I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

caulk openings between floors, like under sink, around pipes. this
should help a lot

frankly I detest smoke and would move.

you could also bring in fresh air from outside, at a low rate creating
a positive pressure in your unit, that would help keep the smoke from
leaking in

You need to seal around the pipes coming out of the wall under the sink.

If there is escutcheons, things that look like this:

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/images/flange01.jpg

you should be able to slide them back a little bit so you can put something
in gap between the pipe and the wall to seal it. If the gap is less than
1/4" or so regular latex caulk should work. If its larger you may need to
use something like expanding spray foam.

If you use the foam be careful the non latex stuff is nasty to stuff to
remove if it gets in the wrong place.




wrote in message
ups.com...
I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

Thanks for the replies - I'll try chalking around the pipes this
evening. Thanks again!!!

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the replies - I'll try chalking around the pipes this
evening. Thanks again!!!


That's "caulking", not "chalking". They rhyme, though. You need to use the
right word because if you walk into a place like Home Depot and speak to one
of their clueless associates, they won't be able to figure out what you're
looking for, and they'll end up paging the stores "chalk" expert, who'll
show up and send you to the coloring book aisle in a nearby supermarket to
buy some chalk.

This isn't as far-fetched as you might think. :-(

Never mind that it's a good idea for all of us to continue work on
English fluency.

Communication skills are rather discounted nowadays, it seems. Stuff
like spelling, grammar, basic logic. Fuzziness rules, on high.

J

No they would try to sell you some chalk for a chalk line. The dispenser
bottle would let you shoot it it the hole, but I doubt it would do anything.

Maybe the chalk would fly all over the smoker and they would think "Where's
all this red dust coming from, maybe its deadly mold. I think I should
move"


"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the replies - I'll try chalking around the pipes this
evening. Thanks again!!!


That's "caulking", not "chalking". They rhyme, though. You need to use the
right word because if you walk into a place like Home Depot and speak to
one of their clueless associates, they won't be able to figure out what
you're looking for, and they'll end up paging the stores "chalk" expert,
who'll show up and send you to the coloring book aisle in a nearby
supermarket to buy some chalk.

This isn't as far-fetched as you might think. :-(

Never mind that it's a good idea for all of us to continue work on
English fluency.

Communication skills are rather discounted nowadays, it seems. Stuff
like spelling, grammar, basic logic. Fuzziness rules, on high.

Never heard of "chalking" except maybe on a pool-cue, or a gymnast's
hands.

J

wrote:
I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

I'm not sure of your ability to relocate but there are smoke free
buildings. Other that caulk i'd be tempted to take up clog or tap
dancing.

wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

I'm not sure of your ability to relocate but there are smoke free
buildings. Other that caulk i'd be tempted to take up clog or tap
dancing.


:-) :-) Or, find someone with portable digital recording equipment, record
some jackhammers at work.....the rest needs no explanation.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

The other suggestions are good, but remember to clean everything that has
been exposed to the odor. Washing walls and fixtures will help.

I quit smoking about 30 years ago. My wife never did. I wonder how she put
up with me all those smoky years.

"Doug Kanter" writes:
That's "caulking", not "chalking". They rhyme, though.
[...]send you to the coloring book aisle in a nearby supermarket to
heh...
Without reading the rest of the thread, i figured someone told him to
use (snapline powdered) chalk to check for air infiltration around
pipes in common walls.

So, if that turns out to be the source of the smell, wouldn't it be
considered pipe smoke?

--
May no harm befall you,
flip
(who wouldn't mind cig smoke as much if it smelled like pipe smoke)
Remove origin of the word spam from address to reply (leave "+")

wrote in message I just moved into an apartment building where my
downstairs neighbor smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my
bathroom and kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since
there is no way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to
eliminate or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!


In addition to the plugging holes advice and funny comments, consider a good
quality air purifier. Not fair that you'd have to spend the money on it but
they work well. I dated a guy that smoked in his house. But with the air
thing, you could walk in his house and never know a smoker lived there.
Sue
Minocqua, WI
Yamaha '00 VStar 650
'04 TW200 (mud = fun)
Kawasaki '95 Vulcan 1500 V#15937

Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence.

Move. I used to have a neighbor downstairs from me, who smoked like a
chimney and left her front door open so that the whole world could
share her smoke with her. I used to know when she went to bed at
night, because my apartment would suddenly smell better. In my
opinion, there is no effective way to deal with the problem, and it
would be best to negotiate an end to your rental agreement and get out
of there.

On 6 Feb 2006 09:03:30 -0800, wrote:

I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

Just start smoking yourself and you wont notice it.

