Anyone ever live in an apartment building, and have problems with cigarette smoke from other apartme

[raccoon]

I live in an apartment building built in the late 1980’s. On Monday I came home from work and the apartment smelled like cigarette smoke.

There are six (maybe 7, I’m not sure) units in the one-story building. The apartment behind me, the tenant smokes. Also in one other apartment, the tenant smokes.

I have discussed this with the property manager and she provided me with an air freshening machine and said she’ll have the maintenance main replace the heater/AC filter.

Monday was very warm in upstate SC, and my thought is that the tenant behind me was either running the AC, or possible the fan over the stove (her stove would back up to my stove) and that caused the smoke smell to get into my apartment. The reason I’m thinking this is that I haven’t noticed the smoky smell every day when I get home. It seems like it would be every day, unless it’s coming from the fan over the stove (which most people wouldn’t run every day.)

It’s about time to sign my lease, and now I don’t know what I’m going to do about that. Much as I hate moving, if I have to put up with the odor like it was on Monday, I’ll move.

Only thing is, if I move, how do I know I won’t run into this problem again? I’ve lived in apartments before and never had this problem.

Any thoughts?

(I posted this to the Lounge but am posting here for more responses, I hope.)

[MineralMan]

1. Consider moving to a smoke-free building. I'm sure they exist.

If your lease is about up, that's probably your best option.

[raccoon]

2. They might exist, in SC they are probably few. But I'll look into that. nt

[MineralMan]

5. Try this:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Smoke+Free+Appartments+South+Carolina+SC

[MedicalAdmin]

42. If you can't find a smoke free apartment...

... and you have some extra $$$ then our medical practice recommend air filtration. The problems is that most HEPA is pretty expensive for filters (in most places and others use ozone generators which is dangerous because it is such a highly reactive anti-oxident. It can cause scaring to the lung tissue with long term exposure.

Heck my brother has an ozone generator that works great - we just advised him to run it when he wasn't home and it works great.

FYI - this is the unit out clinic recommends. It beats hepa hands down and filters down to the virus level. The filters are about $100 for both and they are good for at least a year before you need another. So far the one in our clinic hasn't had to have a new filter in about 18 months. If you need to save some $$$ and I'll get it ordered for you under our contact at cost. I think they are around $500 to $800 depending on model. http://www.healthyindoorairllc.com/index.php?q=products/portables-air-purifiers

[Occulus]

3. Let's get down to the *real* brass tacks, here.

Do you think your neighbor should be allowed to smoke in their apartment?

[Better Believe It]

4. You should move.

Smokers have and should have the right to smoke in their homes.

Try to find an apartment complex that prohibits tobacco use in their leases.

[Radical Activist]

7. The smoker should have to move to a smoke-only building.

I have a right to breath in my home without being assaulted by asthma attacks. The person causing the problem should have to move, not the victim.

[Maine_Nurse]

12. So if you move near an airport, it should have to move so you don't hear it? Get real.

[SidDithers]

14. Airport neighbourhoods have noise warnings posted...

if you do move to an airport neighbourhood, you do so with informed consent. Not so with an apartment building.

Sid

[Better Believe It]

22. Why should they move? If the apartment complex owners permits smoking why should the smoker move?

No one is forcing the non-smoker to live in that complex.

Case closed.

[Radical Activist]

32. Because the smoker is the one causing harm to others.

Unfortunately, smoke travels far beyond the person who chooses to smoke. The smoker is forcing others to participate in their habit. The person causing harm should be forced to move to a smokers-only complex rather than forcing their habit on others.

I wonder if they have smoker-only apartment complexes in China. Any idea how they deal with it there?

[Better Believe It]

25. No one is smoking in your home so get over it or move!

And if you don't approve of the music your neighbors are listening to .... move!

And if the dress apparel of other tenants is offensive to you .... move!

And if you don't like pot smokers/users in your apartment complex .... move!

If other tenants make too much noise .... move!

I've lived in apartment complexes that have been to noisy but that's just something I had to live with. I wasn't about to call the noise police.

