Neighbour's cooking odours coming into our unit through the bathroom vent

1/9/2018 at 10:50:05 AM

Hi...I'm guessing not! What you probably need is a better baffle...it's that thing that does not allow air to come back

1/9/2018 at 4:19:05 PM

Sounds like you are in an apartment or a rental space, as most individual homes, duplex, triplex or quads, are not allowed to share airspaces as it can be a fire hazard.

The problem you have is the kind of thing that happens when people do not seal air ducts, range hoods or fans. During construction time, there is nothing wrong with sharing floor joists or free air spaces with other ducts for single family dwellings, but when the joints are not taped or sealed shut (like they must be in commercial and industrial places) they tend to leak air into these voids.

Sounds like the duct for their hood was not installed properly, not vented outside properly, or a duct has broken apart inside a void of the walls or ceiling.

Changing your fan will have no impact on the odour leaking. Ask your neighbor if they have recently changed anything or if there is a landlord, tell them about and needing it fixed. If you are in a multiple family complex and no one cares about your concerns, call your local fire department because if smoke and odour can entire your place from anothers home, so can carbon monoxide, smoke and flames as well.