Odours from neighbours flat seeping into mine - any ideas how to neutralise them? (Cigarettes and weed)

[PunishmentRoundupWithJoon]

I live in a flat and for ages now, unpleasant smells have been seeping into my hallway from a neighbours flat and it's really getting me down. It's stale cigarette smoke and weed, so a lovely combination....

Can anyone recommend anything to get rid of or neutralise these odours? I don't want to just cover them up with air freshener, and anyway, air freshener doesn't work. Just not strong enough. I've tried scented candles and oil burners, using eucalyptus oil and similar, but nothing works.

The smells seem to start overnight (god knows what his routine is!) so if I get up in the night to go to the loo, I walk straight out of my bedroom to a fug of stale smoke.

There are no windows in my hallway, though windows are open in the flat most of the day. it's really only the hallway that is affected by these odours.

It's really getting me down, so any advice gratefully received!

Would an air purifier combat smells??

@MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet - you've just reminded me that I have a Bionaire somthing or other in a cupboard, not used it for ages. I have a feeling that I did try it a while ago and it made no difference. But will get it out later and plug it in. Thanks for the reminder!

I think it promised cleaner air by removing pollutants but no necessarily odours...

The reason I mention is that I recently got a Breville one ( for allergies) with HEPA filter and some carbon thing too, and it definitely mentions neutralising odours in the description. So might be worth looking into even if your existing one isn't up to the task.

Weed is an especially penetrating aroma, as is stale tobacco.

No idea how to neutralise them- back when I was a teenager, {last century!} weed was considered much more ''Illegal'' than it seemingly is now, so people would not want the smell to reach neighbours for fear of being 'busted'...but nowadays no one seems to care.

No ideas, sorry- Maybe move? Not being facetious.

@PunishmentRoundupWithJoon Just remembered..My adult son bought a Victorian Semi, and his neighbours do a lot of cooking with heavy spices that made his house smell strongly whenever neighbours cooked.

He literally blocked top every single crevice between his neighbour's house and his own, and you can't smell cooking there now.

The reek is probably coming in from under your front door or similar, especially if it's an old house?

Smoking is so antisocial.

@MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet - just looked at mine and it doesn't have a carbon filter so will definitely look for one with that.

@oakleaffy - moving is not a possibility, have been here for 25 years and apart from this particular problem, am quite comfortable. You're right about weed though, it's SO strong. Thankfully it's not every night.

Is it a conversion flat? Do you share a chimney breast? We have this problem - Victorian terrace with shared chimney stack- and I keep meaning to look in to blocking up the unused flue somehow. It’s grim, gets into my 7 year old son’s bedroom.

@ChristianHornersGlisteningFinger - no, it's not a conversion, it's a high rise (12 floors). It's odd actually, as the odours, presumably, are getting in via the front door but when I pop my head out to have a sniff, it's not as strong as it is in my hallway! There are 3 flats on this side, all with their doors close together and no air circulation so odours get trapped.

I occasionally wonder if I'm blaming the wrong neighbour and it's actually somehow working it's way in from the flat above or the one below, though I really can't see how that would work.

That's even worse if it's getting into your childs bedroom!

Smells can be funny things.
They can travel far from where they originate from.
Maybe you are blaming the wrong neighbour.

Opium smokers in 1920's Paris used to hang a wet sheet over the door to trap the opium smoke onside the room, so the idiosyncratic smell didn't drift down the vestibules of those large old apartment blocks.

{Jean Cocteau}

Maybe you could try laying an old towel under the door crack to try to stop the smell from entering your flat

Hot weather makes weed smells worse.

@oakleaffy

Opium smokers in 1920's Paris used to hang a wet sheet over the door to trap the opium smoke onside the room, so the idiosyncratic smell didn't drift down the vestibules of those large old apartment blocks.

{Jean Cocteau}

Wow! Fascinating! Though I pray I never have to do this!!

Air purifier and bowls of white vinegar left in the hallway might help.

It'll be in the walls/plaster/paint though so you might need to wash those down to try and reduce the smell.

If you don't actually know where it's coming from, and there's no pre-existing bad blood I would seriously just approach rhe neighbour. Tell them you're looking at blocking up potential routes of ingress for the smell but aren't quite sure where it's coming from. If you're nice and friendly about it it may actually embarrass them into curtailing their consumption which would be a bonus.

@GrumpyPanda - he's a decent lad actually, we've been neighbours for years. I say 'lad', he's in his thirties....His smoking activities were much worse in the past, and now I think, due to anxiety issues, he smokes to help with his mental health. He works, and is genuinely, a great neighbour. I suspect the smell drifts from his property simply when he opens his front door, and then hangs around in the central bit between the flats with nowhere to go. So, really, I'm not sure what I could ask him to do differently.

@oakleaffy - I did actually lay a big old sheet along the bottom of the door last night and whilst there was no smell, it could be that he was having a quiet night!

A new air purifier with carbon filter is arriving today.

I would look into some kind of positive input ventilation, that should totally sort it by having the air pressure push gently out of your flat.

@MissBuzzard I like the sound of that, but as it's a housing association flat, it wouldn't be possible.

We had serious issues with smelling weed in the past but a decent air purifier sorted it out. We just left it running on a sensor setting in the worst spot. The neighbour has since moved.

@BaronessEllarawrosaurus - I'm quite keen to get the new one up and running. It's just occurred to me though that's it's being delivered to my partners address so I won't get it until tomorrow. Glad to hear your weedy neighbour moved on.

I can see this is an old thread but @BaronessEllarawrosaurus can you let me know the name of the air purifier you bought? I've been thinking about getting one for a while but not sure how effective they are on occasional weed smells from a downstairs flat