You are not going to die because someone in another apartment smokes.

I'm an ex-smoker and can tolerate current smokers without a "holier than thou" attitude.

[SidDithers]

33. "You are not going to die because someone in another apartment smokes. "...

Well, actually...

Sid

[Radical Activist]

34. You don't sound so progressive anymore.

You don't care how your actions impact those around you? Non-smokers should be chased from apartment to apartment as they search for a place where they won't be assaulted by a smoke invasion? Why should they have to move again every time a smoker moves into the building?
I'm just holding smokers feet to the fire.

[bobbolink]

36. We don't often agree, but on this I agree with you completely.

There are more and more cities and states which are outlawing smoking in multi-unit buildings.

REgardless of what some reactionaries think, seoond-hand smoke has been PROVEN to be deadly.

http://www.first5la.org/articles/policy-pick-multi-unit-housing-smoke-free-movements-final-frontier

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bobbolink]

38. Thank you for responding to my kind words to you with a personal attack.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Better Believe It]

53. I'm an ex-smoker. Before I quit I choose to live in apartment complexes that permitted smoking.

If some ex-smoker or other non-smoker moved into the building do you think I should have been chased from apartment to apartment by a few non-smoking crusaders until I found a landlord who ONLY permitted smokers to rent? You won't find such a place.

Before I quit smoking, I didn't smoke in places where it was not permitted. And I didn't smoke in a persons car or home or anywhere else in public if it bothered anyone. But, what I do in my home was business. I'm paying the rent, not the perpetual nit picker.

And I sure as hell wasn't going to break my lease and be chased out of my home because someone objected to my smoking pot or tabacco.

Again, anti-smoking crusaders can surely find apartment complexes that don't permit smoking, liquor or other behavior that's unacceptable to "holier than thou" pure people.

What more do you want from smokers short of quiting?

I'm progressive on that issue because I'm not trying to dictate other peoples personal lives under the exaggerated claim that their activity is somehow hurting me.

I'm glad I quit five years ago.

And I don't give a flying fuck about others who live in my complex smoking cigars!

It's not hurting me nor anyone else. I'm not a nosey busy body.

[bobbolink]

57. "What more do you want from smokers short of quiting?"

OUR. HEALTH.

[Better Believe It]

62. Smokers can't give you good health by not smoking. It takes a lot more than that.

Not having comprehensive health insurance coverage is a far bigger health issue for tens of millions of people than someone smoking in their home!

Let's have some perspective here!

And please don't demand that others follow your personal lifestyle choices be it not smoking, not drinking, riding a bicycle, being a Vegan, etc.,

[bobbolink]

68. Your bias is blinding you to the facts here, and that is very sad. We ALL know that second-hand

smoke is a HUGE health liability, and there is a post here that shows that THIRD-hand smoke is also a hazard to people's health. You can deny it all you want, but that doesn't erase the FACTS.

Your bias is showing complete disregard for those with asthma (including children!), COPD, and all sorts of other respiratory illnesses, According to you, people with these afflictions, many of which they suffered BECAUSE OF SECOND-HAND SMOKE, should just be wanderers, going from apartment to apartment, having to leave each time a smoker moves in.

Your posts reflect a sensitivity in other areas, and I find it very sad that you are choosing to block out the very real health concerns of people who are healthy and want to remain so, as well as people whose health depends on a smoke-free environment.

[JustAnotherGen]

76. I agree

And I'm a person with Cat allergies to the point where I end up in the emergency room.

There are NO PETS allowed in my complex at all. That's what every lease says. A bird, a hamster, a rodent in a cage is fine - but no cats or dogs.

I selected my complex based on that reason.

Unfortunately - they allowed in my old apartment 'block' cat owners to the left and right of me, and one below me.


Replace 'Cat' with smoke and see people get all up in arms and state the person who is allergic should move - not the 'offending parties' that put me in the hospital three times in Feburary.

So alas - the person compliant with the lease and deathly allergic to cats had to move this past weekend. And I threatened to take them to the board of health and Bridgewater Mayor (I'm friendly with him) if they dare penalize me - the rule follower - one cent for breaking a lease I'm compliant with.

