Dear Dr. Bornfeld,
I've rather appreciated reading your posts on SMD. You are a polite
gentleman.
That said, I'm also allergic to tobacco. You and your wife had my
compassion.
As for sealing openings, cardboard and stapling might work, or plastic
sheet and duct tape like the Homeland Security guys mention.
There may be some way (reverse the bathroom vent fan so it blows in,
instead of out?) to pressurize your apartment. Push clean air through the
wall, instead of drawing smoke in. If you have exhaust fan, shut it off.
Open a window, to allow fresh air in.
Might want to see what your heating plant is. Maybe a HVAC person can
put in a fresh air intake, on the return side of the HVAC. Draw fresh air
in, and pressurize your side. Check also, see if your furnace is tied in
with their vent system, your furnace may be drawing from their side of the
building.
Palliative measures may include ibuprophen, bezocaine, Ozium air spray,
or Febreze air spray.
Please let us know what works.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Steven Bornfeld" wrote in message
...
I write in hope of some serious answers. I know this general issue has
come up before, and wading through the incredulous and the trolls doing
a search yields nothing that seems likely to work. Maybe there is
nothing; if not, so be it.
We just moved into our new home after over 7 months of renovations. The
problem is cigarette smoke from one of our neighbors.
This is an attached house, with a party wall (concrete). (attached on
the other side too, separate construction, not a problem.
When the walls were open, I was not aware of any plumbing coming
directly from the smoking neighbor. There are cabinets mounted in our
kitchen on the party wall. Holes were cut in the cabinet backs to
accommodate some drainage and steam pipes (ours), and there is an
opening around our plumbing which we will seal off. We don't know what
might be the best way to do this, and I have no idea if it will work
(though the cigarette smoke is strongest in these cabinets.
This does appear to be coming through the walls--somehow, and not
through vents to the outside. This is old construction (c. 1940).
There is no question that there is cigarette smoke. It's not nearly as
big a problem for me (my sense of smell was never the same since organic
chemistry), but my wife is very upset.
I'm quite sure I have no legal recourse, and in any case wouldn't expect
my neighbor to modify his smoking on my behalf. Really just interested
to know if anyone has dealt with some mechanical means of dealing with
this problem that was effective.

TIA,
Steve
--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001