... then do the members of this site have any recommendations for any other online forums that they think provide said good information and assistance in doing so?
Since this site doesn't offer any assistance to homeowners trying to troubleshoot...
drpepper687
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Sorry for what may be a dumb question but I have to ask anyway.
If you are renting, why not just call the owner, tell them you have this problem and let them pay for someone to fix it. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great you want to help the landlord fix the issue with your rental and I always appreciate it when the people living there have the situation scoped out where they can point to something when you ask, but at some point it is still someone else's property so why are you paying for it?
If you are renting, why not just call the owner, tell them you have this problem and let them pay for someone to fix it. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great you want to help the landlord fix the issue with your rental and I always appreciate it when the people living there have the situation scoped out where they can point to something when you ask, but at some point it is still someone else's property so why are you paying for it?
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11 Posts
Lol... sounds like a funny guy.
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And with that, I made 7 posts. So here's the link: [video=youtube_share;bog8C2KlBYE]https://youtu.be/bog8C2KlBYE[/video]
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10,766 Posts
To move a smell from one place to another requires a pressure change.
Dealt with this with restaurant kitchens, keep the kitchen slightly negative pressure and the dining area with the guests slightly positive. Keeps the stink in the kitchen.
If a smell is being miraculaously pulled from one location to another, means it is being sucked into by your system or pushed into by his system. Being that his system is probably running, since you have shut your's off, and you do not get the smell, that would scratch the fact his system is pushing it from his space into your space, that would leave that your system is somehow sucking it from his space to your space. Thus, only part of your system that is under negative pressure that can suck would be the return air portion.
Is the return air side fully metal ducted or as with many homes does the return air utilize truss spaces, wall voids, or other panned off areas as a means of passage?
Maybe with your system operating your entire space becomes slightly negative in pressure, thus pulling in the smell from the adjacent space. You can check this by using a differential pressure manometer. If it is deemed your living space is indeed running into a negative, can look into adding make-up air or other means of outdoor fresh air to assist with this and to maintain a slightly positive pressure space.
Good Luck, there are specialists that deal with this, they deal with whole home energy performance using blower door and other methods. If the smell is so bad that you are freezing yourself and family out, then I would be talking to your buddy, the landlord and owner and telling him no rent until you get rid of the meth-lab next door, or just move.
Something fishy about this whole thing and I am not talking about the smell.
Dealt with this with restaurant kitchens, keep the kitchen slightly negative pressure and the dining area with the guests slightly positive. Keeps the stink in the kitchen.
If a smell is being miraculaously pulled from one location to another, means it is being sucked into by your system or pushed into by his system. Being that his system is probably running, since you have shut your's off, and you do not get the smell, that would scratch the fact his system is pushing it from his space into your space, that would leave that your system is somehow sucking it from his space to your space. Thus, only part of your system that is under negative pressure that can suck would be the return air portion.
Is the return air side fully metal ducted or as with many homes does the return air utilize truss spaces, wall voids, or other panned off areas as a means of passage?
Maybe with your system operating your entire space becomes slightly negative in pressure, thus pulling in the smell from the adjacent space. You can check this by using a differential pressure manometer. If it is deemed your living space is indeed running into a negative, can look into adding make-up air or other means of outdoor fresh air to assist with this and to maintain a slightly positive pressure space.
Good Luck, there are specialists that deal with this, they deal with whole home energy performance using blower door and other methods. If the smell is so bad that you are freezing yourself and family out, then I would be talking to your buddy, the landlord and owner and telling him no rent until you get rid of the meth-lab next door, or just move.
Something fishy about this whole thing and I am not talking about the smell.
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What do you mean by this?
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50,203 Posts
The belt father ?
Post #20
What help do you need? We can offer limited assistance but will not tell you how to fix your own equipment and possibly blow yourself up.
We care about you and do not want you to mis-interpret our instructions and see you hurt yourself or your family.
If you need some help post it here and someone will let you know if we can assist.
