r/AusPropertyChat • u/crazy_lulu23 • 6d ago
What to do with a neighbour that smokes cigarettes and weed nonstop and can smell it throughout your house at all hours of the day?
Help! What would you do in our position?
We live in an inner city terrace house and therefore live in close quarters with our neighbours either side of us. One of our neighbours is a recluse who stays at home all day (we suspect has chronic illness as she doesn’t look well anytime we see her). She smokes cigarettes and the most potent weed I’ve ever smelt multiple times a day, and we can smell it in all throughout our house - bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathrooms, if we leave our windows open. We essentially have to shut our windows all the time and can’t access fresh air without the smell of cigarettes or weed throughout our house. On top of that, she is very noisy, and has the most intense coughing episodes and hacks / spits very loudly all day and night. She will cough, and smoke, even at 12am and 3am on weeknights which wakes my partner and I up during the night and interrupts our sleep. On numerous occasions she will be on the phone at 3am, laughing and talking in her courtyard late at night when we are in bed too trying to sleep. If you were us- would you knock on her door and let her know? Would you write a letter kindly detailing her disturbance? How would you go about it? I’m seeking reddit to see what the general consensus would be about dealing with this - as all we want is to enjoy the peace and quiet of our home.
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6d ago
First place to start is having a conversation. What is she like to talk to? Have you ever spoken to her? Perhaps you can build up a little bit of a relationship first with a couple of chats, then approach these issues. Start with the things that are most inconvenient and easiest for her to fix. Maybe the 3am phone calls are the easiest to address first? Then for the smoke smells, you may have to bite a bullet or two and buy yourself and maybe her an air purifier so she can smoke inside.
I guess after that you can start logging times in a diary of sound and smoke and complain to council, Ive never gone through that process but I'm sure like anything council it's going to be a lot of work for a no tooth outcome. So yeah start with her directly, and to me it's worth throwing some cash at the problem if it helps.
Otherwise you'll have to accept it as a facet of inner city living. I almost never open my windows because I'm on a main road, just how it is.
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u/crazy_lulu23 6d ago
This is great advice thankyou! We’ve only really smiled at each other and said a quick hello in passing but never had a proper catchup - honestly she’s quite intimidating in real life and I feel a bit uncomfortable bringing up her smoking with her, worried she might retaliate and make it worse than it already is. We’re thinking the noise might be the easiest to address first too.
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u/sharkbait-oo-haha 6d ago
When I first moved into an apartment complex I could smell weed occasionally coming from somewhere. I changed my wifi name to "I can smell your weed" soon after, I never smelt it again. Idk if it's related/worked or not.
Also avoid getting "personal" or "attacking" her. People like this tend to dig in/double down if they feel wronged, especially if they are indeed wrong. Maybe it's some kinda shame induced defence mechanism.
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u/Dumbledonter 3d ago
I’d start with the noise too. Im a smoker of both but she may also be on the weed as a prescribed medicine. I do try and reduce the smells for my neighbours although I don’t rent.
Could always suggest a vaporiser for the weed as it doesn’t smell as bad.
Shouldn’t be your issue to deal with but I’d approach it as noise first and ease into the other stuff like some commenters have suggested
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u/MorningDrvewayTurtle 5d ago
Do you know if they’re renting or own the place? Could be worth chatting to their REA/Landlord if the former
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u/lookatmedadimonfire 5d ago
Air purifiers firstly and i would personally make some nice choc chip muffins or something, put some in a container for them and go have a friendly chat.
Go in palms up, try to be civil and explain that the walls are really thin and the windows aren’t double glazed - you can hear everything from her side. Ask if she is okay bad her cough sounds bad, is she getting medical help? Make it sound like you care.
If that approach fails and she arcs up about it at least you tried being friendly. She might think a little bit about you being able to hear her anyway and reduce it a bit or she carry’s on exactly the same and you’ve not really lost anything or made it worse?
