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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to knock and tell my neighbours what dirty, smelly, filthy, smoking bastards they are?

98 replies

VinegarTits · 27/01/2010 06:36

because my 3yr has been up all night long coughing and i am permanently wheezing (asthma) because they smoke so much my house smells like a fucking ashtray, seriously, the smell is so strong it knocks you out

Fucking sick of it, sick of wheezing, and sick of waking up to the taste of cigarette smoke in my mouth [angry)

OP posts:
TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied · 27/01/2010 13:08

You can't smoke in public spaces and if it's seeping into your house doesn't that make it public?

I've come to loath people who have nice neighbours as I don't and wish it on everyone to ease the pain

I think Environmental Health and the good thing is the house isn't your own- so you need to speak to the housing trust. Get GP note for definate. It's lowering your quality and life and perhaps taking years off it.

Your poor little daughter.

Mumcentreplus · 27/01/2010 13:15

perhaps Flight but they are not outside the home they are inside and the regular running of a car engine (say every 20 mins or so) would probably be very unlikely..

its not in the public Totally...they are in their home not in the public domain..thats why its obviously an issue with the building and not the neighbours.

AitchTwoOhOneOh · 27/01/2010 13:19

nah, all smokers smell. the ones who think they don't make me laugh, tbh.

YesMaam · 27/01/2010 13:29

It could amount to a nuisance and you can commit an actionable nuisance by doing something on your property that affects someone on a neighbouring or adjacent property.

Contact your Housing Trust and/or the owners of the property next door (assuming they rent too) they may be in breach of their tenancy agreement clauses in respect of nuisance/annoyance behaviour (even by smoking in their own house).

If that brings no joy contact environmental health as it can serve abatement notices for 'statutory nuisances' in the form of smells.

I feel so sorry for you I hope you get it resolved.

littlemissfixit · 27/01/2010 13:29

i see the tabacco police are in full swing!

ToccataAndFudge · 27/01/2010 13:30

well I'm a smoker, and I do smoke in my home - but I would also be p*ssed off if the neighbours smoke was coming through into my own home.

It is a nuisance. The OP doesn't ask for it (or want it) and it's considerably different from cooking smells

Swedey · 27/01/2010 13:31

Do they have children?

If yes, could you call round and apologise for your DC telling their DC that they stink of smoke.... say they didn't mean any harm. Just that they aren't used to people smelling strongly of stale cigarette smoke.

AitchTwoOhOneOh · 27/01/2010 13:32

is that l+**`ike the grammer police?
smoking stinks. it's LUSH if you're the one doing it, but it's rotten for everyone else. hideous for you, vinegartits, i hope the HA can help.

CarrieHeffernan · 27/01/2010 13:36

Get a letter from your GP and contact your housing association. Talk to the CAB about it, too.

Your child has asthma. This isn't just you being a fusspot. It's a health issue.

Oh, and the only people who think smokers don't stink are smokers. I can smell cigarettes underneath the handsoap and perfume you think you've just covered it up with.
Find me a non-smoker who says 'mmm, smokers smell so fresh and fragrant"....

I'm an ex-smoker, by the way, so certainly not the 'tobacco police'. I just realise how self-deceiving smokers can be.

enuffalready · 27/01/2010 13:39

OP - I share your pain. I have this problem with my neighbour but I live in flats. I did actually say something to him - and he was nice at first. Even insulated his door, despite acting as though I was making it all up. Sometimes it smells as if he is standing in my bedroom - where I sleep with the baby - or corridor smoking. It's disgusting.

I was also opening the window on the landing outside our flats to try to get rid of the smoke - he's French and smokes really strong French cigarettes all day with his windows closed - and he kept shutting it. Anyway, it all came to a head and we had a massive row because the open window was putting a draft into his flat!

We don't speak at all now and I open the window, he closes it and I have to sleep with my bedroom window open even when it's freezing.

Thankfully, I'll be moving in a few months - bought a house but it's a building site. Definitely talk to your doctor and the Housing Association - make them do the insulation!

