Neighbors' Cooking Odors: Apartments vs. Townhomes (townhouse, smells, convert, insulation)

[Misty108]

I've had this problem in apartment buildings, but never in a townhouse or condo (row-home style building). Anyone here have the problem in a townhouse? Is moving to a townhouse or condo a way to avoid it?

[harry chickpea]

Sometimes. It depends upon the integrity of firewalls and the blessings of favorable air currents.

[rational1]

Is "maybe, it all depends" a useful answer?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by rational1

Is "maybe, it all depends" a useful answer?

Maybe there is no definitive answer.


This is not a yes/ no question. The only truthful answer is "it depends"

[oregonwoodsmoke]

A lot of it depends upon what your neighbors are cooking. I've had neighbors where I could smell what was being cooked a full block away. I don't think common wall in a condo would be enough to save you from smelling food cooking.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Misty108

I've had this problem in apartment buildings, but never in a townhouse or condo (row-home style building). Anyone here have the problem in a townhouse? Is moving to a townhouse or condo a way to avoid it?

I live in a house, single family home, and the next door neighbor has a propane grill, charcoal grill, smoker, and fire pit. He uses at least one of them fairly often.

*He uses all of them but rotates.

[MidValleyDad]

AT one point we had a neighbor who made her own Kim-Chee. When she was 'turning' a batch you could smell it a block away. But the Yeast plant a mile or so a way was worse when the wind was in the wrong direction.


Growing up I lived in the country. When the neighbor spread manure on the fields things could get pretty 'ripe' so it is all in what you are used to.

[johngolf]

Many cheap apartments were converted to condos thus noise and smells. In a properly constructed building it is not an issue. One townhouse development I lived in had double concrete block walls with insulation separating the units. A bomb could have gone of in the next unit and you would not have heard it.