Neighbours Smoke

fartyarse

I live in an apartment block, I think that's my first problem!!

Basically my next door neighbours smoke on their balcony, presumably because they don't want the inside of their apartment to stink. Ironically, MY apartment stinks of cigarette smoke from their smoke blowing in through our windows and vents.

It's been going on for months and it's getting to the stage where I'm waking up with a very sore throat and myself and my OH have both developed nasty coughs.

It's getting frustrating and I can't imagine we're the only ones who experience this!

Is there ANYTHING we can do about the issue? Any advice anyone can give?

I'm locked into the lease for another 8 months.

Bigcheeze

Well you could ask them not to smoke on the balcony because it's coming in to your apartment. A reasonable person will probably see your point of view.


Alternatively, judging by your username you could retaliate by stinking up their apartment.

Lister1

fartyarse wrote: »

Is there ANYTHING we can do about the issue? Any advice anyone can give?

Close the windows and air vents. Possibly one of those straw partitions will block the smoke either....

Mr.Fred

Lister1 wrote: »

Close the windows and air vents.

I wouldn't be blocking off the air vents they're there for a reason.

I have the same issue with my own neighbours and as the saying goes high walls make great neighbours (or something along those lines)

As a poster said try putting up some kind of screen between you and your neighbours balcony as it'll break up the path of the smoke.

djimi

How much do they smoke? We have neighbours that smoke and while you can smell it for the couple of minutes that they are out there, the smell does not linger in our apartment and we certainly do not suffer health issues from it.

The best advice has already been given; go and talk to them first and try and explain the problem. Only if they are dismissive of your concerns should you take the matter further.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

fussyonion

I don't think you've a leg to stand on.
The people are smoking on their balcony and they're perfectly entitled to.

djimi

Captain Morgan wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I have no idea tbh. If the neighbours are smoking a sufficient amount for it to be considered a health hazard to their neighbours then would that constitute anti social behavious? To be honest, the only way I can see it being as big an issue as the OP is making out is if multiple people are on the balcony smoking pretty much 24/7. The occasional person going out every couple of hours for a smoke wouldnt leave a lasting smell in their apartment, and it certainly wouldnt cause health problems for them.

bigneacy

Unless they are blowing smoke directly in your vent I really can't fathom how it is causing you health problems.

The smell of smoke, while unpleasant for a non smoker, is not the same thing as actually inhaling second hand smoke. In the same way as smelling a fart is not the same as eating shíte.

I think this is a case of blaming a sore throat and a cough on something that backs your case up. If the smell bothers you, close the offending vents and put up a screen. You can't ask them to not smoke on their own balcony. Maybe invest in an anti tobacco air freshner.

regress

As a non smoker it seems like a ridiculous and frivolous complaint to me. They are perfectly entitled to smoke on their balcony and I find it astonishing that you believe that sufficient smoke would make its way from a cigarette smoked in the open air through a vent in an adjoining apartment to cause the health problems you describe.

MagicMarker

I simply can't believe they're smoking to such an extent OUTSIDE that it's effecting your health inside. In fact I find it completely and utterly laughable.

Henry Ford III

djimi wrote: »

I have no idea tbh....

Then why comment?

They can smoke on their property as often as they wish. The OP should close the windows and doors to minimise smoke ingress.

endacl

Swop apartments.

P_1

Just put up a screen between their balcony and yours OP. Unless it's in the house rules that they can't (which I doubt to be honest) there's nothing preventing them from smoking on their own balcony

djimi

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Then why comment?

They can smoke on their property as often as they wish. The OP should close the windows and doors to minimise smoke ingress.

I dont know what course of action they could take, but just because Im not aware of one doesnt mean that one doesnt exist, hence my comment. If there is nothing that can be done then so be it, but Im guessing that since the neighbours smoking is affecting the OPs apartment and their health then its fair to guess that its a little more than one person having a quick smoke a few times a day, and if its a case that its a persistant and constant problem then its entirely possible something could be done about it. Im not allowed have a BBQ near my apartment for this very reason.

fartyarse

I've lived in apartments beside smokers before and it's never been this bad, they're out quite often. Visitors have commented on the smell of smoke in my apartment, it's not only me.