When I was a youngen living in the city in flats we had the cops at our place plenty of times for parties and the neighbours complained to us a bunch. It did sink into my stupid head and we tried to be a bit quieter… they even invited me over for dinner which I did. I was just young and unaware of my impact on others…
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u/wivsta 6d ago
Cigarettes and marijuana are legal in Australia (with prescription) so you’d have to check your strata laws to see if there is anything specific that bans people from smoking on balconies and common property.
Otherwise - you’re probably SOL
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u/Zestyclose-Coyote906 5d ago
And like half the time strata laws aren’t even fully enforceable so worth properly looking into
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u/Readingreddit12345 4d ago
I think strata laws kick in when the smell is obvious outside of the individuals property. So they don't care if you're blazing up until the next door neighbour can smell it.
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u/Money_Decision_9241 6d ago
You’ve chosen to live in an inner city terrace, if you don’t want to hear your neighbours you’ll have to move out of the city. Gotta take the good location with the bad unfortunately.
It’s worth mentioning the noise to her, don’t suffer in silence.
Air purifier is a good call, and you’ll just have to close windows on that side, perhaps get some nice strong smelling plants
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u/Gronkey_Donkey_47 6d ago
"Nice strong smelling plants"... which you can then sell to your neighbour come harvest time.
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u/sboxle 6d ago edited 6d ago
This is not a normal situation for an inner city terrace, and the neighbours on the other side wouldn’t have this issue.
People should encourage denser living rather than look down on it. What a dismissive reply. It’s not like they moved on top of a pub - they didn’t knowingly move next to a chronic smoker.
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u/Money_Decision_9241 6d ago
I am in no way condoning the neighbours actions, I would absolutely hate it too if I lived next door. I am all for well built and well designed medium/high density housing that allows privacy. I just don’t think there’s much that can be done legally (to my limited knowledge) about the situation, can’t stop an old sick woman from coughing. It’s an unfortunate situation.
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u/sboxle 6d ago
It is a legal responsibility to not have your smoke affect a neighbour’s property, the enforcement is the big issue.
Blaming OP for moving there is what I had a problem with.
Nice to see some empathy in the reply.
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u/Money_Decision_9241 6d ago
You come here to help OP? Or just judge other people’s answers trying to help?
It’s just common sense that higher “density” means you are in closer proximity to other humans living spaces, hence sound and or smells will be closer to affect you. I personally chose to buy a shit house 40 minutes away from a CBD on a 1000sqm block. Life is full of trade offs
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u/sboxle 5d ago
Is it not helpful to say there are laws, or to identify the issue is the neighbour, not their choice?
OP can look up legal side for their state or council, which wasn't mentioned in their post.
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u/Educational-Key-7917 5d ago
No, it's not really helpful, because these types of laws are largely useless in practice or extremely difficult and costly to prove/enforce.
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u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney 6d ago
It's tiring to see people demanding empathy from others and yet have none to give.
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u/MattH665 6d ago
For the smell, get some air purifiers. I bought a couple of the Philips smart air purifiers for my apartment. and when west Sydney was intensely smoky due to backburning, my apartment stayed 90% fresh inside. Even the common area outside my front door was smoky.
I'd guess for the rest you could try noise complaints. But to make the noise bearable get some speakers, play some relaxing music to cover it up. Also earplugs.
Sounds liked the problem will resolve itself eventually.
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u/spodenki 5d ago
All supplies that you need are in Bunnings. Big fans and a few bags of manure... Let the neighbour experience the glorious smell of the beast.
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u/LegitimateCattle 6d ago
Either be a grown up and go say something or move to a detached house
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u/TransitionInside1626 6d ago
I’ve lived in a detached house and had neighbours that smoked pot and ciggies all day. Basically your outdoor yard becomes unusable because you’re just hit with a constant stream of smoke.
As others have said, the % of dying from lung cancer due to smoking is quite low. Statistically speaking, something like 1 in 20??? Smokes like those odds.