To be honest, I think smokers are some of the most inconsiderate people on earth. Yes, you can smoke if you want, and yes, you should have the right to do so in your own home, but when it starts encroaching on my life - when I've chosen NOT to smoke - then it pisses me off.

onagar · 27/01/2010 13:44

Your housing trust would find themselves forced to improve the place to block the smells first. I think they might feel it was easier to ask you to move for your own health.

So go for it.

ruddynorah · 27/01/2010 13:45

the smokerwho doesn't smell- do you have a smoke then have a shower, wash your hair, brush your teeth and tongue then put clean fresh clothes on? no? then you do stink. mints don't help.

Mumcentreplus · 27/01/2010 13:51
Hmm
HopingLovedTheSnow · 27/01/2010 13:55

Could you maybe argue this as some sort of Rylands v Fletcher tort? i.e they have brought something into their property that isn't 'naturally' there (the smoke) and now that it has escaped and is causing a 'mischief' it becomes actionable?

If it were water that had escaped for example (as per R v F) if they had brought it onto the land, then they were liable in the event that it escaped.

I'd recommend the first port of call to be your landlord/Citizen's Advice Bureau.

sweetnsour · 27/01/2010 14:04

Have you actually asked a doctor if other people's cigarette smoke from a separate house could be affecting your health and that of yr DC?

You're clearly very angry indeed. But as a serious health threat this sounds very unlikely in medical terms.

No offence, but bad temper, not the fags next door, is probably what's exacerbating the asthma.

And a 3 yr old with a cough needs to see a doctor - so ask her/him about how passive smoking works while you're at the surgery.

ToccataAndFudge · 27/01/2010 14:11

sweetnsour - the OP has clearly stated on several times that the houses are badly built so the smoke gets through - that's the same as passive smoking - which is a known health threat.

Fair enough if a smoker wants to inflict that on their own family, but not fair on the neighbours to have to suffer too.

Flightattendant · 27/01/2010 14:22

Sweetandsour, have you asked a doctor about it?

You sound very sure of your opinion.

CarrieHeffernan · 27/01/2010 14:23

sweetnsour, what on earth are you talking about?

Passive smoking is a massive health risk and a huge exacerbator of asthma. That's FACT.

You are obviously a bitter filthy smoker not that clued about this.

sweetnsour · 27/01/2010 14:23

I see wht you mean, but "the smoke gets through" isn't the same as being damaged by passive smoking.

The risks from passive smoking come about from the amount, proximity and length of time a person is exposed to smoke, and the levels needed to create any kind of risk are very high.

Passive smokers have to live with someone who smokes over 20 daily for over 20 years in order to run any sort of risk. While a badly built terrace might increase the exposure, I'm not sure the seepage would be anywhere near enough to create a problem.

I'm sure it's infuriating for the OP - I'd loathe it - but only a medic can look up the research to see if it's harmful.

Funnily enough, if I really thought my family's health was being damaged by the neighbours' habits, I'd lag the walls, put on the humidifier, buy a spider plant, etc. Not get hysterical about cigarettes (altho that's more fun).

ToccataAndFudge · 27/01/2010 14:23

can I just add that I'm a bitter filthy smoker and also think that sweetnsour is talking bunkum

ToccataAndFudge · 27/01/2010 14:25

for over 20yrs? Why do you think that they banned smoking in bars? There aren't many people who work in bars for 20yrs (my Aunt perhaps excluded who has worked in a bar for getting on for 60yrs - the same one as well ).

Even a small amount of smoke can play havoc with someones health especially if they have asthma/are prone to other chest problems.

expatinscotland · 27/01/2010 14:26

'We moved due to noisy neighbours once, after being driven nearly demented for a whole year. Nothing worse than bad neighbours, it's awful when you can't relax in your own house.'

Amen to that!

That's probably the only advantage to renting if you're unable to buy a detached house - you can move away.

CarrieHeffernan · 27/01/2010 14:27

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, as they say...

Flightattendant · 27/01/2010 14:27

' only a medic can look up the research to see if it's harmful.'

Well, sweet, you said it. Yet you mention an extremely precise piece of data which you must have looked up somewhere.

Did Roy Castle live with a smoker for 20 years ?

ToccataAndFudge · 27/01/2010 14:28

corrr blimey Carrie - haven't heard that one in years

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