Rowhouse issue: Why do I smell my neighbors so much?

[Anonymous]

Every time my neighbors light up (which, let's be honest, is basically 24/7 now that we're all home all the time), I can smell it in my house. I can also smell when they cook particularly fragrant food. This puzzles me because we are in rowhouses. I'm in a recently renovated one, while theirs is more vintage. The smell is strongest when my HVAC kicks on, but we don't share ventilation (mine was installed during renovation; the neighbors are still using window units). There should be a pretty solid party wall between us. I also frequently hear their television, music, and conversations. I've never experienced this in other rowhouses. Any idea what could be going on here? Why does it smell and sound like there's nothing but a flimsy piece of drywall separating our houses like a cheaply constructed apartment? Should I be concerned about some structural problem caused by the renovation to my house, which was done before I bought it?

[Anonymous]

Maybe the air intake for your HVAC is near the exhaust of their window unit?

[Anonymous]

Sometimes attic spaces are shared or flimsy. What’s the attic like?

[Anonymous]

That used to happen to me in rooms where we had exposed brick on the shared wall. Maybe they have exposed brick on their side and that reduces the noise/fume barrier?

[Anonymous]

For sound, they probably didn't use much insulation and thin drywall. There may not be any insulation. You should have added insulation, sound barrier and two layers of drywall plus special caulk.

[Anonymous]

No attic. Interesting about the exposed brick. I'm not sure what they have, but that would make sense. I wouldn't be surprised if there's no insulation. The kitchen cabinets (against exterior wall) get as cold as my refrigerator during the winter. Is there a way to improve the situation without ripping out drywall and doing a reconstruction? Maybe wall tapestries?

[Anonymous]

When you say you don't have an attic- you must have some sort of crawl space up there in the roofline? Sometimes the party walls weren't extended up into the attic, which, in addition to being a huge fire hazard, could permit free air flow exchange between neighboring row houses. Are you sure you don't have a way to get up into the attic area? Maybe in a closet or something? If you don't, it may be worth it to have someone make a cutout between the ceiling beams and install a pull down ladder to get up there to take a look. You may also have a lot of untapped storage space you could be missing out on.

[Anonymous]

Holes or cracks in the brick party wall could be one reason smoke and smells are wafting into your house. As for the noise, they probably don’t have rugs or enough furniture to absorb sound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No attic. Interesting about the exposed brick. I'm not sure what they have, but that would make sense. I wouldn't be surprised if there's no insulation. The kitchen cabinets (against exterior wall) get as cold as my refrigerator during the winter. Is there a way to improve the situation without ripping out drywall and doing a reconstruction? Maybe wall tapestries?

It’s possible to pump insulation between the studs.

[Anonymous]

This just comes with the territory of sharing walls. I got to the point where I could no longer do it.

[Anonymous]

I feel your pain OP. My best friend lives in a 1940s rowhouse in Alexandria. Her common wall with the neighbors in question is a staircase wall, with plaster walls and some material like cinder (my husband thinks) between the plaster walls on both sides. These neighbors frequently smoke weed and you can smell it in her house. She's had my husband and our contractor over several times to see if they can help her figure out where it is coming from. The odor is strongest in two points mid-staircase that seem to have no point of entry. Our thought is that they have a broken step or two with small cracks that are sucking in the air, which is then being pulled into her house somehow. It is very annoying for her. Good luck. Maybe your neighbors will move and you'll have better luck with the next group!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel your pain OP. My best friend lives in a 1940s rowhouse in Alexandria. Her common wall with the neighbors in question is a staircase wall, with plaster walls and some material like cinder (my husband thinks) between the plaster walls on both sides. These neighbors frequently smoke weed and you can smell it in her house. She's had my husband and our contractor over several times to see if they can help her figure out where it is coming from. The odor is strongest in two points mid-staircase that seem to have no point of entry. Our thought is that they have a broken step or two with small cracks that are sucking in the air, which is then being pulled into her house somehow. It is very annoying for her. Good luck. Maybe your neighbors will move and you'll have better luck with the next group!?!

They need to caulk around any corners and gaps but there is no insulation between the walls so they would either need to remove the wall or build out the wall with insulation, sound blocker fabric with caulk (especially round things like outlets) and then two layers of drywall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you say you don't have an attic- you must have some sort of crawl space up there in the roofline? Sometimes the party walls weren't extended up into the attic, which, in addition to being a huge fire hazard, could permit free air flow exchange between neighboring row houses. Are you sure you don't have a way to get up into the attic area? Maybe in a closet or something? If you don't, it may be worth it to have someone make a cutout between the ceiling beams and install a pull down ladder to get up there to take a look. You may also have a lot of untapped storage space you could be missing out on.

Definitely no attic. If there ever was a crawl space, it was covered when they installed the pipes for the HVAC. Where one would normally find a pull-down stairs for an attic is the roof hatch that leads directly to open air.

Lots of good ideas in this thread, thank you. In a strange way it's comforting to know that this is a common issue and unlikely to have a catastrophic cause. I think I will hold out for them to leave and hope for more mature folks to move in. If it looks like they'll stick around, I might price out some of these more hands-on options that will involve breaking through the drywall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel your pain OP. My best friend lives in a 1940s rowhouse in Alexandria. Her common wall with the neighbors in question is a staircase wall, with plaster walls and some material like cinder (my husband thinks) between the plaster walls on both sides. These neighbors frequently smoke weed and you can smell it in her house. She's had my husband and our contractor over several times to see if they can help her figure out where it is coming from. The odor is strongest in two points mid-staircase that seem to have no point of entry. Our thought is that they have a broken step or two with small cracks that are sucking in the air, which is then being pulled into her house somehow. It is very annoying for her. Good luck. Maybe your neighbors will move and you'll have better luck with the next group!?!

They need to caulk around any corners and gaps but there is no insulation between the walls so they would either need to remove the wall or build out the wall with insulation, sound blocker fabric with caulk (especially round things like outlets) and then two layers of drywall.

Hey, that's good information, thank you! I think she would be willing to do it. It really bothers her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel your pain OP. My best friend lives in a 1940s rowhouse in Alexandria. Her common wall with the neighbors in question is a staircase wall, with plaster walls and some material like cinder (my husband thinks) between the plaster walls on both sides. These neighbors frequently smoke weed and you can smell it in her house. She's had my husband and our contractor over several times to see if they can help her figure out where it is coming from. The odor is strongest in two points mid-staircase that seem to have no point of entry. Our thought is that they have a broken step or two with small cracks that are sucking in the air, which is then being pulled into her house somehow. It is very annoying for her. Good luck. Maybe your neighbors will move and you'll have better luck with the next group!?!

We used have an issue with a neighbor smoking out front constantly and would smell it mid stairs. In out case we figured out it was mostly coming in from the front but rising to the ceiling and we smelled it as our noses reached ceiling level walking up the stairs. Not sure it that helps you at all.