Smoking in an Apartment/Rental

[Sancho]

Who does it? What are your methods for evacuating the smoke and clearing the air after your done? Planning that when my lease goes up Im going to move into a townhouse where I'll have a basement which I can probably rig into some type of smoking room but Im looking for how people have adapted without major structural modifacations to their habitat

[Raralith]

It counts on where you live, but a lot of states, including California where I rent, do not allow smoking in apartments. Modifications on most apartments are not allowed either though simply because it's not your property, you are simply renting it from them.

Be that as it may though, in my old complex, I knew a few people that smoked cigarettes in their apartment. All of them had the big fan that sat angled on the ground facing out and blew smoke into that. Some smoked only in the kitchen where it had hardwood floor which is easier to clean up after. One tried that ozone purifier, but it doesn't work well since he did not have a room to dedicate smoking in therefore his whole place smelled like it. All of those that left though lost their deposits because no matter how much you try to clean up after yourself, if you smoke in your apartment for a lenght of time, it'll smell like it.

I smoke in our rented flat. Our landlord, who is a non-smoker, does not mind, as he will have to repaint the flat and change the old carpets in any event before the next tenants would be moving in, and neither does the couple living in the flat above us, of whom the husband smokes. However, I keep two windows slightly open at all times... Luckily, UK legislation cannot (yet) forbid smoking in rented flats, provided you have the landlord's permission.

[mosesbotbol]

I own my home, but have rented and done the same technique.

I have a window unit dual intake/exhaust fan that works well enough. I crack a window in another room so there's no negative pressure with the exhaust

I have smoked in all of my apartments thus far and have had no real negative commentary or results from doing so...I do typically have at least a window open..plus the fans going...and the AC unit....Only once has a tenant complained...but she smokes Newports on her patio and throws them on to the roofs of the cars below her porch...so, she does not count according to the lease agents...

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by Raralith

It counts on where you live, but a lot of states, including California where I rent, do not allow smoking in apartments. Modifications on most apartments are not allowed either though simply because it's not your property, you are simply renting it from them.

I'd follow this advice and refrain from smoking inside. I rented an apartment for 7yrs and did all of my smoking outside. An inconvenience, but I didn't own the place, and respected the owner's rules.

I leave a window open all the time and smoke beside it. I know others smoke in the building because I usually can smell it coming up the vents from other floors (the building we're in is a post-WWII building and is rather old). We'll have to redo some of the floors due to accidents by sick critters and will probably repaint the walls to ensure it's in the condition we rented it when we finally leave.

[Snake Hips]

I don't do anything. I smoke where and when I want in my apartment. I'm smoking a cigar right now. The deposit won't be lost, because any respectable landlord repaints the entire apartment after a tenant moves out anyway. Carpet's a different story, but they don't mind anyway.

I'm having a huge issue with my landlord because of the illegal basement apartment smokers. The 2-family townhome was built by the lowest bidder and it shows. When people smoke down there, it's like they're sitting in my livingroom smoking. I can't stand the smell of cigarettes and both my kids have allergies that are intensified by the smoke. The landlord told the tenants it's a non-smoking rental, but likes the money too much to kick them out. So frustrating. Luckily I've got a line on a 3-bedroom stand alone house that should happen before summer.

Anyway, the reason for the rant above is that I priced some of the better air filtration units on the market. It's near impossible to get a good unit for under $600 it seems.

[Sancho]

My thought process is essentially finding a place with a unfinished or marginally finished basement and building a room in a room(or maybe just two walls into a corner) and venting to the outside. Essentially something that is throw away when its time to move out, with a good enough system to exhaust and recycle the air. It may be too excessive given trying to do it on the cheap.

FWIW, my landlord repaints and replaces all carpetting upon move-out mostly I would imagine due to animal fur etc getting drawn into the carpet.

The room would be fine, and having the air blowing out would create a negative pressure in the room so it'll suck air in from the house.... which creates.... no air going out into the house.... and then you multiply that by 3.14 divide by the square root of cuba and you're all set!

I just put a fan in the window blowing out and keep the cigar within 5-6 feet of it. You would never know that anyone has smoked in there.

[ucla695]

I used the same approach as many of the previous posters. I would open up the sliding glass door and turn on a fan that was pointed outside. I smoked within several feet of the fan and it blew most of the smoke outside. I also turn on the AC to prevent some of the smoke coming in. It worked well, there was only a slight cigar smell the next day. I also hear that Lampe Bergers works well to get rid of any lingering odors.

[shilala]

When smoking tenants move out, I scrub walls, scrub carpets, paint and do whatever needs done anyways.
To remove the smoke smell I put my ozone air cleaner thing in the apartment, but only after I employ the secret stink remover method.
I take bowls, set them in each room, and divide a gallon of ammonia between the bowls.
I close the place up and let it sit for a week. The ammonia evaporates and there's no smell left whatsoever. Works like a champ.

[Hammerhead]

Just caught this thread when looking for comments on ozone generators.

I rent the upper level of a house in NY. We don't have any laws prohibiting smoking that I'm aware of, but it is written in the lease.

I do smoke, but usually only in the winters or when it's raining, and typically run the exhaust fan in the bathroom (right off my living room), the kitchen stove fan, or I'll set up a fan in the living room window. And I don't smoke that frequently. I save it for the weekends, and even at that not every weekend, just because that's my habit. Any more frequently and it's not as 'special' for me.

One thing that I've noticed which differentiates cigar smoke from cigarette smoke is that it doesn't cling or linger nearly as bad. I find that it dissipates within four or five days if you leave the windows cracked. Cigarette smoke is different - it's acrid and clings to, and embeds itself in everything - probably because of the chemicals used. So in all it's not a problem for me.

Of course the other thing that helps is that the landlady smokes cigarettes herself, so she can't smell anything anyway.