Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Smoked out
Just hoping someone might have some advice about smoking in adjoined residential property.
I live on Grand Parade in a top flat but the cigarette smoke from my downstairs neighbours is actually driving us crazy. We get on with them, and indeed have a friendly if cursory relationship with them. We have spoken to them on many occasions and have made some headway but they tend not to give a hoot in the long run. They have also been asked to smoke outside on their balcony by their landlord AND the company that runs the freehold. It comes to nothing, especially in cold weather. I appreciate that they are allowed to smoke in their own home but the smoke comes piling up in to our flat and, in winter, we have to open our doors and windows to alleviate the stink (occasionally eye watering). I have two young children, one of four years and one of six months. This makes no odds.
Is there anything I can do? If they want to smoke and increase their chances of getting cancer, fine. Not my kids!
Jimbo
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Antoinette on
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That is vexing indeed. I don't think there's much more that you can do. Maybe you can ask the landlord to fit vent-axia units in their windows as they ignore instructions to smoke outside. Do you have uncovered floors? I'm just thinking about how you can keep the smoke out more effectively... thicker carpets? Draught excluder on the front door?
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I strongly sympathise and I have experienced the counter untuitive way that smoke appears to pass through walls! The only realistic solution is to get them evicted. It is likely that the landlord may have a clause in the lease regarding this, and heavy smoking indoors can really degrade the place. The agent and landlord approach is the only tenable one as they won't stop smoking. (it might be the same people I knew!)
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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on
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That's a real horrible problem to have, I feel for you. Evictions can take half a year I believe and the landlord probably won't want a 'void' anyway. Maybe you could try reflooring, calling the NSPCC or ultimately think about moving?
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Do you know how the smoke is actually getting in your flat?. Is it via a common stairway?.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Jimbo, I'm sorry to read this account of the selfishness of your neighbours. I sympathise with your plight and all the more so with such young children whose small bodies are growing fast.
Some smokers are considerate of others; my guess is that your neighbours are addicted to the nicotine inside the cigarettes and it's a waste of your breath asking them to desist. Some landlords make non-smoking a condition of a lease agreement due to the increased fire risk, the stench and the staining of property. If it's not a condition, could you ask him to make it a condition in future? I'd suggest consider seeking advise from: ASH (link in this thread); Citizens Advice Bureau or even local Councillors.
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Smokers are addicted to nicotine? I never knew.
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I may get flamed for this but here goes..
I do sympathise but this is the deal when buying somewhere above/next to something else. I get so fed up of pubs closing when new developments say that they are being disturbed. Yes, smoking is bad, but if they do it, they should be allowed to do it where they like. If it happens that your place is within their vicinity, then that's your problem for not thinking ahead. Deal with it or move out, don't force them to move.
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Yeah, perhaps we should change the noise laws and allow music to be played as loud as anyone wishes ? Deal with it or move out ?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I don't think the pub analogy works Velo. If you decide to move to a property next to a pub you do so in the knowledge that there will be associated noise within certain times. I'm sure a lot of people live in flats where a neighbour is a smoker and they aren't disturbed by it. In this case if the smell and smoke are picked up by someone living above there must be something structurally wrong with the property if it allows it to come up through the ceiling into the flat above.
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This what I wanted to find out, smoke will not go through a ceiling so there is either some open vent or air-gap (these could be a fire issue) or it is simply coming under the front door from the stairway. If the latter some simple door insulation will help greatly.
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Permalink Reply by Jimbo on
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It comes in EVERYWHERE. It's a victorian building riddled with gaps. And I'm afraid we can't afford to hermetically seal ourselves in. Difficult.
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