[Closed] Cigarette smoke wafting into our house from next door ?

Frozen sausages.

A possible line might be to complain about the location of the bin store. If close enough to your window that you can smell the smokers it might be too close to be a bin store. I forget which reg it is but there is one about not locating commercial waste too close to adjacent domestic residences for both fire, smell and pest control reasons.

Or sausages obvs.

Speak to the care home management, ask them politely to solve the problem with their staff and point out that smoking in the bin store isn’t great H&S and is invariably a breach of condition on their insurance policy

Set up a remote control flashing light and siren next to the fence on your side that you can trigger whenever you smell fag smoke. Additionally petition Steve Coogan to record Alan Partridge saying '*cough cough* For health purposes I advise you to give up smoking' that you can play at the same time as the flashing light.

Obviously it’s not fair on them that they haven’t got a dedicated smoking shelter away from where it will effect other residents but on the other hand why should my house smell like an ash tray when none of us smoke.

Is there anything I can do ?

They have no obligation to do so. My local hospice has a strict no smoking on premises, same as NHS hospitals etc, but they also don't allow staff to smoke in uniform. They have to get changed and go out onto the pavement.

Complain to care home owner, all you can do.

Supersoaker

Or find the toughest looking one and batter them. Prison rules.

Be a shame if you had a sprinkler by the fence no ?

Set fire to bin shed. Smokers will get the blame.

Set fire to bin shed. Smokers will get the blame.

Genius idea.

Just remember to close your bedroom window first.

Giant fan might work.

If you set fire to the bin store don't do the sprinkler thing...might dampen their bonfire.

Take up smoking and then you won’t notice the smell.

Hang some cured meats and fish from your window and sell the smoked produce at local farmers markets.

Buy a new bike?

Buy a new bike?

Done that mate. Didn't stop the smoke smell 😃

I'm loving the ideas by the way 😂

Playing devil's advocate: does you liking having the window open trump them liking to have a cigarette in their yard? You could close the window and get a fan.

I dunno what the solution is here. Well, I do, it's the care home providing proper facilities, but that will involve money and they've already shoved the problem about once. It is private or council-owned?

I'm surprised that any care home allows smoking in uniform or on site. The adverse effects of second hand smoke is well proven and antisocial to the residents.

I would be heading round to the management and asking them to solve the problem of the smokers polluting close to your house.

This is the bin store where they are smoking. Our bedroom is top left.

Shouldn't I be able to have my window open without having to worry about the house stinking of cigarettes. It's blooming awful. It seems like most of the staff are smoking in there.

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Similar here, can sympathise with OP. 1st floor town center flat above a bar which is open from 8am to midnight with people smoking outside pretty much all day. Not much I can do; coffee and a fag is sacrosanct to the Spanish.

Put a small fan just outside the doorway of the room blowing inwards to create positive pressure this will stop the smoke coming in.
Then solve problem at your leasure.

Looking at your picture there is a post box, so I take it that’s a pavement ?
If they smoked by the postbox there’d be absolutely nothing you could do. Luckily they’re not.
Polite chat with the manager, in all fairness I doubt you have a leg to stand on especially with a pavement between you and the care home.

Lol suck it up

Set fire to bin shed. Smokers will get the blame.

That is proper genius. Sometimes I'm not sure whether to be impressed or nervous at the way people's brains work on here.

I'm calling nonsense on you waking thinking there's a fire tbh, as said above, its no closer to your window than the pavement is.

Move to the back bedroom.

People don't tend to congregate on the pavement to smoke that's the difference.

Nothing to add but don’t you just love the word wafting, one of my favourites along with fettle.

People don’t tend to congregate on the pavement to smoke that’s the difference

The point is though, you bought an end terrace with a lane and presumably land awaiting development adjacent to it?. Beyond that fence is kinda outwith your control, all you can do is complain really, and hope they are decent folk.

I bought a house right next to a lane through to the liveliest main street in the county, we get the odd loud bugger late at night, and folk parking anti socially at times, but I knew that when I bought it, so am fairly ambivalent about it.

The point is though, you bought an end terrace with a lane and presumably land awaiting development adjacent to it?.

It's not a lane and I was quite aware of what was there when I bought my house and what was going to be built there.

We have no issues with noise or anti social behaviour. In fact as I pointed out in my first post the new build has greatly improved the look of the area.