On 6 Feb 2006 18:30:34 -0800, wrote:

Move. I used to have a neighbor downstairs from me, who smoked like a
chimney and left her front door open so that the whole world could
share her smoke with her. I used to know when she went to bed at
night, because my apartment would suddenly smell better. In my
opinion, there is no effective way to deal with the problem, and it
would be best to negotiate an end to your rental agreement and get out
of there.


Ditto. The tenant underneath me moved and a smoker moved in. My
kitchen stunk like an old ashtray since then. I decided to move and
buy a house (from a non-smoker). Maybe they should charge more rent
for smokers or put them in a separate building.

On 6 Feb 2006 09:03:30 -0800, wrote:

I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

Other have suggested caulking. That's probably a good idea, but you
have a great deal more caulking to do than you might think. I once
lived in an building where idiots in the apartment below started a
fire. The firemen came quickly and put it out, before there was any
serious damage.

Afterwards there were little "plumes" of soot on the walls in more
places than I could count. Every wall penetration showed evidence of
smoke. Around every door frame, wall outlet and light fixture. In
various places over and under base moldings. Even in small cracks in
the plaster. Certainly around every plumbing and heat pipe.

I might add that in another building we lived in there were crevices
under baseboards where even MICE managed to get through, although the
space didn't look nearly as big as the mouse. Presumably there was a
vermin highway in the walls. Based on what I have seen, I wouldn't be
surprised if even your floors were not 100% sealed.

My very inexpert opinion is that you will never get it all sealed up.
Positive pressure might be worth investigating.

Greg Guarino

On Wed, 08 Feb 2006 04:26:20 GMT, Greg G
wrote:

On 6 Feb 2006 09:03:30 -0800, wrote:

I just moved into an apartment building where my downstairs neighbor
smokes like a chimney. The smell seeps up into both my bathroom and
kitchen (particularly under the sinks) and is awful. Since there is no
way to get her to stop smoking, does anyone know of a way to eliminate
or at least reduce the smell in my apartment?? Thanks!

Other have suggested caulking. That's probably a good idea, but you
have a great deal more caulking to do than you might think. I once
lived in an building where idiots in the apartment below started a
fire. The firemen came quickly and put it out, before there was any
serious damage.

Afterwards there were little "plumes" of soot on the walls in more
places than I could count. Every wall penetration showed evidence of
smoke. Around every door frame, wall outlet and light fixture. In
various places over and under base moldings. Even in small cracks in
the plaster. Certainly around every plumbing and heat pipe.

I might add that in another building we lived in there were crevices
under baseboards where even MICE managed to get through, although the
space didn't look nearly as big as the mouse. Presumably there was a
vermin highway in the walls. Based on what I have seen, I wouldn't be
surprised if even your floors were not 100% sealed.

My very inexpert opinion is that you will never get it all sealed up.
Positive pressure might be worth investigating.

Greg Guarino

If thats the case. The best thing to do would be to have a large
crane come and take the upper apartment off from the lower one, and
set it on it's own foundation away from the smoker.

I'm wondering if he's going to use white chalk, or colored chalk. He could
steal a few pieces of chalk from the local school's black board. Or from
some kids playing hopscotch out on the sidewalk.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

wrote in message
oups.com...
Never mind that it's a good idea for all of us to continue work on
English fluency.

Communication skills are rather discounted nowadays, it seems. Stuff
like spelling, grammar, basic logic. Fuzziness rules, on high.

J

the plugging holes advice and funny comments, consider a good
quality air purifier. Not fair that you'd have to spend the money on
it but
they work well. I dated a guy that smoked in his house. But with the
air
thing, you could walk in his house and never know a smoker lived there.

Sue

I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW ANY NON SMOKER COULD DATE A SMOKER!

!!!YUK!!!!

" wrote:

the plugging holes advice and funny comments, consider a good
quality air purifier. Not fair that you'd have to spend the money on
it but
they work well. I dated a guy that smoked in his house. But with the
air
thing, you could walk in his house and never know a smoker lived there.

Sue

I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW ANY NON SMOKER COULD DATE A SMOKER!

!!!YUK!!!!

What if the smoker looked like Jessica Simpson or Brad Pitt?

Mikey wrote:


I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW ANY NON SMOKER COULD DATE A SMOKER!

!!!YUK!!!!


What if the smoker looked like Jessica Simpson or Brad Pitt?


Doesn't matter, people who smell like ashtrays are a total turnoff.

On Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:01:46 -0500, George wrote:

Mikey wrote:


I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW ANY NON SMOKER COULD DATE A SMOKER!

!!!YUK!!!!


What if the smoker looked like Jessica Simpson or Brad Pitt?


Doesn't matter, people who smell like ashtrays are a total turnoff.


I wouldn't know. I've never stuck my nose in an ashtray, nor would I want
to.

--

Dave in Columbus