If this building wasn't 'smoke free in the lease' - then op is S.O.L. or should be since my lease was 'cat free' yet I had to move . . . the person whose HEALTH was severely impacted and had 90% coverage in hives on her body.

[Shandris]

74. False analogy.

It's not a matter of 'caring how their actions impact those around them', and that doesn't make anyone any more, or less, of a progressive. 'Progressive' doesn't mean 'afraid to move a square inch'. I'd say trying to call out 'credentials' is less progressive than realizing that in a nation of laws, wherein the law states that if a landowner owns a building on the land and allows smokers to occupy said building, then if you do not approve of that you can either try to change the law or you can move else you will learn to deal with it. There is no option D.

Furthermore, your choice is words is leading (chased, assaulted). The hyperbole is typical, but unnecessary. Instead, one should consider that in most apartment buildings, the mere presence of a smoker is not readily detectable in the other apartments and when it is, there are ways to mitigate it. The landowner in this case has offered a mitigation technique at no cost, but if the scent is as overpowering as the OP says -- and I have no reason to suspect it is not -- then he/she should take note that this is a case of poor construction, and as such it would likely be best to move as any offensive odor is likely to carry, even if it has not done so previously. The risk remains there now, and signing another year's lease should only be done with that acknowledgement.

[underseasurveyor]

48. As an ex-smoker,

Agreed!

[Tx4obama]

87. There are no smoke-only buildings. The non-smokers are screwing everything up ...

with all their smoke free bars, smoke free restaurants, smoke free parks, etc.
They are getting their way everywhere and we smokers are just shit out of luck!

[blondeatlast]

9. Do smoker's rights trump non-smoker's rights? Isn't that the old Your rights end where my face

begins" argument?

Moving is a pain in the butt--my lease just came up for renewal and I have noisy neighbors--as in banging around at 3 AM (I don't even want to know what is going on). Love my apartment except for that--I renewed--but raccoon has a right to clean air and I have a right to a good night's sleep. The offenders have rights too--and I think raccoon and I are respecting that.

He's just looking for a less drastic solution.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. Attitudes like yours are the reason non-smoking laws are needed.

People who smoke in their homes are slobs. People who smoke in their homes knowing it affects their neighbors are inconsiderate slobs.

[bobbolink]

29. I wouldn't say it as strongly as you do, but I agree with your sentiments.

Second-hand smoke DOES cause death, and the ones who need protection are the ones who ARE taking care of their health.

It should be obvious.

[Threedifferentones]

51. Being slobbish is entirely legal, being inconsiderate generally is too.

Where is the line? The way my neighbor dresses offends my eyes, he's such a slob! He should have to dress respectably or move! I hate my neighbors music, he should never be allowed to play it! My neighbor has these awful pink curtains, he should have to put up something attractive or move!

True story: as a kid I lived with my parents in a married student dorm complex. Many of the other residents, including all our immediate neighbors, were Korean. We hated the smell of their cooking, which permeated our home every day, generally more than once. What did we do? We put up with it. Surely we did things they didn't like too, and since we were stuck together, we did our best to get along. I guess you think we should have lobbied for a law to make them eat food with aromas we enjoy?

Personally, I think self-righteous holier-than-thou types are the worst neighbors. They ought to ban your attitude, and if you were my neighbor, I'd insist the landlord kick you out.

[TorchTheWitch]

66. that's what apartment living is all about

Putting up with noises, smells, sights, etc. that you don't want to.

When my parents sold the house and we moved to an apartment we had those pungent foreign cooking smells too - all day and all night since our next door neighbors owned a restaurant and made a lot of the food in their home kitchen to be brought there. Every single day my mom and I were so nauseous from it we were barely able to function. We lasted about 7 months before moving and it's why we moved. We never once complained, and of course we knew that when you share a building with other people you will have to put up with things you don't like even if they make you perpetually sick.