By intake, I assume you mean return air grill. That shiuld never be in a kitchen or bathroom. It needs to be relocated.
Smome pictures would help to get you going in the correct direction.
Can you post some?
Like already mentioned you likely have panned return air ducting. This means your return ducting is the insides of walls and joist cavities. This is sucking in air from gaps in floors and walls. The only solution would be to have new sealed ducts routed from the return air grilles to the return air of the furnace. Sorry, you may be SOL.
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21,898 Posts
You might be 100% right, but I don't think we should speculate on this - not our profession, and we do not want to unnecessarly alarm the OP.
I've seen a lot of asbestos in years past (1970's - 1980's), but I still can't look at everything and state definitively it is asbestos.
If it looks like asbestos to those who have seen a lot of it, we should suggest the OP seek professional help in determining how much if any is in the home.
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21,099 Posts
I'm not going to go way into this, but in a leaky old building like that, the only possibly easy way I can see to stop this is to feed some outside air into the heating system of your apartment to put it into a slightly positive pressure. And even that might not completely solve it.
Now...there are right and wrong ways to do this, so you really need a professional to do it for you.
Now...there are right and wrong ways to do this, so you really need a professional to do it for you.
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Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. Lots to unpack.
I feel like I am SOL here. Definitely leaning towards gaps in hidden places and all that pressure jazz. Makes perfect sense.
As far as why I’m doing it, the owners are like my second set of parents, they call me their other son. When my car broke down a couple years ago, they let me borrow theirs for a month no questions asked, despite the risk to their insurance. We help each other out. When I moved in, they knew they were getting a good guy who would take care of the place. I’m a busy body. Hell, my boss just awarded me with a recommendation letter calling me a “force multiplier” (he was in the Army) “who improves and makes everything around him better”. I’m just constantly wanting to see things around me get fixed. When the siding broke loose in a wind storm 4 months ago, I didn’t wait for it to get worse and call them the next morning... I got out there in my socks and repaired it on the spot.
I feel like I just sounded like Walt from Gran Torino. “When a million screaming g***s came charging across our line in Korea, we didn’t hesitate, we reacted. We’re not in Korea, Mr. Kowalski!!”
I digress. Like I said, I think I concur with some of you here... I’m SOL. And yeah, that definitely looks like asbestos to me. I’ve crawled all over this place, basement to attic, and that’s the only thing I’ve seen like it, so maybe I’ll just call a remediation guy in here to get rid of it.
I feel like I am SOL here. Definitely leaning towards gaps in hidden places and all that pressure jazz. Makes perfect sense.
As far as why I’m doing it, the owners are like my second set of parents, they call me their other son. When my car broke down a couple years ago, they let me borrow theirs for a month no questions asked, despite the risk to their insurance. We help each other out. When I moved in, they knew they were getting a good guy who would take care of the place. I’m a busy body. Hell, my boss just awarded me with a recommendation letter calling me a “force multiplier” (he was in the Army) “who improves and makes everything around him better”. I’m just constantly wanting to see things around me get fixed. When the siding broke loose in a wind storm 4 months ago, I didn’t wait for it to get worse and call them the next morning... I got out there in my socks and repaired it on the spot.
I feel like I just sounded like Walt from Gran Torino. “When a million screaming g***s came charging across our line in Korea, we didn’t hesitate, we reacted. We’re not in Korea, Mr. Kowalski!!”
I digress. Like I said, I think I concur with some of you here... I’m SOL. And yeah, that definitely looks like asbestos to me. I’ve crawled all over this place, basement to attic, and that’s the only thing I’ve seen like it, so maybe I’ll just call a remediation guy in here to get rid of it.
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The largest (not only, however largest) issue with asbestos... is breathing in small particles that can get lodged in your lungs. As long as the asbestos is not disturbed (as noted above), you probably are not breathing it.
Lots of things cause cancer... there was a time that we were told bacon causes cancer...
Pick your poisons carefully... grin
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