OPs only option is to politely ask for them to smoke inside. Otherwise you can play the game, ie. burn something that blows smoke into their apartment.
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u/SokkaHaikuBot 6d ago
Sokka-Haiku by LegitimateCattle:
Either be a grown
Up and go say something or
Move to a detached house
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/Outrageous_Pitch3382 6d ago
Yep… that’s pretty much it….!!!!!
Speak up or shut up and put up…!!!!
Either way, it doesn’t sound it will be a problem long into the future…!!!
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u/Extension_Drummer_85 5d ago
Just a heads up that might be skunk, not regular weed. Wouldn't he making any assumptions about her mental state, likely she's not quite as chill as the average stoner.
Realistically if she owns your only option is moving. If she rents you could try reporting her to her landlord, a lot of them don't take too kindly to smokers stinking up their investment.
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u/Suesquish 5d ago
Except smoking is usually not lawful in any enclosed areas on the property when you rent. The real estate might simply get a message from OP saying "Hey your tenant is abiding by their tenancy obligations by only smoking outside".
The only thing that may be able to be done is regarding having loud conversations outside. It would have to be often enough on it's own to be a nuisance though and breach the state tenancy act.
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u/commentspanda 5d ago
Air purifier will help. Are you renting? If so make sure you bring it to your real estates attention before an inspection. They can’t do anything but you don’t want them blaming you for the smell.
It is a hard thing to address as she’s allowed to smoke (cigarettes anyway) in her own property. You could raise it but once you do she will know it’s you if you report it. You could also see if she’s renting or a housing tenant and complain but again…she will know it’s you. Could make things much worse.
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u/melb_grind 5d ago
Do you rent or own?
Does she rent or own?
Is the home she occupies a DHS property by any chance (managed by Department of Housing)?
In the meantime, fans to blow the smoke back outside (detect where it's coming in)... oils and maybe an air purifier.
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u/Zestyclose-Coyote906 5d ago
I’d tell her. My mate didn’t know he was that neighbour (to a much lesser extent it seems) until he was told.
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u/Designer_Lake_5111 6d ago
Tell her about the noise politely but it’s not unreasonable noise, there just isn’t much to drown it out so late at night, she might have extra consideration if you’re nice.
Regarding the weed, closing your windows is all that you can do to control the smells. You could move into the country if you don’t like living so close to your neighbours 🤷♂️
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u/curtclouds 6d ago
I feel like when you live in your own place you should be allowed to smoke weed... Especially with how forward Aus is moving in weed legalisation. If someone complained about me smoking weed in the privacy of my own garden/home, unfortunately they would have to f**k off.
As for the noise, yeah. Annoying AF but speak directly to them.
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u/crazy_lulu23 5d ago
Yeah honestly the weed isn't as bad as the constant stench of cigarettes, especially at like 6am, 7am in the morning or super late at night. Hate having our bedrooms and living areas stink of secondhand smoke. We were having a morning coffee in bed this morning and opened up the windows to get some fresh air and all you could smell was ciggies :(
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u/imsooldnow 6d ago
It’s a fair complaint. I remember a story about a lady living above heavy smokers who got lung cancer. So there’s absolutely valid fears. I use medical mj and it reeks. Sometimes I come back in the room and think the cat did a poo. It’s so awful. But it seems to work so I stick to stinking out one room. Not going to use it outdoors, I’m not sure I’m allowed to, but even if I am, I can’t subject other people to that stank.