Initially they were all smoking down the alleyway between us right outside my back gate and dumping all the fag butts everywhere. I went over and pointed that out and they agreed it wasn't on and told all staff that they needed to walk to the bottom of the alleyway which is about 60metres and smoke in the open space at the bottom. That worked for a bit until new staff started and it started getting darker and colder when they started just using the bin store instead.

Make your fence taller. Will stop the smoke.

So it's not a lane, but an alleyway?.

Okay then. 🙃

Throw some dog shit at them.

Clearly you need to shart in their tumble dryer.

Real answer is that there little you can do to stop folk legally smoking in their property which is, objectively, quite some distance from your property. Sorry.

went over and pointed that out and they agreed it wasn’t on and told all staff that they needed to walk to the bottom of the alleyway which is about 60metres and smoke in the open space at the bottom. That worked for a bit until new staff started and it started getting darker and colder when they started just using the bin store instead.

If I read this right, management told them to smoke elsewhere and now it’s cold the staff have decided they prefer the bin store?
If so, that an easy conversation with management. “Really appreciate you telling them last time where to smoke, would you mind giving them a reminder as they’re now smoking in the bin store”. Feel free to add in “and whilst I’m worried about the smell, I’m also worried about them setting the bins on fire”.

No guarantees of a positive response, but it’s worth a shot.

Nothing to add but don’t you just love the word wafting, one of my favourites along with fettle.

Furtle is a favourite here.

I’d just close the window. And sleep soundly in the knowledge that you’re not interfering with what must be the highlight of a miserable shift doing all manner of unspeakable things for not very much money.

Just saw the photo.....

How many folk are smoking there at once.

Does this guy work at the care home
....

Playing devil’s advocate: does you liking having the window open trump them liking to have a cigarette in their yard? You could close the window and get a fan.

🙄

I’m surprised that any care home allows smoking in uniform or on site.

I'd be more surprised if the manager of any care home would dare to dictate such terms to their staff right now! 😀

You could also sneak down with a padlock and lock the bin store gate when they are all in there. Don't do this at the same time as burning it down though.
Or what about bursting in naked straight from bed with a fire extinguisher shouting where's the fire and spraying them all.

It’s okay, when I mentioned on here I didn’t like my neighbour’s second hand weed smoke blowing into my newborn baby’s room I was told I should just chill out, so what hope have you got with ordinary smoke in your own room?

A more serious answer is that it’s causing a nuisance which is affecting the use and enjoyment of your property. At its basest, it is a business which makes a profit - not the easiest way to make money and one in which no doubt all the staff work very hard for minimal pay in difficult conditions, particularly at the moment, but the fact remains it’s a commercial enterprise operating next to a residential premises.

If it is genuinely causing you issues (was this the place with the outdoor lighting too?j then write to the manager or the head office saying it’s causing a nuisance. If they don’t take steps to ameliorate it, then you might be able to bring a claim and possibly seek an injunction. Quite drastic steps, though.

+1 for both lunge and jakester.
For immediate action, connect your garden hose (if you don't have one go to local DIY shed) to outside tap and use it to 'put out the fire' - several times a day, every day.
Talk to local council about whether this is a nuisance - in legal terms; I mean the smoking, not hosing the area.
Ask home manager or owners if they would want their elderly parents/relatives cared for by staff who smell of stale smoke with the same smell on their clothes until they bother to wash them.

If you can’t beat ‘em….

"Hi. Would you mind not smoking under my bedroom window please? Thanks."

The smokers probably have no notion that it's an issue to anyone else.

A small investment (well, not small, but could be a cost effective solution) could produce a win here. Both stopping the smell, and smiles and waves each day

Find out how many smokers there are. Buy them some middle of he range e-Cigs, and some juice. Tell them it's how you family/friends can feed their habits whilst not having to suffer smelling like an ashtray and feeling ill health.

“Hi. Would you mind not smoking 20 metres from my bedroom window please? Thanks.”

FTFY.

The home has a problem with smokers - most do. Staff will find somewhere to smoke and usually what happens is that there is a blind eye turned to a particular place. Night staff in particular probably do not want to go that far so find somewhere else. Management are almost certainly unaware of the night staff smoking by the bins. Those night staff will probably have no idea its annoying you

Gentle complaint to the home is what I would do.

This reminds me of when some posh self-entitled woman demanded I stop smoking near her baby. In a pub beer garden.

