I live in an apartment my neighbour underneath us smoke every morning and afternoon.
The smoke really annoys us and have concerns on this. Any advice on this? I have contacted strata and strata has sent letter about this but no action can be taken according to strata manager.
I will let him die from Cancer, do nothing wait and see
Sadly, this is part of apartment living.
We have a neighbour who smokes and with a baby we just have to close our windows most of the time. Not much you can do unfortunately.
About the baby, probably not, about the smoking - maybe if you raise it with your strata title people. It depends on why the smoke is coming into your place.
Not much you can do unfortunately.
Your profile says Sydney. Nsw has legislation that covers the problem that you’re having with your neighbour.
I inquired with the property manager last year with no luck.
However, based on this Ozbargain post, I might just enquire again.
How is this any different to many of the disgusting cooking smells one is subjected to in apartment living? It's life buddy, get used to it.
Cooking can't cause cancer to your neighbours
This was the same argument they used when people were allowed to smoke on trains, planes, work places, restaurants, bars, etc. Funnily enough people accept that not smoking in ALL these situations is an improvement. Allowing people enjoyment of their own home without being infiltrated by someone else's cigarette smoke is going the same way. To quote you "It's life buddy, get used to it".
One of the difference between a train, plane, office, restaurant, bars vs a home is that I can't let my boys hang loose as I strut around my birthday suit.
I found that out the hard way.
ROFL.
We had the exact same issue. While I completely respect that its up to them whether they smoke (knowing how bad it is for them) they should be respectful of their neighbours and follow the legislation.
https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/2015/50/part8/… and section 9 Smoke penetration https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation/2016/50…
Every time they smoked I calmly spoke to them stating why it was affecting us (it stinks, pregnant wife was stressing and losing sleep about it, etc) and why it is illegal. 6 months later they have quit and thank us for making them "feel the best I have ever felt". I know you might not be so lucky but I wish you all the best.
I was actually quite shocked how many (presumably smokers) were telling the OP to close their doors and windows… how about the smokers go inside, close their own windows/doors and smoke to their hearts/lungs content*. *This is completely fine assuming no smoke is penetrating into common property or someone else's lot.
Smoking isn't illegal.
Being an (profanity) isn't illegal. Illegality is not the sole definition of good and bad behaviour.
Smoking isn't illegal.
It is in nsw under the right circumstances.
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/tobacco/Pages/smoke-free-laws.a…
Thank-god I don't live in an apartment or have you as my neighbour.
Oh wow, you must be a really fun guy to have around..
OP should take up smoking and share costs with neighbour. Win-win ;)
If neighbour was vaping this topic wouldn't exist. Vapor doesn't travel like smoke and has no odour (our setup doesn't anyway).
Buy them a cheap e-cig starter kit. If they'd like to save 95% on their nicotine habit, it's a good solution.
Whingers like you are why I'll never live in an apartment. Suck it up mate and live your life instead of worrying about little stupid thing's you can't control.
Before I moved out of my apartment the downstairs neighbours smoked some smelly stuff
Place some Fragrant plants perhaps Rosemary and use it for cooking
A few years back I lived in an upstairs flat that I rented and had to smoke on the balcony (no backyard upstairs). We were all renters except for one older guy who owned his flat and he used to whinge constantly about my cigarette smoke. Always slamming doors and playing childish little games like stealing my mail to try and annoy me enough to move out. He thought being the only owner living there the world revolved him everyone else sucked up to him but I treated him exactly the same as anyone else there so I think that partly too played a part in his attempts to drive me out of there.
Eventually I got sick of the almost daily games from him and knowing I was close to doing something serious to him chose to just move out instead.
Wow that is very risky for him - as an owner he is in a worse position than you, since he can't move out easily. If you hadn't been so nice, and had ramped up the war (doing worse things to him than he was to you) he would have had a very unpleasant life.
my experience when living in a unit / apartment / high density living:
since moving to a house with decent land area (some <405m sq blocks you can touch next door's house from your window); most of the above issues are gone.
So you still have noisy sex neighbours??
Or noisy sex with his neighbours?
Order a cheap vaping kit to be delivered to their address, have it made out to something like "can you please give this a go as your smoke blows into my apartment"
But a house or close your window facing the smoke side. If i own my place and if i smoke, I'll smoke. You might as well complain about people's cooking being too strong of a smell as well.
cigarette smokes affect health badly, even for passive smoker.
can't say the same for (most of) cooking smell.
depending on what the apartment condition, smoke can still go in even after closing the windows, and put draft seal on the doors.