I'll never go back to apartment complex living unless I some day end up with either the choice of that or a cardboard box and mostly for the shitty non-existent sound proofing. Other peoples' noises were actually less bothersome to me then other people being able to hear mine. It made me excessively quiet and paranoid. Unfortunately, most apartment buildings also have air duct work that is connected through all the units, and that's how easily other peoples' odors enter. I remember being embarrassed as hell that I burned broccoli once and it choked out the whole building for days. Because of the stupid connected duct work it reeked just as badly in the hallway three floors down as it did in my own kitchen.

This is what you have to deal with when you live in an apartment. It's life. It can really suck, but that's just how it is. Even living in a house isn't all that great with noises and odors either with barking dogs, screaming kids, outdoor grills, parties, stereos, motorcycles, etc. Lucky are they that can live so far from neighbors that they don't ever have to deal with this kind of stuff.

I agree, the holier than thou complaining neighbors are some of the worst kind to have. And they NEVER give a thought to what noises and odors THEY are subjecting others to!

[LooseWilly]

90. Cheers.

Nothing worse than the self-righteous...

[Tx4obama]

89. Is that you Glenn Grothman? Or are you buddies with the 'protesters are slobs' Grothman? n/t

[raccoon]

21. Good luck with that one, in upstate SC. nt

[woo me with science]

65. Agree. nt

[ellenrr]

6. One time in my building I smelled someone smoking

and I couldn't figure it out, how did it get in to my apt.

One of the tenants said that it was distributed (from the smoker's apt) thru the vents or the air ducts to all the apts.
Since then that guy moved so I don't know if that was in fact how it happened.

Perhaps you could ask your maintenance person if this is what is happening with you.

I sympathize with you: the delights of apt living!
The bldg I live in has such bad acoustics (and worse to me bec. I am on the ground floor) that I can hear the person above me fart. Literally. Right now the apt is empty, when someone moves in, I am going to have to move.

I haven't heard of smoke-free apt buildings. I suppose they must exist.

good luck.

ellen

[BillyJack]

8. I wonder if your neighbor is smoking by the fan over the stove

on purpose, trying to be considerate. S/he may be thinking that it's venting the smoke out of the building, not realizing that some of it is actually going over to your side through the shared venting.

I used to do that, smoke by the fan stove, for that reason. It took most of the smoke out and didn't leave the smokey smell over the entire house (I was in a single family home though).

Maybe a polite conversation with the neighbor? Try to figure out why some days you can smell it and some days you can't? What's "different" about those days? Many smokers try to be as considerate of others as possible. It really not fun to move if you don't have to.

Good Luck!

[Monique1]

10. In my apartment

I don't smoke - I go on the patio but here most people keep their windows closed. Most people I know go on their patio or someplace outside to smoke. People I know who have homes do not smoke in them, they go outside.

[Bandit]

13. Why is that do you suppose?

I would think the one place they would want to smoke would be in their own home..Is it because they can't even stand the smell of their own smoke? :shrug:

[jdlh8894]

16. No.

Consideration for other family members.
My wife quit.I still do. I smoke either outside or in my office or basement which have exhaust fans.

[Mariana]

19. I have a home and smoke outside unless the weather is bad.

And if the weather is really lousy I smoke by the stove vent fan. Smoke trapped inside the house does settle and leave a filmy residue on everything over time. After my grandmother died I got a bunch of her things and had to clean it of that gunk (ammonia does the trick with cigarette smoke residue). She was a heavy smoker and lived in that house for 30 years, and some of the stuff had been hanging on the walls or sitting on the shelves that long and had only ever been dusted, never actually washed. Also, if there's any thought of selling the house ever, and/or any of its contents, you don't want the slightest bit of a hint of cigarette smoke smell in it.

[bobbolink]

41. Smoke goes through the plumbing, through the electrical outlets, etc.

What it boils down to is that it doesn't matter HOW it is transported.. the fact is, it travels throughout a building and the health of non-smokers is harmed, including CHILDREN.

[snooper2]

72. All multi-tenant buildings have these things called fire walls

between the units..

At least since the late 60's

Unless of course some shoddy builder was involved and took short cuts. But I would say the vast majority have fire walls.