I told her to **** off. 😀

Go you.

This reminds me of when some posh self-entitled woman demanded I stop smoking near her baby. In a pub beer garden.

I told her to **** off. 😀

Did she really 'demand'? because if it was a request, it seems a reasonable one to me. Not one you are legally obliged to comply with obv, but reasonable nonetheless?

bridges

This reminds me of when some posh self-entitled woman demanded I stop smoking near her baby. In a pub beer garden.

I told her to **** off. 😀

Wow. I wish I could be as cool as you.

Did she really ‘demand’? because if it was a request, it seems a reasonable one to me

She demanded, from the outset. Had she asked nicely, I might have considered. She didn't choose to move to another part of the beer garden (there was plenty of space) and it's a PUB beer garden; it's an 'adult' space anyway. She expected me to change my behaviour, to suit her sense of entitlement.

The irony that she'd driven to the pub in a massive 4x4 was somewhat lost on her...

I wish I could be as cool as you.

I know.

Well the general opinion on here, is that if you can smell cigarette smoke or a joint, then it is posing significant risk to your health.

No doubt the vast majority who think this, will regularly expose themselves to far higher levels of carcinogenic fumes when they refuel their T5's.

Mmm, this sounds like one for @DHOTYA to me...

Well the general opinion on here, is that if you can smell cigarette smoke or a joint, then it is posing significant risk to your health.

No doubt the vast majority who think this, will regularly expose themselves to far higher levels of carcinogenic fumes when they refuel their T5’s.

I wonder how they feel about log burning stoves?

Well the general opinion on here, is that if you can smell cigarette smoke or a joint, then it is posing significant risk to your health.

No doubt the vast majority who think this, will regularly expose themselves to far higher levels of carcinogenic fumes when they refuel their T5’s.

For me, it's not that I think a whiff of either is doing me any serious harm, its just that to non users they smell absolutely minging (weed especially). In an open air public space, that's just something I have to tolerate, but in your own home it is (or should be) a different matter.

In an open air public space, that’s just something I have to tolerate, but in your own home it is (or should be) a different matter.

Should it? Do you have any right to a non smelly house?

I mean where do you stop? I live quite close to a number of farmers fields, when they are muck spreading, it is absolutely minging.

I'm sure it can be classed as a public nuisance or similar?

Maybe contact the Council?

I have nothing against people that smoke. Each to their own and all that.

It's just that I don't want to be smelling in in my house because the company next door didnt provide a smoking area for their workers to use. There is plenty of space down the side of the building where they could situate one and it would effect anyone then.

some posh self-entitled woman demanded I stop smoking near her baby. In a pub beer garden.

I told her to **** off. 😀

You sound more and more like Fred PaddedBra's very angry brother.

Anyway, what was the outcome.....did she **** off?

Or did say to someone "ere, hold by baby" and give you a good slap?

nip round and install a no smoking sign on the doors to the bin store. The management won't notice / care and the staff will think the management installed it so will probably comply.

All I can think is how awful it must be to be so addicted to something that you're prepared to stand around in a bin store to indulge in it. Poor ****ers.
I'd just shut the window if I was the OP.

company next door didnt provide a smoking area for their workers to use

They have no obligation to do so.

As many others have said, write a reasoned complaint to the company, and hope for the best, it's about all you can do. If they tell you to bolt, then shut the window.

Should it? Do you have any right to a non smelly house?

I mean where do you stop? I live quite close to a number of farmers fields, when they are muck spreading, it is absolutely minging.

I’m sure it can be classed as a public nuisance or similar?

Maybe contact the Council?

I live half a mile along a rutted bridleway in the middle of nowhere and am surrounded by fields so I get the muck spreading thing. It's not really equivalent in my view though. It's only for a few days a year, it's essential for the farmer's livelihood and food production, the farmer can't easily move that activity elsewhere and I knew I was in the middle of farming country when I moved here.

In the OP's case, it's a leisure activity/substance addiction that's stinking out his house, it's happening every day and will continue unless challenged and there is no pressing imperative for it to happen where it is. It could very easily be moved somewhere where both parties are happy.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nuisance-smells-how-councils-deal-with-complaints

From looking at the pic it’s almost a full house distance away, on their own property. You could ask the care home to provide somewhere else I suppose, but they have no obligation to do so

As for the care home laying down the law on whether their staff can smoke or not. Given care homes up and down the country are desperately trying to find and retain staff, I find it unlikely that they are going to risk pissing off their workers to appease a whiny neighbour.