Thanks for all the helpful replies, and thanks also for the unhelpful ones.

regress

fartyarse wrote: »

IVisitors have commented on the smell of smoke in my apartment, it's not only me.
.

Quite frankly I don't believe you. I think you have an obsession about your neighbours smoking and are trying to justify it. That visitors would br commenting on smell of smoke in your apartment from neighbors smoking on their balcony is not believable.. I don't believe either that you and your boyfriend are suffering from sore throats and other health issues because of a neighbour smoking a cigarette outside.

KTRIC

I had this before in an apartment, the neighbour smoking out the window. Ended up having to move because of it , even after talking to them about it.

A lot of people on the thread making little of it but as a non or ex smoker its very hard to live with on a day to day basis.

fartyarse

KTRIC wrote: »

I had this before in an apartment, the neighbour smoking out the window. Ended up having to move because of it , even after talking to them about it.

A lot of people on the thread making little of it but as a non or ex smoker its very hard to live with on a day to day basis.

Thank you, I knew I couldn't be the only one!

I have to say, I came onto Boards.ie seeking advice and/or guidance and I was met with 80% aggression, and being called a liar. I suspect most of the aggression is from smokers however.

Someone else's filthy, disgusting, shameful habit shouldn't have to affect me or impede on my lifestyle, no matter how insignificantly. I'm done with this thread.

Mods, feel free to close it if you so wish!

Jack Kyle

fartyarse wrote: »

Someone else's filthy, disgusting, shameful habit

Are they smoking outdoors or jerking off to animal porn?

I'm a non smoker who doesn't like the smell of smoke at all and your story sounds ludicrous to me.

Based on your pretty extreme description of cigarette smokers, I'd say you and your other half have some kind of hypercondriac type thing going on based on your outrage over your neighbours smoking outside your window.

regress

fartyarse wrote: »

Someone else's filthy, disgusting, shameful habit shouldn't have to affect me or impede on my lifestyle, no matter how insignificantly. !

I find your intolerance disagreeable. And you attempts to justify it on "health" grounds offensive. You rights to tell others hoe to live their lives are fortunately limited.

fartyarse

regress wrote: »

I find your intolerance disagreeable. And your attempts to justify it on "health" grounds offensive. Your rights to tell others how to live their lives are fortunately limited.

ixoy

OP - Cases like that are one of the reasons that I don't want to live in an apartment again. When I lived in Smithfield a bar opened on the ground floor which meant smokers were out directly beneath and the stench would come up through any open window/vent. Very irritating but nothing I could do.

Then when I moved out to another apartment there was an neighbouring apartment which was empty most of the time except for the evenings / nights when some guys in their '20s would appear just it seemed to smoke hash. I woke up a number of mornings with the smell in the bedroom - couldn't do much to stop it and again nothing I could really do.

Unfortunately, you don't have any way to do much other than hope they respond favourably to you. If it's something you fear could happen again then, like myself, think about not living in an apartment block in the future.

fartyarse

ixoy wrote: »

OP - Cases like that are one of the reasons that I don't want to live in an apartment again. When I lived in Smithfield a bar opened on the ground floor which meant smokers were out directly beneath and the stench would come up through any open window/vent. Very irritating but nothing I could do.

Then when I moved out to another apartment there was an neighbouring apartment which was empty most of the time except for the evenings / nights when some guys in their '20s would appear just it seemed to smoke hash. I woke up a number of mornings with the smell in the bedroom - couldn't do much to stop it and again nothing I could really do.

Unfortunately, you don't have any way to do much other than hope they respond favourably to you. If it's something you fear could happen again then, like myself, think about not living in an apartment block in the future.

I'm glad some people understand my predicament, thanks for responding, I'm going to have to consider my options, the pitfalls of apartment-living eh?

Victor

Henry Ford III wrote: »

They can smoke on their property as often as they wish.

Actually, it may be more complicated than that. There are legal obligations on occupiers (the person who has the balcony) to not have tobacco smoke go into buildings.

Henry Ford III

Victor wrote: »

Actually, it may be more complicated than that. There are legal obligations on occupiers (the person who has the balcony) to not have tobacco smoke go into buildings.

Short of controlling wind direction how could anyone reasonably be expected to be able direct cigarette smoke?

