how are townhomes built? (Raleigh: apartments, condos, hotels)

[borisiskelly]

I would like to buy a townhouse thing is, I have lived in an apartment where smoking was allowed and the smoke always got inside my apartment no matter how many air filters or air purifiers I bought, I always would smell the smoke. I now live in a smoke free building which is great. I am afraid if I were to buy a townhome I would have the same problem with smoke entering my home. Can anyone tell me if townhomes are built in a way where this would not happen? And if so how could I verify that the townhome I would want to buy is built in a way where the smoke from the shared wall would not come through. Thank you in advance for your help

[StanFischlerHockE]

Townhomes are built out of wood. Smoke will not come through the wall but if your neighbor is smoking outside or on a balcony...that smoke may blow through an open window.

[Mirabella]

What are apartments made of? Plastic? Cardboard?? what? 😐

[Poggly Woggly]

Originally Posted by borisiskelly

I am afraid if I were to buy a townhome I would have the same problem with smoke entering my home. Can anyone tell me if townhomes are built in a way where this would not happen? And if so how could I verify that the townhome I would want to buy is built in a way where the smoke from the shared wall would not come through. Thank you in advance for your help

You'll have to do some detective work. In my neighborhood they sandwich thick panels between two stud walls in townhomes and paired ranches. These panels are fire retardant, sound proofing and vapor barrier. I'll try to find out exactly what the panels are.

[hertfordshire]

Townhomes should all have concrete fire walls in between each unit. I never noticed smelling smoke when I lived in a townhome, but I don't recall if I had any smokers nearby.

[jperryrocks]

It really depends on the builder. Years ago I almost bought a townhome from standard pacific in briar creek. The 3 story did not share a wall with your neighbor as a buffer was built in between. It can make a big difference in cutting down on noise, vibration and maybe things like smoke as well.

I ended up buying a Lennar townhome instead. It was pretty bad in comparison as I could hear my neighbors walk up and down their steps and a lot of vibrations came though. It just wasn’t built very well in that regard. My neighbors didn’t smoke though so guess I was lucky there.

I have a Lennar single family house now, but would never want to live in one of their townhomes again based on my experience. Townhomes are always a crapshoot as your quality of life depends a lot on who lives next to you as well.

[RobotDevil]

Depends on the construction. Many townhomes and condos that are not towers share an attic space, so it's possible that smoke could be smelled on your upper level. Typically they're built with fire walls in between, but again it depends on the material used. When I was in Florida townhomes typically had concrete block for separation, but I've seen them built with blocks only on the first floor and wood/fire rated barriers for above that, and then a brick veneer on the outside to conceal the mixed material construction.

Also, there are apartment buildings and even hotels that are converted to condos that have firewalls retrofitted in, and again the method varies.

[nicollel]

Real townhouses would have a firewall for the shared wall. As some other posters have noted, they are required. It completely separates the two houses and if done right, keeps the adjacent houses safe if one catches on fire. I have unfortunately seen one in action, and it was quite successful in keeping the fire from spreading.

So there are no shared vents, etc in townhouses. If your next door neighbor smoked, you would only smell it through an open window or if your neighbor was constantly sitting on their step smoking. (I would hope people would be more considerate than that.) I've lived in mine for 10 years and never had a problem with picking up any other smells, etc. Ours are also good for noise. The only time there is ever noise is if your neighbor puts something with heavy bass right up against the shared walls. Otherwise, you only hear noise through the windows. Townhouses are great because you have more control over your home (i.e., not being at the mercy of the condo above you not having an overflowing tub, etc) but you don't have all the worries that come along with a regular freestanding house. Good luck!

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Here's a good example of a townhouse fire from this morning.

WRAL: 6 displaced, 1 hospitalized after Raleigh townhouse fire

[henriInCary]

Sometimes, there are patios at the back of townhouses, where people can do all types of activities such as having friends/family over, parties, BBQs, including smoking ... which might end up in your house via windows.