This is situation that is easy to resolve to everyone's satisfaction with a little dialogue. I think calling the OP 'whiny' is more than a little unfair. Out of interest tpbiker, do you smoke?

The first page of this thread gave me a proper laugh, well done everyone.

I hope "set fire to their bins" will now be added to the list of responses for neighbour disputes going forward.

Unless you're in Glasgow, obvs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-59165778

The irony that she’d driven to the pub in a massive 4×4 was somewhat lost on her…

I am not sure where the irony is in that statement.

I wonder how they feel about log burning stoves?

Or fire pits that make next door bedrooms smell like a kipper house the following morning.

This reminds me of when some posh self-entitled woman demanded I stop smoking near her baby. In a pub beer garden.

I told her to **** off. 😀

in at number 1 on todays list of things that didn't happen verbatim.

You sound more and more like Fred PaddedBra’s very angry brother.

You're not the first person to suggest that regarding a user who popped up a couple of weeks after I publicly resigned as a moderator.

Makes you think.

. Out of interest tpbiker, do you smoke?

No…

I think calling the OP ‘whiny’ is more than a little unfair.

But Whether justified or not that’s most probably going to be the opinion of the carehome owners when the OP approaches them with another complaint about their employees smoking.

For what it’s worth I wouldn’t be particularly happy in the OPs shoes either if the smoke genuinely caused me an issue , and I’d probably say something as well. I’d also probably be labelled a ‘whiner’ for doing so, and I’d not be hugely optimistic about getting anything done about it

Simple chat with the manager / business owner.

Buy them one of these:
https://www.smokesolution.com/outdoor-smoking-shelter/

She expected me to change my behaviour, to suit her sense of entitlement.

I can see why that upset you.

@tpbiker all fair points, thanks for your reply 🙂👍

Maybe I'm naive, but I just think a straightforward chat could resolve this amicably. It doesn't necessarily need to be couched as 'a complaint', which immediately puts the recipient on the defensive. More along the lines of "you might not be aware but...", because they may genuinely be unaware and quite happy to maintain good relations with their neighbours. A friendly, non confrontational face to face chat. It might not work, but I think there's every chance it will.

when the OP approaches them with another complaint about their employees smoking.

It isn't another complaint – it is the same one.

What he just said, go and speak to them. Spraying some poor minimum wage care workers with a hose will do nothing but mark you out as an idiot not worth helping.

Maybe I’m naive, but I just think a straightforward chat could resolve this amicably. It doesn’t necessarily need to be couched as ‘a complaint’, which immediately puts the recipient on the defensive. More along the lines of “you might not be aware but…”, because they may genuinely be unaware and quite happy to maintain good relations with their neighbours. A friendly, non confrontational face to face chat. It might not work, but I think there’s every chance it will.

Absolutely this.
No need to be a keyboard warrior here (not saying the OP is), just go and have a chat with the manager in person.

Maybe I’m naive, but I just think a straightforward chat could resolve this amicably.

I said complaint, but really it's just an email asking if they could refrain from smoking there, it's not really a complaint, more of a request, nothing keyboard warrior about it, ask nicely and I'm sure they'll do what they can.

Asking in person? not really much chance you'd even get to a 'manager' (if there even is one on site), it'll be a clerk, or a porter or a care worker, and their chances of passing that onto nightshift are pretty slim, given that most of them are so understaffed, they'll be struggling to even have time to carry out all of their required tasks, and it's obviously the nightshift that needs to be asked.

Mrs is a nurse in a re-homed (due to covid) stroke rehab ward, which is effectively a care home tbh, and I can just imagine how seriously her ward sister would take someone coming in and saying there's a wee smell in their room, sometimes, when the wind is just the right speed and direction....

You’re not the first person to suggest that regarding a user who popped up a couple of weeks after I publicly resigned as a moderator.

Although the style has undoubted similarities the anger doesn't imo.

It was the reference to smoking which was actually the primary reason for my comment.

Fred had a cigarette lighter cage mounted on his bike frame, for easy access to his lighter whilst cycling!

And it was a proper looking thing not some bodge job. No idea where he got it from 🙂

I am not sure where the irony is in that statement.

Really? Have a good think about it...