Have you a link to these obligations please?

p.s. It's been said before but the easiest way to stop smoke ingress is to close windows and doors.

matt-dublin

Buy some stink bombs and break them onto their balcony near the times they come out for a smoke.

Muahahaha

I'm also doubting the OP's claims that this second hand smoke is affecting their health to the extent that they say it is. I suffer the same problem with people smoking below my office window at least 5-6 times per day. I solve that problem by closing the window for 5 or 10 minutes but even if it is open I never get such a volume of smoke that it would make my throat sore. I get the smell of it for sure but in no way is it billows of smoke going down my lungs.

However if it were true and the OP got a letter from an expert to say as such then they might have a case. I'm talking an ENT consultant(ear, nose & throat) willing to state the smoke is causing health problems then they could take a civil action against their neighbours and let a District Court judge decide their fate. If the judge believed that the smoke was genuinely causing them health problems then he is within his rights to issue a desist order. Personally I think you'd need some very strong arguments in court for this to work, in theory it could though.

There's many responses on this thread that seem to give the impression that property rights are absolute and can't be challenged. They are not absiolute and there is tons of case law on this, specifically from the UK where neighbours disputes seem to end up in court rooms fairly commonly.

The right to enjoy your property does not give you a right to infringe on other peoples rights, a judge could very well rule that people have the right to breathe air that is not tainted by smoke and rule in the OP's favour. In fact I would be very surprised if a case similar to this has not already been tried in the UK, if it has then the judgement may help the OP as they could use it as a case precendent in a court of law here. The judge doesn't have to follow the judgement but it is of persuasive value.

_Kaiser_

Don't smoke myself but members of my family do.

Your neighbours are standing on their own balcony and perfectly entitled to smoke if they want to. It's not like they're blowing it in your face and as someone who lived with smokers myself, I never experienced the symptoms you describe despite being right beside them at the time.

I really don't understand these people who move into apartments and housing estates and then complain because something their neighbour does (like hanging their washing outside, or in this case smoking outside) bothers them somehow.

Short answer here OP is that if this is affecting you so badly.. move! Preferably to somewhere where you won't have to deal with the "annoyances" of other people. You will probably find that harsh but living in communal areas means everyone has to make compromises and allowances.

Henry Ford III

Muahahaha wrote: »

I'm also doubting the OP's claims that this second hand smoke is affecting their health to the extent that they say it is. I suffer the same problem with people smoking below my office window at least 5-6 times per day. I solve that problem by closing the window for 5 or 10 minutes but even if it is open I never get such a volume of smoke that it would make my throat sore. I get the smell of it for sure but in no way is it billows of smoke going down my lungs.

However if it were true and the OP got a letter from an expert to say as such then they might have a case. I'm talking an ENT consultant(ear, nose & throat) willing to state the smoke is causing health problems then they could take a civil action against their neighbours and let a District Court judge decide their fate. If the judge believed that the smoke was genuinely causing them health problems then he is within his rights to issue a desist order. Personally I think you'd need some very strong arguments in court for this to work, in theory it could though.

There's many responses on this thread that seem to give the impression that property rights are absolute and can't be challenged. They are not absiolute and there is tons of case law on this, specifically from the UK where neighbours disputes seem to end up in court rooms fairly commonly.

The right to enjoy your property does not give you a right to infringe on other peoples rights, a judge could very well rule that people have the right to breathe air that is not tainted by smoke and rule in the OP's favour. In fact I would be very surprised if a case similar to this has not already been tried in the UK, if it has then the judgement may help the OP as they could use it as a case precendent in a court of law here. The judge doesn't have to follow the judgement but it is of persuasive value.

Of course a legal action is possible - you'll easily find a solicitor these days who'll take the most fanciful case, provided you'll pay them.

I'd be of the opinion that no judge will find against a neighbour in the circumstances described however. It's just totally unreasonable.

drumswan

fartyarse wrote: »

I'm glad some people understand my predicament, thanks for responding, I'm going to have to consider my options, the pitfalls of apartment-living eh?

Another of the pitfalls of apartment living are getting stuck beside some lunatic with totally unreasonable ideas on how you can use your own property. These people not only make their own lives miserable but are happy to make yours miserable too.