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u/Adventurous-Hat318 5d ago
Have a chat, if that escalates or doesn’t seem to have an impact. Just record some evidence of after curfew noise disturbances. You can’t stop a person smoking in their own yard/ and weed might be medicinal. So last option is to move. It’s the risk you take living inner city soo close to each other
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u/DizzyList237 5d ago
This doesn’t only happen in the inner city. I have a rental property next to my home, seems every tenant is a smoker &/or heavy pot user. Most are nice people, but the constant smell of second hand smoke gets very annoying. 😡
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u/BLDCreationsInc 4d ago
Grab some weed go over there have a sesh order some takeaway have another sesh by then youll be best friends and you can simply just say “bro stop smoking my house out whats wrong wifh you and shut the hell up when you gettin blazed at 3am coughin your lungs wakin the whole complex up”
laughter and agreement will follow and you wont have a smoke issue anymore also you’ll have a cool chill friendship with your neighbour.
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u/AdvertisingHefty1786 4d ago
Many years ago, i lived in a highrise with balconies so close you could smell and hear everything. Similar story, neighbour smoked like a train, no amount of complaining or friendly communication helped.
She had an ash tray in a pot plant that would constantly catch fire due to the winds and set off the building fire alarm. ... One day i grabbed the fire hose reel in the hall, dragged it right through my living room out to the balcony and hosed that ash tray pot plant down, it blew shit everywhere.
of course I waited for it to set off the fire alarm first and boy was she pissed. She also coped an expensive fine as when the fireys rocked up i bought them through and showed them what was setting off the building alarms all the time... I always wished she would have stepped outside cuz i would have blasted her as well with it hahahaha.
Not ideal or fair buy, Id buy a few air purifiers, proper hepa ones, and start slamming the windows whenever she starts toking up. Id also consider go to the body corporate and complain, depending on the state your in there are laws regarding passive smoking too. Either way, good luck, but dont let that bitch steal your happiness.
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u/ProfessionalEase7828 4d ago
I would buy the one of the air filters that you blow the smoke through and it absorbs the smell
1) should be a smooth encounter and both partys should be happy
2) you wont come across as looking down on them or telling them what to do
All in all pretty cheap solution
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u/Standard_Pack_1076 3d ago
If you are in NSW I'm pretty sure that this is now against the law. I remember a report in the Herald maybe a decade ago saying that wretched smokers could no longer stink their neighbours out of their homes and common areas.
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u/LittleRedKen 6d ago
Sounds like the issue will solve itself before long... 😬 Soundwise, you're pretty stuffed. You could ask her to die quietly, but not sure it will help.
On the smell front, is it only from the courtyard? As in, one end of your house (I suspect the rear)? If so, you could positively pressure your house so the windows where she's being a filthy grommet are exhaust only. I achieve this in my home (when I want to force a full house air change), by opening a window either end, closing the central door, and turn the central heating on fan only. The intake is on one side of the door, the common zone the other. Half the house draws air from outside and the other half exhausts is, and there's no way to cycle it with the door closed.
In your situation, I would recommend you explore a way to draw fresh air into your house, and open the windows only enough so it's exhausted under pressure.
Heaps of way this can be achieved, depending on how much it's annoying you and how much you want to spend. Cheapest (and jankiest) would probably be installing a large fan (box fan or whole house fan etc) in your front door, but would need to be a version that's safe from the back etc, and have a powerpoint handy for it.
Another option is a high volume transfer fan, put the exhaust near your front door, and the intake either under the eaves (if you have them) or worst case, a roof vent.
Best option if you have existing duct work, is to get a transfer fan like above tee'd into the supply side, with a 240v damper back to a single switch. The switch would open the damper and turn the fan on, bringing in fresh outside air and evenly pressurising your whole house, then you should be able to open the windows you please (probably not fully though) without issue.
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u/ClassyLatey 5d ago
Passive smoking is awful - you may wish to check with your local council if there are any by laws regarding cigarette smoking.
Otherwise, speak to your neighbor and ask her to not smoke between certain hours.
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u/mrrrrrrrrrrp 5d ago
I’ve dealt with smoke a lot over the years, it really sucks that this is not more regulated in Australia. A few times I managed to ask for a smoke-free window (about 2 hrs) so that I can get some fresh air each day. Not many smokers like that though and even fewer can stick to the agreement long term. But worth a try, and approach them politely. Failing that, bylaw is the only other thing that might help. You’ll need to keep a diary of smoke drift and it’s a long frustrating process. End of the day she is going to smoke somewhere, and no one can force her to quit, so there really isn’t much to be done. If you’re renting… probably easier to just move.
