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I have a rowhouse right near Center City in Philly. At some point in the past the carriage house from my house was sold and is no longer part of my property. I own everything right up to the brick wall of the carriage house. My new neighbor ran all his household exhaust to the back, where I have a container garden and often have my dinner there. I told him last year that he would have to vent the exhausts up at least one story, which he did except for the dryer exhaust, and there is the problem. The fumes are sickening, they even fill my house when I have the back door open. Anyone else run into this problem?
I don't know what it is that you're smelling, but I do know that Downey Fabric Softener will permeate the entire neighborhood, no matter how close the vent is.
I live in a very large home on a very large lot, and we still can smell Downey all over the neighborhood when someone is doing the laundry. It's kind of sickeningly sweet. I would guess even elevating the vent wouldn't get rid of the smell, it goes everywhere.
I don't have an answer as what you can do about it, other that convince the culprit to do his laundry after midnight..!
Has your neighbor vented the dryer against city code..seems to me it would need to be a certain distance away?? How annoying...and dangerous...and sure ruins your quiet time outside...i would check with the city...
I asked a neighbor, and they said that unless there is an easement in my deed then both the door (which was put it in 1890 when the two buildings were erected) and the vents are illegal. I will have to check my deed but I am pretty sure there is no easement. The kicker was a few weeks ago when I had just prepared some smoked salmon in a cream sauce over pasta and some asparagus, and was just about to sit down and they turned on the dryer (which is right by my chair) and hot dryer perfume shot out of the vent. He's a nice guy, which makes it tougher, and just recently lost his job, but I'll have to let him know about the legalities.
I asked a neighbor, and they said that unless there is an easement in my deed then both the door (which was put it in 1890 when the two buildings were erected) and the vents are illegal. I will have to check my deed but I am pretty sure there is no easement. The kicker was a few weeks ago when I had just prepared some smoked salmon in a cream sauce over pasta and some asparagus, and was just about to sit down and they turned on the dryer (which is right by my chair) and hot dryer perfume shot out of the vent. He's a nice guy, which makes it tougher, and just recently lost his job, but I'll have to let him know about the legalities.
You could invite him to dinner and let him see and smell first hand how this negatively effects your enjoyment of the outdoors.
Check with your City Code Enforcement officer. They should be able to answer all of your questions.
Somehow I don't have a vision of Philly code enforcement person quite the eager and authoritarian defender of legalities that they might be in a more modern less densely developed area...
He is your neighbor and a friendly guy, talk to him. Since he lost his job maybe you could ask if you could pay to have the vent moved to the back of the house. A couple of bucks for a happier life. Dryer vent tubes aren't that expensive and it might not be that big of a deal.
A small directed outdoor fan might push the fumes away depending on where you could aim them.
I doubt it. He probably likes the smell of whatever he uses. After all it permeates all his clothes. He may not even notice the difference.
He will however notice the smell of smoke when the dryers heat starts all the lint burning.
Moving the vent could be more costly than just a vent. It's thru a brick wall and that means filling the old hole and making a new one far enough away to do some good. That smell can travel a long ways depending on the air currents.
Maybe the best approach is to try to get him to quit using a fabric softner, or get an agreement on the times that are best to start the dryer.
Be sure to put on a pretty face with a nice smile.
Good luck for a practically hopeless situation.
Silverfox
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The simple solution.......
