Pot smoking downstairs neighbours, and a "funky" bathroom

In My Humble Opinion
1

First off I am not discussing the legality or illegality of marijuana. We live in Vancouver, BC Canada where recreational use is still technically illegal but the police no longer enforce “personal use” amounts. Some people expect it to be fully legal next year, but this isn’t the thread to discuss this. You can get a medical marijuana prescription very easily here, and I don’t want to debate laws or legality at all. Suffice it to say, in Vancouver smoking cigarettes is a HUGE social no-no, and smoking pot barely registers as more than an annoyance.

My downstairs neighbours smoke a lot of marijuana. I don’t know if they smoke inside (I am relatively sure they do but I can’t prove it. We aren’t allowed to under the terms of the lease… nor are any others tenants in this building) but they certainly smoke it outside enough. They usually keep both front and back doors open so the place has a lot of air circulating through.

Last week a pipe burst or started leaking in the pipes in their ceiling. This required the handyman to remove part of my bathroom wall in order to access the leak. Now their ceiling is fully removed and a 2ft by 2 ft section of my bathroom wall is also removed. It is under my bathroom sink, covered by the vanity. The cabinet has doors but obviously not airtight ones.

So. the upshot is my bathroom smells like a freshman pot party. I now keep the window open, the bathroom door closed, and my ceiling fan on all day. This minimizes the drift through the rest of my place, but the bathroom smells strongly of this smoke. I use Febreeze regularly (the “trapping and neutralizing odours” kind, not “mask the smell with some kind of fake fragrance” type) but of course more smell keeps coming, and will continue while the hole in my wall remains.

The fellows downstairs are nice people. They are 3 helpful guys in their mid 20s from Ireland who have immigrated to Canada. I don’t want any problems for them. We have maintained a polite co-existence, We aren’t perfect upstairs neighbours; my son is 12 and hasn’t learned to walk lightly on his mens size 10 feet, my partner and I have had a few loud arguments, and I am sure the fellows could list other annoyances we provide. I have asked if they would stop smoking inside while the ceiling is out, but they deny they smoke inside. (“Maybe the other fellows, but I don’t” is the answer each one gives.) There are 4 suites in this house… basement, main floor (my family) a two bedroom upstairs and a bachelor or one bedroom on the top floor. So in theory maybe it is one of the other suites, but really, smoke rises and they are the ones directly below us. I would rather not complain to the landlord. I have a lease; moving is basically impossible, not to mention an impractical and expenisive solution to something that will be fixed in a week or two.

I can’t block off the gap because it needs to dry so the handyman can fix it. (They asked us to keep the vanity open but that won’t happen, the bathroom is too small.) Any suggestions to alleviate the smell. I am a bit low on funds this week but would a hepa-filter device in the bathroom help? If I knew it would work, I would get one but I have better ways to spend my money if something low-tech would do. A giant tray of baking soda in the vanity?

Once again, thank you for noting that this is not a debate on marijuana smoking, legality etc. I just don’t want to smell pot smoke in my potty. I don’t want to worry about public perceptions if my family goes out smelling like the inside of a hot-boxed van. I am getting a bit paranoid, every time I leave the house I keep sniffing my clothes. Help!

2

What is you got like a large HEPA furnace filter (the disposable kind) and put it over the hole? If it’s too small tape trash bags along the edges to make it bigger. Or use wood to make the hole smaller. You could also spray Febreeze on the filter.

3

I think this is a great idea just a few questions?
Would putting a filter there impede the drying -out of the in wall/ceiling area? I don’t want any delays in the actual fixing of the “hole” problem.
Also is it rigid? The down loop (trap?) of pipe for my sink doesn’t give much clearance for a large rigid object.

4

Yes, blocking the hole in your bathroom will slow down the drying … so is closing the vanity doors.

My I suggest burning incense … it’s cheap, safe, and will cover the pot smoke smell … and if I read you right this won’t be offensive to your neighbors.

5

If I leave the vanity doors open I can’t close the bathroom door.

6

Apparently, becoming accustomed to the smell isn’t an option?

Some people like it, I have heard.

7

Is placing a small desk fan inside the cabinet a possibility? It would help the drying if you can’t leave doors open for ventilation and make it hard for the smoke to creep up into the space. You would need a charcoal rather than HEPA filter for odour control. You can get activated charcoal pretty cheaply at aquarium shops, a bag of that in the cabinet with circulating air may work pretty well.

8

I agree, i would suggest as large a fan as possible, placed on the bathroom floor,aiming out the repair area with the bathroom door cracked open abit.

