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My mother's house is about 40 feet above another property. The son here smokes cigarettes, perhaps chain-smoking. A lot of the smoke is funneling into our house and filling all the rooms with smoke. My mother has cancer and asthma, and the smoke is disrupting her health as well as her sleep.
What can be done to seal our house from the smoke? We have tried buying HEPA air filters to no avail, but have seen that there are quite a number of ways to do this.
Thanks. We are two separate homes on two separate lots. Ours is on a hill that overlooks the other's courtyard and driveway. The neighbor's home is located on a separate street below us about 40 feet away from our backyard. The living quarters of my house faces towards their property. Thank you.
I feel for you. We have the same problem here, even though on a big lot. Neighbor is a die-hard chain smoker who smokes in driveway between our houses. With the high temps, humidity, and lack of wind, the smell is worse than usual. I'm going to talk to her and see if she can move her smoking other side of her house. For now, I have windows closed, a/c going, ionizer machines, plug-ins, etc. We usually do not like to use a/c unless absolutely necessary, but for now windows closed, a/c going. Please speak up, and put a note in neighbors mail box asap, and explain your situation. Also try adding the weatherstripping. This is what we plan to do.
Call an AC company you trust. Get estimates on installing one of the latest inline purification systems. Depending on the age of the system it may be beneficial to replace the entire unit with a variable speed unit so the purification system will work best together. With the variable speed unit you can keep the central air fan in the on position and it will continuously filter the air on low fan speed. Another more affordable option is to switch the air filter in your unit. 3M Filtrete offers filters for cigarette smoke and with charcoal to help eliminate odors. This will only filter when the central air fan is running. Some older central air units only run at high speed so this would be a problem leaving the fan on constantly. A large model air purifier will help. Use a candle or fine powder to check for drafts in the windows. You could purchase and DIY install weather stripping for the windows. More expensive and better option would be to replace them with double insulated windows.
FWIW, I lived in a townhouse next to a person who was out on his patio smoking nonstop. I would have workers who came to do work on the AC, patio, etc and they would come back in coughing and complained about how hard it was to work out there. I had no problems whatsoever inside, and my windows were not new at all. I would have loved to use my patio because it was a really nice screened in area, but the smoke was too heavy. I did keep my AC running all the time and did get the smells in from his fireplace. I usually got the best air filters for my AC instead of the cheapest models.
I'm not sure if it would work, but could you (in addition to "sealing off" your home) get a high velocity fan? I'm thinking you could set it outside your house facing toward your neighbor's house to at least blow the smoke away from your property...or at least away from the most likely entry points...?
Sorry you're having to deal with this on top of everything else. I'm super sensitive to cigarette smoke smells. Our next door neighbor (15' distance house-to-house...ugh) used to sit outside smoking on his side patio which abuts our bedroom window. As soon as I'd smell it, I'd run around and close all of our windows like a mad woman.
My mother's house is about 40 feet above another property. The son here smokes cigarettes, perhaps chain-smoking. A lot of the smoke is funneling into our house and filling all the rooms with smoke. My mother has cancer and asthma, and the smoke is disrupting her health as well as her sleep.
What can be done to seal our house from the smoke? We have tried buying HEPA air filters to no avail, but have seen that there are quite a number of ways to do this.
Should we do all of the above, or are some more effective methods of cutting off smoke than others?
Our house is 35 years old and has never been renovated. It is possible that smoke is getting in from the windowpanes and doors.
We also could try re-weatherstripping all of the doors and windows.
On behalf of my family, thank you!
Did you go and have a friendly chat with your neighbor?
Does he knows that his smoke is disturbing you? Is he smoking outdoors?
Perhaps he is completely unaware but would be willing to smoke on another part of his house?
It could be getting in through the soffit vents. That is how the smell of our neighbor's pot smoke gets into our home. They smoke on their patio or just inside the door and blow the smoke out to their patio. It drifts over and gets trapped under our roof overhang, spreads up through the soffit vent and then down from the attic into the house through gaps near outlets and A/C vents.
I don't know if it's a bad idea to cover up a few sofft vents, but I'd investigate that fairly cheap option.
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