that half the units were flooded out and the place is supposed to be condemned (again).

The place was in Republican Montgomery County, PA, and guess who was a big contributor?

--bkl
Let's lynch the landlord, yeah!

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Chinese grad students? That easy to fix. Call AssKKKroft

They'll be gone like nothing.

Seriously, though - I'm sure if you asked them to get an air filter, or crack their windows a smidge when smoking, they'd be cool with it. Just tell them why. They probably don't even realize that the smoke is going into your apartment. I never would have thought that smoke could do that until it happened to me.

As others said, might be worth plugging any holes you have, too.

And maybe even running air ionizers in your apartment - those seem to work well against smoke. And some anti-smoke-smell candles.

It does indeed suck smelling other people's cigarette smoke - my sympathies to you.