Water goes down, so the only plumbing you would be concerend with are drains, and since there are P-traps I doubt that would be an issue...

We smoked so much weed in one apartment back in the day every time you opened the door it hit you in the face. Our neighbors apartment next door (both on 2nd floor) never had a hint of the chronic.

[bobbolink]

73. It. Doesn't. Work. Been there, done that, suffered the consequences.

[snooper2]

78. You should have called Holmes on Homes...

He actually fixed one in a duplex on his show once (noise reduction)

[bobbolink]

79. YEah, everyone has the $$$$ to protect themselves against all toxins.

THAT is why we don't need the EPA or any of the regulations.

Oh wait... that is teabaggery, isn't it?

[ReggieVeggie]

11. a simple 1 inch air filter does not filter smoke

Also, if there's one AC/furnace, that means a common blower which will distribute smoke through the return to all connected supply ducts.

[rucky]

15. Dryer sheets behind the vents work wonders.

[Missy Vixen]

18. Lived in a townhouse. Neighbor smoked.

Our place shared a wall. Imagine our surprise to learn that the firewall was modified, and any smoke smell would be in our house, too. We sold and moved as quickly as possible.

Previous to this, we lived in an apartment that had previously been inhabited by a very heavy smoker. The usual apartment-freshening techniques were useless against the buildup of several years of smoke. I'm allergic. By the time we bought our townhouse (out of the frying pan and into the fire,) the company that owned the apartment complex had repainted three times with an odor-eliminating paint, replaced both carpet and pad, and when we moved out, were leaving the apartment vacant while they tried to think of what they could do next.

As someone else has said, it's a good policy to check any kind of rental agreement or lease to verify that the place you're moving into is smoke free. It might also be a good idea to request that you are released from a lease with no penalty if someone who smokes moves into the same building.

[SoCalDem]

61. Easy solution.. tile floors ..no carpets or rugs

tenants can "dress the windows" & put down their own rugs

no soft surfaces + fresh paint between tenants = no smoky smell:)

Cheaper for landlords too..no more nasty carpet to clean all the time

[bobbolink]

81. So, you are advocating that people do what landlords will consider "DAMAGE" and pay the price?

And what you STILL don't understand is.. it isn't about an annoying smell... it is about HEALTH, and ripping up the landlord's property doesn't change that.

[SoCalDem]

84. NO.. LANDLORDS should spare themselves the hassle/expense and use tile & paint

Carpeting is the WORST floor surface ever for a rental..

smart landlords use tile on the floor, and bare windows and then paint between tenants.. ..no "lingering" smells:hi:

[bobbolink]

91. In most states, tenants have NO CONTROL over what landlords do.

Also, while I understand the usefulness of what you are advocating, it doesn't STOP the ill-health effects of second-hand smoke.

Maybe you are responding to the thought that the smell of smoke is distasteful. That is not the issue.. the smoke itself is a health hazard.

[Modern_Matthew]

20. Yeah. We had to close some gaps in our utility closet with duct tape. It fixed the problem. n/t

[JuniperLea]

23. Yep...

I own my 1985 townhouse, and I smell cigarettes all the time. Not just from the area of the one shared wall, but many go outside to smoke... and it sure wafts in.

[Cleita]

24. Unless you live alone, maybe you should look closer

to someone who lives with you and is sneaking cigs on the side. That being said, the smoke of the pot smokers who lived beneath me often wafted up through their open windows into my open windows during summer.

[Better Believe It]

26. Did you stick your head out the window and inhale?

:)

[Cleita]

28. Tempting, I know, but I didn't.

:rofl:

[Arugula Latte]

27. I don't have a solution but I just want to say good luck

I hope you can get yourself into a smoke-free environment. That is a wretched, disgusting smell, not to mention it's hurting your lungs and evidence is mounting that even THIRD-hand smoke (the toxic residue left on hair, skin, clothes, carpets, curtains, etc. long after a cigarette is extinguished) is very harmful in itself.

http://www.theairquality.com/third-hand-smoke-is-harmful-to-your-health-according-to-study.html

[AsahinaKimi]

30. My building was smoke free...

until my landlord got desperate for a renter, and allowed the current occupants. There are days my place smells like an ashtray. No wonder I am always coughing.. They even smoke next to my front door. I don't guess a no smoking sign on my door would help, that might just give them the idea that I need more smoke in my place.