We have smokers living directly beneath us as well. All these idiots saying just close your windows either have no idea, are smokers themselves and don't give a shit how their filthy habit affects others, or have never lived in an apartment.
We regularly have to close our balcony door. The thing is by the time you realise somebody is smoking, the smoke can already have spread right throughout the apartment. Like most apartments, the ventilation is not optimal and it can take a while to get rid of the smell.
The funny thing is that everytime the neighbours light up, they in fact close their own balcony door.
yeah i had that problem before. i was on the 3rd floor, the smoking guys (renters) were on the 1st level.
I closed all windows, put draft seals on the front door, but we can still smell the smoke easily from the living room.
We ended up cannot use the living room because of that.
Strata manager and real estate manager couldn't do much as if they want to inspect the unit they'd have to make an appointment before they come, so the guys have plenty of time to get rid of the smell - which they did.
the smoke definitely got out to the common room (stairs) as well, it was a blatant violation to the bylaws but it's hard to enforce.
Luckily they moved after about a year or so..
Live and let live. It's not too difficult for me to ignore loud music at 4am or neighbours constantly fighting and bringing the police constantly. They ignore my smoking, I don't have a fit if someone blocks in my car when there isn't enough parking every couple of months, I just ask them to move and it's sorted.
What the F is up with all these delicate flowers living in close proximity to others?
Reminds me of this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ceS_jkKjIgo
You put up with loud music at 4am? You're ok with people blocking your parking?
In your case it looks like you just let people walk all over you and do what they want. You're neighbours have realised this and are taking advantage of you.
Dont call others delicate flowers just because people want to defend their right to peace and quiet enjoyment. Especially when you cant even man up to tell your neighbours to shut the music at 4am or even call the cops to do it for you.
If you want a safe queit place to protect you from others then you get a nanny state. If you want to be free from the control and thoughts of others you get over it. I don't need to tell them how to live life, they don't need to tell me. BTW yes have told them to turn it down on odd occasion but 99% of the time it's a Friday night or a Saturday night and tbh that's free for all time.
Depends what responsibilities you have. Just yourself, living on benefits, eady to put up with that. Working parents with kids to support, then not so easy to put up with inconsiderate people.
Yes I have work, yes I have young kids. Still I think liberty is more important than making sure everyone is ok with what everyone else thinks. I'd rather have my own freedom than limit that of others.
Similar situation, looking for some answers too. I live in an apartment in VIC. I can smell the smoke sometimes when I have the balcony door open. Last night I actually smelled cigarette smoke in my bathroom, I wonder if it's because all ducts are connected and someone is smoking in their bathroom.
If you want to live like sardines dont complain about it.
When is someone going to whinge about their neighbour taking a smelly shit or farting in their own apartment. Its bound to happen at this rate!
smelling shit and farts don't give you cancer
Going outside can lead to cancer and so on… The point is that people must learn to communicate in person not whinge and moan online.
As for the neighbours what do they dislike about the OP of this post?
We all are human and we all have flaws. The only difference is that the OP's neighbours are considerate and tolerant not to complain about sonething common and trival.
This OP is as bad as those bin police you have telling their neighbours off for not recycling
In VIC there isn't a hell of a lot you can do :-/
OP try a teaspoon of cement.
Far out who cares if they smoke on their balcony.
I'm assuming all these people who are complaining about the effects of second hand smoke from a neighbour are also protesting the use of petrol fueled cars and never walk next to main roads.
Why do we have so many nanny laws in this country? It's because common decency, common sense, courtesy and consideration don't exist any more.
No-one gives a damn about anyone else unless it directly affects them,nor gives any thought to the consequence of their actions unless there's some law to punish them and they're likely to get caught.
You see it every day at every level, from government, to corporations, to banks, to people in their cars.
And that's perfectly ok, because there's always somewhere else in the world, that is worse in some way.
People like you really make me sick. Unless they are smoking in a common area or blowing smoke in your face you can get stuffed.
If you want fresh air move from your shoe box or bar fridge of a apartnent into a house as you cannot obviously respect the rights of others to do something legal in their personal space. Its not their fault that the building traps their smoke.
You are like many common whingers that buy or rent in a rough/trashy/noisy area like St. Kilda or Richmond; Then complain about nightclub noise, hookers and drug use.
'as you cannot obviously respect the rights of others to do something legal in their personal space'
just like they cant respect others rights to breathe clean air?
Well there are two sides to every story. As far as we all know the OP of this could be a complete pain in the arse.
There a lot of reasons why people hate their neighbours - renters vs owner occupiers, religion, race, sexual preference, gender just to name a few.
