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Second Hand SmokeJun 17, 2013

We found a solution for second hand smoke without banning smoking in our building.

We've been fighting a second hand smoke problem in our coop for years. 2 heavy smokers on one floor have caused the hallway to smell all the time and smoke has seeped into other apartments. We brought in consultants who suggested sealing openings between apartments and improving our air flow from the hallway through kitchen and bath vents in the apartments. None of this worked.
We finally found a consulting engineer who had experience with smoke issues in apartment buildings. One of the findings of the engineer was that every time our elevators would travel up or down our the vacuum in the elevator shaft would cause air to be drawn into the hallways from the apartments bringing the smoke into the hallway. Regular door seals were not enough. An acoustical door seal kit, which incorporates a sealing gasket all around the door and a drop down seal at the base needed to be installed to ensure that nothing exits the apartment through the door. This also required replacing the door thresholds. In addition, all the openings on the common walls between apartments needed to be sealed with an acoustical sealer. The regular foam sealants were not good enough. The sealing between apartments was necessary since, if the door was sealed, the smoke would be sucked through a common wall and end up in the neighboring apartment and hallway. We found a locksmith that had experience with the door seal kits and charged about $600 each. The smokers were required to pay for the work.
The hallway is now smoke odor free and you can now smell the normal cooking odors.

Join the Conversation Comments (1)
Engineer Referral - joan Jun 28, 2013

We are having a problem somewhat like yours, but with the smell leftover from a fire in the building next door to ours emigrating into one shareholders apartment. We don't know why or how it is doing this and wonder if consulting an engineer such as yours would be a good start to a solution. Would you care to share the name?
Thanks,
Joan

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> Join the conversation Comments (1)
smoke engineer referral - burt Jul 02, 2013

sorry I took so long in responding. I've been away.

Here is the info:
Erwin & Bielinski, PLLC
Forensic Architects & Engineers
office- 212-391-4750 -
37 West 39th St.Suite 1201 NY, NY 10018

Good luck.

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