Health Hazards: neighbor's never ending renovation
Our neighbors in the brownstone next door launched a very extensive renovation plan last year now 6 months past the proposed end date with no end in sight. We put up with months of loud noise 7 days a week and white dust particles but then came the fumes. These chemical odors are so strong…
Our neighbors in the brownstone next door launched a very extensive renovation plan last year now 6 months past the proposed end date with no end in sight. We put up with months of loud noise 7 days a week and white dust particles but then came the fumes. These chemical odors are so strong they give you instant headaches. A number of residents in my co-op are retired or work from home so there is no escaping overpowering fumes. We’ve tried calling 311, made complaints to the health dept, EPA and even had inspectors come out and assess the situation. The workers continue to keep windows shut while using toxic paint, varnish and stains unless we remind them several times a day to open windows to ventilate so the fumes don’t just travel next door. We have developed coughs, runny noses and are concerned about longterm effects. Our neighbor is practically non-responsive (while living elsewhere). Any suggestions? Should we be staying somewhere else too? What is reasonable to inflict on neighbors?
It’s impossible to tell from this post whether the renovation is actually intolerable or there’s been an interpersonal conflict between the OP and the Renovator.
Either way, it seems like a typical city problem with a typical city solution:
**Figure out how to make nice with the Renovator, even if he’s being an asshole. For your sake, not his.**
The bottom line is that a city is a fundamentally shared space. Renovator needs to figure out that he has neighbors, and Neighbor needs to figure out how to communicate in a way that is listened to. Usually, this means being nice and persistent. Even if it takes a big heaping dose of humility to be nice.
Mrs. L is right–once it starts smelling bad, it is almost over. 🙂
What a witty and a helpful response 524guest.
The original poster asked what was reasonable to inflict on their neighbors. I don’t think its reasonable to expect their neighbors to not paint their walls or poly their floors because it is bothering the neighbors. And I don’t think its reasonable to call the authorities on your neighbors (the outcome being clearly unsatisfactory for the OP) and then expect the homeowner to be responsive. Its as simple as that. If you have a different opinion, you are entitled but calling me a half wit because I have my own opinion is absurb.
A brownstone renovation that lasts a year and a half is retarded. It’s not Buckingham Palace. That homeowner should get over himself already.
A lot of times OP, when dealing with neighbor nuisance you have to lay out the expense yourself to measure that nuisance so you have proof. We had to hire a noise expert for a neighbor issue. It cost us a couple thousand dollars. Not fair but it’s the way to get what you want. So hire a company to measure the fumes inside your coop building, in every apartment and give you an analysis of the fumes. Also keep a detailed record exactly what days they work and what days you get the strong fumes and for how long it lasts. Then hire a lawyer to first just write a letter saying your building is going to pursue a nuisance lawsuit if they do not ventilate properly. The letter alone should move things along.
As for the selfish weirdos here saying “deal with it” ever think about the HEALTH OF THE WORKERS? Of course not. Who cares about illegals, right? They are supposed to be provided with a safe work environment as much as people should have safe clean air in their own homes.
AND best of all, it can start a fire when the fumes are trapped in there. That happens all the time. Just a few months ago a newly renovated house in our neighborhood burst into flames because of non-ventilation of chemical fumes from the renovations. Spontaneous combustion. True story.
“It seems that this is more of a perception of toxic fumes and illegal work rather than it actually happening.”
What in the OP’s post leads you to believe it is perception rather than reality? As for going about things the wrong way, the OP says they tried telling the workers to keep windows open and they tried contacting the owners too, but to no avail. I percieve that you sucked up to many fumes during your own reno and were left with half a brain.
You say live in a co-op building next to a brownstone house. Unless your building is an attached brownstone which has been turned into a co-op (which is entirely possible, but not what I interpreted from the phrasing of your post), there are TWO party walls (that of your co-op plus that of the brownstone) between you and the space in which the work is being carried out. If dust and odors are filtering through those TWO walls (bear in mind that, with the windows being closed, they ain’t coming out the front and back and doing a u-turn into your building), I would say that you’ve got issues with structural and porosity integrity at that lot-line that dwarf your concerns for your immediate personal environment.
I have a runny nose and a cough too. Has it occurred to you that you might have a cold? There is nothing your neighbor can do other than stop renovating. They don’t sound like they are doing anything unusual or spiteful. They can’t stop varnish from having fumes. This is life in the city.
Where does the OP say the neighbors are working at all hours of the day?
Anyone who has every done any DIY appreciates that most people have jobs M-F so some weekend work happens. I find it hard to believe a pro construction crew is working 7 days a week and all thru the night on a residential renovation.
I just thank goodness I have understanding neighbors b/c its clear to me that so many people just have it out for the people they live around. I understand its frustrating to live with the noise and aggravation but calling in inspectors and the EPA seems the wrong way to go about it. It seems that this is more of a perception of toxic fumes and illegal work rather than it actually happening.
do you live in a co-op? your board can enforce the hours they can work — whatever those are for your building. otherwise, all renovations take longer than expected and are a pain. it is what it is.
I don’t get the window thing — why on earth do they want to close the windows? Nobody is more aware of fumes, etc than the workers. Also, they want things to dry and such. My experience is workers always leave all the windows open, always — even overnight — and neighbors complain about the cold.
Mrs Limestone,
Fumes and dust may be part of renovation, but it is not legal to do renovation work all hours of the day, 7 days/week. They clearly are breaking laws and the authorities contacted should be enforcing them.