This whole smoking thing could be a smokescreen masking the real problem of hating your neighbour.
Smokers are disgusting, They're drug addicts, They don't care about people around them.
They would sell their soul for another smoke. Sucks you have to put up with crap like that.If they want to put poison in their lungs? that's their stupidity. But the fact they are harming yours is down right disgusting.
I hope you clear you air up soon. Nothing worse then having to smell that crap.
Not sure if sarcasm or severe brain damage from smoke inhalation.
I hit a nerve :) Smoker no doubt haha
Go relax and suck on some poison.
Ahaha got me. Uncanny skill of picking out smokers from eleven words.
(I'm a non smoker for those who hasn't succumbed to prolonged oxygen deprevation. I'm too poor to smoke).
I'm too poor to smoke)
Statistics shows that disadvantaged people are more likely to smoke than those that aren’t.
http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/1-7-trends-in-the-preva…
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=low%20income%20more%20lik…
Just because "disadvantaged" people are more likely to smoke it doesn't mean there aren't people out there that are "too poor to smoke (ie, afford cigarettes).
"too poor to smoke
What is considered to be too poor?
The abc has reported over the years that people on low income or recipients welfare spend a disproportionate amount of their payments on cigarettes (inc alcohol and gambling).
Its pretty clear from your comment that you are the one who doesn't "care about people around them".
I would put a fan on your balcony to blow the rising smoke away and burn some incense too, go to Ishka or some other hippie store and look for Nag Champa - it smells good and is so strong you both wont be able to smell the smoke and your neighbours may hate it because their sense of smell is broken.
I both apologise as a former smoker and commiserate as a non-smoker. Hopefully they take up vaping to get their fix.
Waiting for the day when someone complains about welfare being not free enough.
Oh wait… https://greens.org.au/cashless
Buy an air purifier. https://www.harveynorman.com.au/heating-cooling-air-treatmen…
And get over yourself.
Love your comment. This whole modern "ME" world is too PC.
Being annoyed, discriminated or rejected is a normal and natural part of life.
How about you Unsmoke your neighbour online as that appears the way many act when someone disagrees.
PS. If I was your neighbour reading your rant I would invite all my smoking friends over whilst listening to death metal or playing hardcore porn just to give you the finger.
Don't listen to this winger OP, he cant take the harsh reality that people dont like smokers and don't want to breath in their dirty second hand smoke.
Rent your veranda out on airBnB, to smokers . Free second hand smoke included :) Maybe put a toaster out on veranda for them also, (free breakfast optional) .
Nothing you can do. If the strata doesn't have such rule to have no smoking on balcony they can do it any time.
Also closing window doesn't work. It leaks to inside.
A great reason to not live in an apartment.
If you have tried talking to them and they don't care play the same game with them. Use liquid ass spray every time they go outside for a smoke or whenever. It smells so awful they will either smoke inside or stop smoking. The smell is sooo bad but not worse than cigarettes for most people who don't smoke.
Lots of people are inconsiderate it happened to me before attempt to talk to them nothing happens. If they are tenants won't give a darn what you saying. They might not even speak English btw.
Continued to booze and smoke at night and early morning til 3am they don't need to work it seems
Windows shut didn't work. We were both non smokers and hated smoke and cigarettes.
We moved eventually. Didn't even keep the property because I hated the environment and no longer like the unit
I would have gotten another 150k if I didn't sell
Fu&kin smokers
There was even a family who cooked up and burnt the stove. Didn't even call fire brigade or police. Black smoke stirred up the entire block via corridor and trigger others smoke alarm and entering people units.
Now that's even worse than smokers
Tell him to stop smoking, if he still doing it then light it up and stick it in his ass case closed
Your all being ridiculous.
My all what
except for a few you guys are major drama queens and seem to just want to whinge or jump on the bandwagon. the OP has literally responded just once saying NSW thats it. no one bothered to ask how many the tenant above the OP smoked which by his post could literally mean just 2. instead you all just go on about how you can get back at them for doing such a horrendous act. i bet you're all the same type of people who hold Freedom of information, opinion and expression in a high regard except when it offends you then jump on to and social media to complain about it. in other words minus the guys who didnt reply with a way to just attack the smoker you're all just whingers.
If we all add compassion for all including cyclists! At least these smokers are funding government projects that benefit all!
Had the same problem. Just closed the windows every time. They could hear me close them and knew why. It didn't stop them.
Smoking neighbors or flatmates are the worst because you have to deal with that shit every day.
Good luck
Live in Apartment and Neighbour Smoking What to Do
Don't live in an apartment
Many nsw residents have no choice but to live in units.