[southernyankeebelle]

31. You know when you move in a building with many different families than you have to learn

to adjust. I have lived in a building with all different enthic groups who all play different kinds of music. It can drive you nuts when you want to take a nap. I found a solution. I used a noisey fan to drown out anything from the outside. I have always used it everyday and even in the winter. But if you don't like what someoneelse is doing in their own apartment that is legal and they are paying their bills you have no right to say anything. You don't like it move out. People have rights in their own apartments. I don't like smoke either but that is going to far. Oh I don't smoke either.

MOVE OUT you'll be happier.

[bobbolink]

43. Music doesn't harm your health.

I get that you aren't concerned about the person's health.

Just remember, in a society, we ALL pay for damaged lungs of others.

Maybe if the costs hit your personally, then you will understand.

[Cleita]

49. My outside sound drowning mechanism was have a

radio, record player or TV on all the time and loud enough to make their sounds less annoying.

[rainbow4321]

70. You explained it perfectly

Now if only my downstairs neighbor would have as much common sense.

He came to my door the other day and told me that I was waking him/his family up by walking around my apartment at 2am and that me opening my balcony door around that time was also waking them up.
I told him that because I work the evening shift and don't get home until at least 1 am, yes, I am up walking around. He kept repeating how they hear me walking. Had to tell him that I cannot NOT walk on my floor. I am in my bare feet, the floors are carpeted, there are no audible squeaks...if there was I would be the first to call for maintenance to repair them.
He then started going on about hearing my balcony door open --I go out there to smoke after work, only go out once and stay there for maybe 15 minutes. I told him that the door sounds no different than it did a year ago when we moved in but that I could have the apt manager come look at it. He (very) quickly told me not to get the manager involved. The door makes no squeaks, no rubbing sound, doesn't get stuck or jammed. Nothing. I again offered to have someone come look at it and that I would tell the manager. Again, he said he didn't want anyone else involved or knowing that he was complaining.
At the same time he had me out in the hall telling me all this, my next door neighbor walks by and asks if there is a problem. When he was filled in the conversation, he goes "funny, I never hear a peep out of their apartment or them". The complaining guy got alot more timid when this neighbor started in on the conversation
After 15 minutes of him going on with "we hear you walking, if you could just be quieter and the balcony door is waking us all up" I bluntly had to tell him that I cannot adjust my WORK schedule or my apartment activity on a curfew that HE wanted.

I did report it all to the manager who said I have a right to live normally in my apartment and that they had contacted the guy to tell him to no longer show up at my door...that he needs to contact them. I requested someone come look at the door and nothing was found wrong with it.


Notice I said that I go on the balcony to smoke. One thing I remember from last week is while I was out there, I heard him shut their bedroom window. After all of this, I kinda found myself wondering if this was his way of trying to keep me from going out there to smoke so they can keep their window open.

The manager also recommened that I call the onsite courtesy officer if the guy confronts me again so he can see if there really is any noise going on. So I decided if he does complain again about me using the balcony, I'm requesting the officer go into the guy's bedroom and I will open the balcony door so HE can see if there is a LOUD, awakening sound or if the neighbor refuses to allow the officer in to "hear" any noises.

[bobbolink]

35. Smoke comes through the plumbing, electrical outlets, etc.

Here's a suggestion: join a smoke-free movement to get laws protecting non-smokers:
http://www.first5la.org/articles/policy-pick-multi-unit-housing-smoke-free-movements-final-frontier

[Jack Sprat]

40. When it comes to apt living

you are going to have to put up with plenty of things you find personally upsetting. Carpenter bees own all the patios and balconies in my current place. Everyone complains to management, but nothing is ever done.