Open a window somewhere else to draw in clean air, have the fan push the air back out the bathroom. Keep most other doors and windows closed so you can control the air flow.

edit to add: I do this all the time for repair and painting work, usually for dust control reasons, but it works for most anything that “floats” with air movement.

9

If all the handyman is doing is waiting for everything to dry out, then he’ll be back, get a fan in there. It’ll dry out in a hurry (and probably put a draft into the apartment below, just say "What not me?! Maybe my roommate*). Then I’d continue on with the window open and the exhaust on. The fan in the vanity doesn’t have to be on high, you just need a breeze to keep the air moving.

*If you want to talk the neighbors again, just see if you can get them to keep their bathroom door closed. Just put on your best “I really don’t care, I just don’t like the smell” face.
Come to think of it, you might want to make sure they’re not smoking IN their bathroom. When I was in college we smoked in our dorm bathroom (they were apartment style dorms. Found out years later that every time we lit up, the other apartments could all smell it. I guess all the vents were connected. The RA just didn’t know which one it was coming from and left it alone.

10

I don’t particularly mind the smell of pot, I just don’t want the smell to cling to our clothes, hair, etc and cause problems in public. Like for my 12 year old at school which starts on Tuesday!

I have a small computer fan I put in the vanity. I was concerned because if the vanity door on the left is open more than a crack it impedes the opening or shutting of the bathroom door, and the idea of having cables and open doors etc etc struck me as a good way to make sure someone trips and falls in our bathroom. However, I was able to use a small USB run desktop fan in there and duct tape it all so there are no dangling cords and no issue with blocking the door to the bathroom.

I will look into activated charcoal tomorrow. For now this is making some difference, leaving it overnight will be a good test.

And wow, what a mess back there. The cheap particle board and the drywall and the chewed up wall studs. There is plaster and drywall dust everywhere, and also a really bad damp smell coming up from that area. I think I should be glad I only smell the pot.

(This house is a wreck. It screams “rental house” from the curb and “flip” in some rooms inside. We live here because it is close to my son’s school and we get a third bedroom for the price we would pay for a 2 bedroom anyplace else nearby. Sometimes we rent out the room, but just having the extra space is a bonus.)

11

Have you considered increasing your brassica intake for the duration?

12

Sounds like it is time to cook fish and duct the exhaust into the hole with a big fan.

13

That is the most subtle fart joke I have ever encountered. :slight_smile:

14

Could you better tolerate the scent of patchouli for the duration? Myself, I’d rather die a 1000 deaths - but for folks who don’t take offense it is a time-proven cover for the smell of pot. Scented candles and oils are available.

15

Is the smell there all the time, or mostly when they’re home and lighting up? I’m curious if they were telling the truth about not smoking inside, but maybe they’re growing pot indoors? That’ll stink up the place. There are air filters with carbon they should be using.

16

Check this out: Filtrete Allergen Defense Odor Reduction Filter, MPR 1200, 16 x 25 x 1-Inches, 4-Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EI5V88/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0iHZxbTGV3WV4

A four pack of rigid disposable charcoal filters. Air will be able to get through but hopefully not the smell cover the hole with those.

17

It’s there persistently more in the evening gs when they are home and less in the day. I have a “nose” for pot as does my son. My husband smokes cigarettes and he can’t smell it unless I open the vanity doors. So I don’t know. Tomorrow when my son is at school I am going to open his bedroom window and the bathroom windows etc up fully. ( his room is across from the bathroom and we would get a full criss draft)

18

This thread reminds me to ask something: if you’re breathing your neighbor’s dope smoke all the time, will you test positive for THC if your employer suddenly gave you a drug test?

19

I wonder about that too. I don’t have to worry about that, and neither does my husband, but I saw a border security episode where dogs smelled pot on people who were not found to be carrying. I go to the US from time to time and would hate to be stopped or have my car taken apart because of this.

Frankly I’m sick of it, and I’m not optimistic the problem will be fixed soon. The back stairs are rotting apart…we were supposed to get new steps this summer. I guess summer isn’t officially over but we were promised this in May/June.

I actually support legalization, and I believe in medicinal use anyway. I don’t smoke anything and I hate smelling any kind of smoke in house. I hang clothes in a separate closet from my husband, I don’t like smelling like his cigarettes. (And he only smokes outside). I would be just as upset if it was cigarette smoke wafting g up. The fact that marijuana is still a controlled substance is just an extra reason to hate it.

Another question. Although it would be awkward and require annoying set up and take down would running my portable air conditioner in the bathroom help? The window is in the shower
Or would this just pull more smokey air up from downstairs?

20

This isn’t really a chronic problem since it will be fixed when the hole in the floor is repaired.