Condo/townhome/rowhouse Repair question - Please help!!!

[Psyber]

This is probably not the right forum to post this type of thing, but maybe someone can point me to somewhere I can get some help.

I have a townhouse/condo/rowhome that is connected to 8 other units (3 sides enclosed except the front). Well, my downstairs bathroom keeps filling up with what smells like cigarrette smoke. I called the condo association to see if they could tell me how this is happening and they told me they don't know. I asked for blueprints so I could see at least see where it was coming from, but they tell me they don't have any.

So just to try something, I sealed up the ventilation fan with a piece of plastic. Still smells like smoke. Now I thinking it might be coming through my outlets. It's a very small bathroom and the only other place it could be coming from is behind the sink (where the piping goes into the wall). I have no idea who I can call or how I can fix this. Is there such thing as an air-tight light switch/outlet. Are there people that specialize in this sort of thing? Maybe there's a better forum that I can ask this question. Please let me know.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance,
Psyber

added
-There are no other vents in the room other than the ventilation fan

 

You can buy foaming sealant to fill in the area around the pipe. It's sort of like expanding caulk. That would probably work for the under-sink section.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

sounds like a hardware issue.


j/k 😀



thats sounds like a really expensive problem to solve. Have you had this condo long?

 

[Psyber]

Originally posted by: jumpr
You can buy foaming sealant to fill in the area around the pipe. It's sort of like expanding caulk. That would probably work for the under-sink section.

I actually bought a bottle of that stuff. I'll try it, but I still think it's probably coming from the outlets though.

 

[Psyber]

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
sounds like a hardware issue.


j/k 😀



thats sounds like a really expensive problem to solve. Have you had this condo long?

almost 2 years. I should've known when I bought it - I thought the broker just had a cigarette in the bathroom, I had no idea it was a chronic problem. Other than that I love the place - has gone up 20% in value already.

 

[dman]

I'd think there were possible code violations if smoke from a neighboring unit can get into yours somehow. Well, I really don't know, but, maybe worth calling the building dept and see if they have any suggestions.

Or tell your SO / roomate to stop smoking in the bathroom. 🙂

 

[arcas]

There are a couple types of foaming sealant. There's the traditional 'Great Stuff' stuff that expands like mad. That's pretty good for basements and crawlspaces but not so good in the house. DAP makes some expanding latex foam that I like alot better for around outlets and stuff inside the house. It doesn't expand as wildly.

Are you sure it's fresh smoke you're smelling? Did the previous condo owner smoke? If so, then it might have soaked into the wallpaper/paint/carpet. Also check around the baseboard or furnace vents for openings.

Do you know which of your neighbors smoke?

 

[Psyber]

How would I go about contacting the building department? What is the building department? Do you mean condo assoc? I've asked the condo assoc already and they can't do anything about it. I live by myself, occasional visiting gf, but neither of us smoke so it's not us.

 

[adlep]

I could swear that I have seen word "condom" in the title...
😀
I was like: WTF?
He shouldn't be THAT cheap...

 

[Psyber]

Originally posted by: arcas
There are a couple types of foaming sealant. There's the traditional 'Great Stuff' stuff that expands like mad. That's pretty good for basements and crawlspaces but not so good in the house. DAP makes some expanding latex foam that I like alot better for around outlets and stuff inside the house. It doesn't expand as wildly.

Are you sure it's fresh smoke you're smelling? Did the previous condo owner smoke? If so, then it might have soaked into the wallpaper/paint/carpet. Also check around the baseboard or furnace vents for openings.

Do you know which of your neighbors smoke?

I have the 'Great Stuff' sealant, but I never looked into DAP - I'll look for that next time at the Home Depot. I think it is fresh smoke because I've aired it out a few times, it smells OK, then I close the door for 2 days and it fulls up with smoke again. The previous owner did not smoke and I repainted after I moved in. Also there are no vents in the bathroom except for the ventilation fan vent which I sealed already. I don't know which neighbor smokes, would it be unneighborly to ask? I have the town gossip on one side (who is friendly though) and a lady with a permanant frown on the other, I don't know who my back neighbor is.

 

Originally posted by: adlep
I could swear that I have seen word "condon" in the title...
😀
I was like: WTF?
He shouldn't be THAT cheap...

Way to go...killing the joke by misspelling. :roll:

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Psyber

Originally posted by: arcas
There are a couple types of foaming sealant. There's the traditional 'Great Stuff' stuff that expands like mad. That's pretty good for basements and crawlspaces but not so good in the house. DAP makes some expanding latex foam that I like alot better for around outlets and stuff inside the house. It doesn't expand as wildly.

Are you sure it's fresh smoke you're smelling? Did the previous condo owner smoke? If so, then it might have soaked into the wallpaper/paint/carpet. Also check around the baseboard or furnace vents for openings.

Do you know which of your neighbors smoke?

I have the 'Great Stuff' sealant, but I never looked into DAP - I'll look for that next time at the Home Depot. I think it is fresh smoke because I've aired it out a few times, it smells OK, then I close the door for 2 days and it fulls up with smoke again. The previous owner did not smoke and I repainted after I moved in. Also there are no vents in the bathroom except for the ventilation fan vent which I sealed already.

How weird! 😕

Well.. as suggested, I'd just go nuts with the foam sealant.. 😀

You can use matches or a lighter to pinpoint where air is comming in.

 

[Psyber]

I'll try the DAP stuff, but does anyone even know if there is a specialist for this type of thing? I wouldn't even know who to hire to fix this.

 

[adlep]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: adlep
I could swear that I have seen word "condom" in the title...
😀
I was like: WTF?
He shouldn't be THAT cheap...

Way to go...killing the joke by misspelling. :roll:

And you suck at teh Internet...

The Spelling Flame
It happens every day. Someone misspells a word in a public message. One or more people absolutely must publicly correct the error. Judging from the number of times this happens, there seem to be millions of high school English teacher wannabes in cyberspace. Ironically, spelling flames nearly always contain spelling errors.

Spelling flames are bad Netiquette. If you feel absolutely compelled to correct someone's spelling or grammar, do so via private email. Keep in mind that English is not the first language of many people on the Internet.

😀

 

[dmcowen674]

Nobody posted this as far as I can tell.

The plumbing and Electrical are sharing the same space between units.

There is a burp pipe for plumbing ventilation as well as the pipes sharing the same space.

It won't be easy to completely seal off any air coming from the common conduits. You can make some difference though.

Good luck.

This is the trade off living like ant colonies with multiple units.

 

[drnickriviera]

You can buy foam pads precut to fit outlets and switchplates. They use them on exterior walls to seal off any air drafts. Sould be in the weatherstripping isle

 

[Psyber]

Originally posted by: drnickriviera
You can buy foam pads precut to fit outlets and switchplates. They use them on exterior walls to seal off any air drafts. Sould be in the weatherstripping isle

Excellent Idea. Best one yet. What are these called? just "foam pads"? My only worry about using the spray foam is that it might mess up my wiring. These foam pads might be the answer.

 

[Psyber]

I asked this question at Handyman.com and they tell me I could also hire a HVAC specialist to create a positive air presure in my place so the smoke goes somewhere else. Anyone know about how much something like this would cost?