The ceilings are built cheap and thin, so that it sounds like thunder when the upstairs neighbors are walking around. These particular neighbors never sit down and rest so that I can get some peace. Constantly walking from room to room, I believe these people have taken some haperactive west coast specials and can't wear down.

The apts provide dog poop bags and we have pet owners that allow their dogs to poop on the sidewalk without bothering to clean up after them.

The dumpsters are nearby and the sanitation trucks pick them up and slam them down 2 or 3 times a week.

Smokers are great. They are socially more eager to converse with, usually on the patios or recreation areas. Everyone likes the communal spirit that makes apts appealing. They aren't for everyone obviously. You need to be inclined towards communal type living and tolerating more than you would on your private lot.

[bobbolink]

45. Sounds don't harm your health. Dog poop doesn't harm your health.. at least, not as much

as second-hand smoke.

You don't "adjust", you don't "get used to it", you don't "put up with it."

It makes you SICK.

[SOS]

77. Sounds may not directly harm your health

But when I lived in the Bronx, the neighbors had house parties with music at 110=115 decibels from midnight until 6AM.
So while it may not be a direct health hazard, not sleeping from Friday to Sunday isn't exactly good for you.

I never complained though. Was just a little annoyed that they didn't invite me!

[tpsbmam]

54. Wow, how irritating! I was an offender when it came to clattering overhead...

Have you ever asked them to take their shoes off in their apartment? I'm asking because I was the offender in my NYC apartment. It was a fabulous apartment (for someone full of vigor -- 5th floor walk-up) and I was on the top floor. Almost an entire one side of the block of brownstones had been bought by my landlord and really beautifully renovated. I had wood floors and I never even thought about what my high-heels and hard-soled shoes sounded like downstairs! My neighbor came upstairs and asked very nicely if I'd mind taking my shoes off or wearing slippers/sneakers, etc. I had a *duh* moment -- of course I was making a racket over her head -- and I wore slippers or, in warm weather, just opted for bare feet. Didn't bother me at all....well, except for the fact that I hadn't thought about being more thoughtful on my own!

[bobbolink]

82. Thank you for "getting it"! If we are honest, I think all of us are "offenders" at one time or

another.

What is sad and tragic is how many angrily insist that it is their "right" to negatively impact others however they choose.

For so many, it just doesn't sink in that we are all in this together.

Thank you.

[newportdadde]

44. Yes, that and perfume at work can be amazing strong, smell her right now 20 ft away.

When my wife and I first got married we had a smoker below us and sometimes the smell would be so strong you would swear someone had broken into our apartment and smoked a pack. My advice is to get yourself a very nice air purifier and put it next to that shared main venting system you probably had, did wonders for us.

Now of course I'm dealing with a lady at work here who I swear to go I can smell it 20 feet away as strongly as if I was giving her a hug. Simply insane how damn strong it is. I'd mention it to her or take it to management but there is no way it would end well.

[Raschel]

46. Put plugs with insulation backing on all of your wall outlets.

[rox63]

47. More and more apt and condo complexes are going smoke-free

My condo building is smoke-free because it saves the association money on insurance costs, because of lower fire risk. Smokers who live there have to smoke outdoors, several feet from the building and associated structures.

There may be apt complexes in your area that are smoke-free. Start making calls and ask when you call.

[City of Mills]

50. Check the pipe cutouts under your sink

Look good under and around that area, behind the toilet, anywhere gas lines or plumbing come into or out of your unit. If you seal off any gaps it will likely help reduce the the smell quite a bit. The guy beneath me smokes and when I first moved in, I noticed cigarette smoke constantly. Now I only smell it every now and then, and it's nowhere near as strong.

[raccoon]

52. There are some good suggestions here. I'll try some of them.

I think smoking should not be allowed in any multi-unit housing. Unless you have designated non-smoking and designated smoking buildings.

Someone's smoking in a multi-unit building does impact others' health.

If I can't live with it, I'll move.

Problem with that is, it may not be easy to find smoke-free apartment units in upstate SC.

Only way to get away from it may be to rent/buy a mobile home. Which is OK with me, except you have to move farther out from town, usually.