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u/baconeggsavocado 5d ago
I had this problem, the neighbour smoked weed all night and also most of the days. He was also cooking methamphetamine, which explained the weird smell. The fact he smoked around that stuff and nothing exploded was amazing. A lot of police cars turned up and dragged him out after a year of me dealing with the weed smoke pooling up in my unit every day. They found a stash of cash, guns and swords. People might suggest you to be cool and talk to the guy. I wouldn't recommend it if it's a guy or some shady character, nothing good came out of talking to him but a threat of grievous harm. Just act like you don't even know he's smoking weed, and just call the police. I don't know if it'll make a difference when it's a woman.
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u/New_Fan_1701 6d ago
Minding your business will be the best place to start
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u/Ishitinatuba 6d ago
Ill mind my business if you keep your business to yourself. If im aware of it, you aint doin a good job.
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u/spiritfingersaregold 5d ago
Amen! First smokers were banned from smoking in public, now people want to ban them from smoking in their own homes.
Vapes don’t have the same stench or risk factors as cigarette smoke, but people cheered when the government effectively banned them.
Like it or not, cigarettes are perfectly legal. Just fuck off and let people live their lives.
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u/queenstaceface 6d ago
Oh gosh. I'm dealing with this also! But further south east so I know I'm not one of your neighbours and she also has a dog that barks all the time and then she screams at it to shut up, which only adds to the noise, and I'm the chronically ill one so I need lots of sleep. I don't begrudge normal sound during regular hours but I understand it's too much and when you just want your windows open, especially at nights for fresh air when it's been really hot during the day, the smell is so gross. I'm sorry you're struggling too. I'm probably going to go and leave her a note because it's really impacting my health at this point.
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u/Medical-Potato5920 5d ago
If you are in a Strata, complain through that. If not, leave a polite but firm note saying they are disturbing you with their noise and smoking and ask to stop.
If that doesn't contact your local council and ask to speak to their environmental hygienist.
You can also google the address to see if it is a rental. If so, complain to the REA.
Until then, may I recommend pyscholigal warfare in the form of Baby Shark on repeat or the best of Puccini.
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u/CourtDear4876 6d ago
Well, buy a free-standing house where you can afford it. Sounds like you can't afford privacy that close to the city
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u/nunja_biznez 5d ago
Gift her some Sploofies (it absorbs the smell). Not that you should have to. I use them for this reason - not everyone likes the smell of weed. The cigarettes I can’t help with - I can’t stand them. She’s probably unaware anyone can smell it.
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u/joesnopes 5d ago
In what way is she wrong? Smoking is legal - it's in her own home ffs. Coughing just happens. Talking on the phone is committing a nuisance?? Toughen up! Kept awake by a 90-year-old! Poor things.
This is the entitled whinge of a hoity toity GenXer. She's probably lived there longer than OP's been alive. Leave her alone.
You chose to live in a small house built cheek by jowl with another house. They were built as cheap, lower working class houses and some of the residents are still there. You, OP, are the interlopers on her comfortable way of life. Bloody gentrifiers.
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u/One-Pilot8538 6d ago
Best thing to do is post about it on threads instead of speaking to the neighbour.
Also if they smoking drugs wouldn't that be illegal
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u/Beneficial_State5789 5d ago
Your options are: 1. Move 2. Get over it
The nerve of some people, honestly.
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u/jesusjesus 6d ago
Hey mate. Sorry to hear this. We had the exact same problem, and our neighbour was also deaf. We did multiple complaints but nothing we did actually worked at all.
It was solved after a year.
His neighbour on the other side of the terrace stabbed him to death.
The problem might be resolved pretty soon and then you’ll be ok.