To complain to neighbours smoking in the garden?

[Quickncjust4this]

Our neighbours have recently installed a canvas covered parabola thing in their garden, with one side (the side pointing towards our garden) left open.

They are now using this as an all seasons smoking shelter. Many times through the day and most evenings they are sat out there puffing away.

The problem is it is completely stinking out my house. The whole of our top floor now stinks of smoke. I've shut the windows be it is still coming in through the vents. I've bought new air fresheners which help but it's still awful.

As non smokers it's really unbearable for us I'm also worried about young children and the health effect to them.

Would I be unreasonable to ask them to stop, or at least to add a 4th panel to their shelter to reduce what reaches our home?

I reckon you could probably sort it out if you approached it properly.
Could you write them a note and ask them if there was any way of putting the cover down if it wasnt raining, or having a fan to blow the smoke the other way. Tell them that you understand its their right to smoke in their garden if they want, but its only since this structure that it seems to be funneling the smoke towards your house and you wondered if there was any way they could think of to fix it

I'm glad it seems to be sorted now but I feel your pain. A couple moved next door to me who are heavy smokers. In the winter, when all their windows and doors are closed, the smell actually seeps through the floor into my living room. My housing association don't believe me (why they think I would lie, i have no idea) and actually asked me to send proof by way of a video of the smoke. You can't SEE the smell of fags ffs. If I could see smoke coming through my floor, I would assume their bungalow was ablaze and call the fire brigade....

I'm glad it was amicably resolved and that the OP recognised this in their thanks.

Thanks all, it's all sorted. They were completely understanding, no falling out needed and everyone is happy. They brought us some sweets for the kids today to say sorry for the nuisance.
Sorry to everyone else who's had to suffer similar but doesn't have such amicable neighbours

YANBU, we had the exact same issue with our downstairs neighbour. The smoke in the shelter seems to intensify it and was directing it into all our windows. The worst thing was he was smoking at all hours of the night so we would be woken up by it. We put up with it for 4 years and then when we had a baby my husband went and spoke to him very nicely and explained what was happening and asked if he could possibly smoke further down the garden (of course saying that it was his choice).

He was absolutely mortified and was so apologetic and has pretty much stuck to smoking further down the garden. I wish we had spoken to him sooner!!

I'm glad your neighbour was understanding @thisoneagain.
I was surprised what a difference the shelter made in increasing the smoke that's been reaching our house!

i had the same - didnt smoke in the house because of the smell so would smoke out the back and the front so my house would stink! THe worse was kids bed time in summer - trying to get the kids to sleep when it's hot is not great but as soon as i got them in bed - slam goes the front door and they neighbour spends a good 30 mins smoking and hacking up his lungs under the kids window, the whole room stinking, then just as they doze off - slam the front door goes and wakes them up. Just as i got to bed later he goes out the back for a smoke before bed and stinks out my room and hacks up his lungs for about an hour. Tried changing kids and my bed times to work around the fag breaks but it always coincided. Summer was awful as the patio doors are open and the smoke just stinks the place up (he's out there for quite a few). But there's no rules about smoking in your own garden so bugger all i could do but i was really pissed off that he didnt stink up his own house or his own kids room but did stink up mine.

Personally I don’t think it’s a pergola or a parabola! I think it’s a gazebo! 🤣

@Devillishlypicklypickles

I live in the countryside and when I open my windows it smells like poop. I have asked the sheep/cows and ponies to stop it but they just look at me blankly, so rude.

😂😂😂

Absolutely detest this as well..My neighbour did this in the summer / lockdown even worse when they smoke the dope ..God knows what the house smells like inside. tas well as her own daughter they have relations with children aged newborn to 10 in and out the house.

Unfortunately on the type of houses most of us live in the neighbours are going to have an impact on us . This would totally drive me mad personally but they are the doing nothing wrong . It’s up to you to see what you can do to deal with the issue I’m afraid .?

I lived in a flat and the smokers upstairs would throw their butts into my garden, my drains & deliberately throw things on their floor to disturb us. I don’t know exactly how it started but we had asked them to stop shouting and banging and throwing things at the windows in the middle of the night when they were drunk and their other flatmate locked them out.
Assess whether you have aggressive neighbours who will take any request as the opening stages of a passive aggressive territorial war. Or can you can say something gently...
Like... “I’m not sure if you’re aware but the new smoking shelter seems to be directing the smoke towards the house. It drifts into the kid’s room. I don’t mean to trouble you but could you please reposition it so the smoke drifts out the other way? We haven’t found a way to seal the vents to stop it coming in and weirdly, we can’t find a way to vent the room to let the smoke smell out again.”

Having experienced a similar issue, I was shocked when our kitchen diner stunk owing to a group neighbours smoking 1 metre away from our open windows & velux and I sympathise with the OP. (I’m an occasional social smoker btw and my husband has 5-6 cigarettes outside in the garden next to the side drive.
The pergola is keeping the smoke from dissipating and / or funnelling it your way. Can they remove it / re-site it to another part of the garden / put the other side up .. do hope it’s resolved. I would say it’s unfair that you can not enjoy living in your house with windows open as you would normally do.

Ask them to turn the open side around, they have done it that way for a reason, they don't want the smell of smoke in their house!

Feel for you OP cigarette smoke is just bleugh!! Can you put something up against the fence? Perhaps get some advice from environmental health officer OR just tell them and see what they say?

@JinglingHellsBells

It might come under environmental health of your local council along with bonfires and 'smoke-free' zone.

It could be classed as passive smoking. it's also along the lines of anti-social behaviour /noise.

I'd speak to them first and if that doesn't work, talk to environmental health.

Please don’t do this because it’s insane.

Thanks all, per my previous posts it's all resolved amicably.

Don’t think there will be anything wrong to having a casual chat with them and ask if they can change the open flap away from your house to the other direction. Annoy the other neighbour instead. 😳 Must say, when my neighbours do full on smoky bbq, I just shut all windows.

Lovely as already stated in the thread, there is no neighbour on the other side and besides it's all resolved now

Right, time for a cig.

Good luck, we have an even worse problem, our neighbours smoke like chimneys both in their own home and the garden and we have the pleasure of it seeping into ours via internal venting systems, the shared loft space, outside vents and it seems sometimes the walls themselves.

I've tried to talk to them, asked them nicely if they can think of any way we could find a solution, they were mortally wounded, and very reasonably sadly pointed out that they can smoke where they like on their own property.

Hi Philcornwall1
In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several other superficially different mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactly the same curves. One description of a parabola involves a point and a line.
Hope that answers your question :)

Say look bit cheeky of me but your new set up is venting smoke into my home I've tried windows shut and vents but it is still getting in. Is their any way you, ( I will help) to reposition your lovely smoking area so it vents away a little.

Sorry I didn’t mean to post the above