[Lady President]

55. Have you talked to the neighbor?

I know that sounds like a simplistic solution, but talk to the neighbor. You said it doesn't smell like that everyday so maybe the other tenant did something different that day and could stop it.

Apartment living is tough. I did it forever and have some crazy stories. I had wonderful neighbors from the Congo who periodically made a fish dish involving leaving raw fish outside in a citrus juice mix to cook. I know you'll say it was just a smell, but it was an unbelievable smell! (They were great people though.) I moved when another neighbor insisted on learning to play the electric guitar in the middle of the night every single night. I couldn't keep going to work on no sleep. The list goes on and on.

I really think that you should talk to them first and if that doesn't work, find a smoke-free building. Currently, smoking isn't illegal so you can't force them out.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

56. Ozone blasters are great for freshening. You don't wanna breathe it.

www.mold-kill.com

www.moldkill.com


I have two of these peoples' ozone blasters. A small one you put an aquarium hose and bubbler on, and a big tubular one I point at my air conditioning intake vent.

GOOD STUFF.

[TheKentuckian]

58. Yep, they were smokin in there and wouldn't give me one.

[AC_Mem]

59. YES

The previous tenants that lived above me are a good example. I would go to bed at night (where I sit and read DU like I'm doing now LOL) and my room smelled like cigarettes. It's disgusting. Now I have neighbors who sit on their patio day and night smoking non-stop while their toddlers run around.

I have said something to the leasing office but they told me that they cannot tell tenants that they cannot smoke. So I purchased diffusers and I diffuse essential oils so I don't have to smell it.

I guess it's one of the drawbacks of living in an apartment.

Annette

[firehorse]

60. I'm dealing with this now and bought a hepa air filter, expensive but it helps

I'm on the top floor in a tenement apartment, and in my building the stairwell acts as a chimney so no matter what floor the smoking is on it ends up in my place. I had to buy a hepa air filter and its just on all the time. Sometimes its so bad I have to take prescription allergy meds in addition to the filter or I get sinus problems.

The neighbor below me blows it out the window and if my window is open, it comes inside, so in the summer I can't even leave my window open. Another neighbor won't smoke in his own apartment, so instead he smokes outside by my door on the stairs. Talking to the smokers didn't help. Talking to management didn't help.

I was just talking tonight to one of my neighbors who used to smoke, and he admitted that he had no idea how bothersome the smoke was or the smell of it until he quit.

[jcboon]

63. On a positive note. . .

Somewhere I read that smokers are more resistant to mind-control techniques--that's why the Nazi's were big on not smoking.

[Dappleganger]

64. Definitely move.

Yes it's a pain, but so is smelling/breathing that crap all the time!

[Zanzoobar]

67. Thoughts.

Your contract says it all.

[snooper2]

69. You could start smoking

Then you wouldn't notice it anymore :)

[dorkulon]

71. lol

True.

[Shagbark Hickory]

75. Why not rent a HOUSE? There are billlions of them for rent right now.

I wish they were so plentiful and cheap when I was livingin an aparmtnet.

[AlabamaLibrul]

80. No, because I don't have problems with cigarette smoke. Next time pick non-smoking. n/t

[kestrel91316]

83. When I was in my condo 15 years ago, smoke from the Russian chimneys nextdoor

made its way in via the hole in the wall where my kitchen sink pipes came through (and presumably theirs too. I solved the problem by taping some cardboard and duct tape all over the hole and pipes and that was the end of that.

[taught_me_patience]

85. I think smoking on the balconies of apartments should be banned

I have a questions for all you smokers who smoke on your balconies. Do you think your smoke does not penetrate the window 5 feet away? Do you not care that you stink up other people's homes and create toxic air?

[Blue-Jay]

86. And smoking in cars when it's a nice windows-down day.

[LadyHawkAZ]

88. Were you given the impression when you leased

that the building was smoke-free? I'm kind of getting the impression of "not" since the manager hasn't evicted the smokers.

If not you're SOL. When you move, ASK FIRST if the building is smoke-free before you sign.