Went to a viewing of an apartment earlier this year, and the person in the undereath balcony was smoking throughout the whole viewing. Turned us and everyone else there off the apartment.
Just could not live there and put up with that. You definitely have my sympathy OP.
Try to burn down the building while laughing manically and shouting 'Who's smoking now' over and over again until the police arrive.
Another example of where money buys happiness. That said, this is why I live on a rural plot of land, albeit in a caravan.
OMG yes this is the worst. I lived like this for years and whilst not so bad in the winter where you just close up all your doors it is absolute hell in the summer when you need to close all the doors to block it out but dont have air con. The thing that used to irritate me more than anything was that they would smoke on their balcony as they didnt want the smell of stale smoke in their own home yet they are more than happy for others to have the smoke drift into their own apartments and stink up their places.
Hi,
As a real estate agent and property owner myself you can definitely pursue further action with Strata and also at your next Strata meeting.
Strata lol
Buy a couple of cheap 9v smoke alarms and rewire the test button to a simple push button switch and cable combination that you can extend well away from the actual device.
Face smoke alarms towards neighbour's apartment downstairs.
Hold the button down when you detect smoke.
Can you install a really big fan on your balcony to influence the wind direction? Perhaps hang it over the fence facing downwards so that the wind blows back to their unit?
Not a smoker, not a big fan of smoking but it's his right to smoke on his own balcony/outdoor area and that should be expected when living in an apartment. All you can really do is take measures to mitigate and reduce the impact that it has.
Better still walk around wearing an oxygen mask. That way your neighbour can do what they please in their own paid space.
I would have a different attitude if it was a common area as that would be violating a shared space.
The original OP does not own the entire building so get used to it or move further out to a house where neighbours are kept on the other side of the fence.
So true. Some people dont have much tolerance for smoke.
My friend was hit with a breach notice just last week for "burning wood in his weber bbq" citing the nuisance clause as the person upstairs from him doesnt like the smoke (which isnt much).
This is something we might do once a week and the neighbor got so annoyed with it he contacted body corporate. After a brief word with the real estate they agreed with us entirely and sorted it with body corp.
In short, some of us are just enjoying life and doing what we should be allowed to do, we arent purposely trying to make our neighbors lives crap.
spray water in their face when they smoke or fire extinguisher.
Move to another apartment?
Swap apartments with the guy below…. ha. will fix your smoke issue of coming up, but the place will already stink.
Welcome to the real world… people smoke…
I'm pretty sure the smoking tenant is breaking the bodycorp bylaws that prevents them from negatively affecting other tenants. You should be able to raise it with the bodycorp directly or the property manager to issue a breach notice (which can eventually escalate to an eviction if the issue is not resolved).
Its a free country….close your window
If your balcony counts as common property they might be breaking strata rules
Reading through all the comments, I think the biggest reason smoking outside is the smoke detectors inside the apartment. I'm assuming a real smoker wouldn't care about the smell in the apartment.
One way to smoke indoor is inside your bathroom bathroom with the exhaust fan on and bathroom door shut.
I've my uncle smoking under the kitchen hood.
Learn to cook or eat smelly food, durian anyone?, and take effort to make sure they smell in the pungent flavors!
A smoking related incident from lunchtime today:
I was sat on a park bench just chilling on my phone, there were some younger teens eating lunch on the bench next to me. Then an older guy came up and sat right next to me and just lit up a smoke. I just asked him if he could move cause smoke was blowing right into us all. He ended up moving but looked at me shocked.
Is that a fair request from me or should I have just dealt with it?
He should have asked before lighting up. It's incredibly rude not to if you were there first.
Cool, i thought so too. I wasn't sure if I'm just getting old in age but I thought screw it, gotta say something!
Buy a couple xiaomi air purification units?
Somehow it's perfectly acceptable to pump cancer causing smoke in my direction, but when I use a perfectly non-lethal fire-hose to pump harmless water in the other direction, that's when people get upset!
In any case, this is exactly what breach notices are for. And at least in QLD, no agreement between an owner and tenant can override the strata by-laws. Strata law is very very solid on a great many things.
Spray WD40 towards their balcony.
Sue them for private nuisance in torts?
Read a lot of the posts here. but can't find anything about OP approaching the neighbour personally telling him what's happening and ASKING if there can be some compromise?
Seems to be the OP has "Rights" and wants the FBI involved but can't front up to the "offender" and talk. Hiding behind a computer to whine can do that?
the FBI
You’re meant to say the afp or the lac.
Bet the sales consultant didnt advise you of these "perks" of apartment living