Calling all home improvement experts. :)

[Handruin]

I have a weird question about something I would like to do to my apartment, but I fear if I do this it might cause a problem that I don't foresee.

Let me start by giving the situation. I live in an attached apartment, attached meaning others live on the other side of my wall, above, and below me, but have their own place. Below me an elderly woman stays home all day smokes. Now it's her business to do that, but the smoke comes into my room.

Now the first thing I've done is put in a complaint with the apartment complex. Not against the woman, but that the air quality is poor in my apartment and I asked if they could do anything about this. They informed me there is no smoke coming through the floor and I don’t feel like pursuing these people.

The next thing I've done is purchase a Honeywell HEPA air filter, which works very well, but it can't handle all the smoke. (Not to mention these things aren’t cheap) There are some days I can't stand to be in my own room because of the smell, and now that it is winter, opening the windows freezes me out of my room.

I believe to have narrowed down the area in which the smell comes from. We have hot water heat and beneath our carpets are concrete. I noticed the smell comes from under my heater on the wall and I also noticed a gap between the concrete floor and the wall.

So, here is my real question. Today I visited my local Home Depot and purchased a $4 tube of GE silicon "window and Door" sealant (clear). It is designed to adhere to concrete and I planned on filling in the gap between the wall and the floor. The sealant is supposed to be flexible and should not shrink.

I was first concerned that the heat from the heater would cause an issue, but I checked the tube of sealant and it says "Not for surfaces that will exceed 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Since I'm not applying it to the actual heater I'm thinking this will be fine. My other thought is that the carpet runs under the heater and I would think the carpet would catch fire before this stuff.

Now, does this sound like a really bad idea to fill in this gap? I've never owned a home or lived in an apartment before this, so I don't know why the gap is there or if filling it is a bad idea. It runs the length of the entire heater and it's not a very large gap, perhaps 3/16 of an inch. I know the smell comes from under the heater so I'm hoping this will either stop the smell, or at least lessen the amounts.

I don't want to ask the management of my complex because we have had some issues with them in the past so this is out of the question. I plan to ask a few family members the same question, but I was hoping some of you might be knowledgeable in the home improvement area.

 

[Dozer]

Doug,

My guess is that the crack was left for the concrete to expand/contract. Silicone sealant being a flexible material, it should not hurt to fill in the crack. And I would say your assessment of the flamability issue is correct--I don't think that area of the heater is going to exceed 400 degrees. I say go for it!

 

[Tannin]

Yup. I'm with the Billdozer on this one: just do it.

 

[Fushigi]

I'll ditto Dozer & Tannin.

- Fushigi

 

[Pradeep]

The hot water won't be running at close to 200C so you will be fine. Here's to a smoke free apartment!

 

[James]

You'd be (un)lucky for hot water to exceed 60C, so it should be just fine.

The hole in the concrete is probably there just to take the pipe, concrete will only expand or contract a few mm at most in an apartment building (given the temperature is pretty constant anyway). Silicone will be fine, make sure to clean the surfaces before applying though. You may also want to put some cardboard into the hole first to stop the silicone falling through.

If you're getting that amount of smoke I doubt it is all coming through that one hole. You might find this is a longer process than you think! You might want to check your walls to see if they're hollow right down to the floor below. If they are, you'll need to seal those as well with a different sealant, it might be worth your while getting a builder in to have a look. Are you renting or do you own? If you're renting you may well have restrictions on what you can do, in which case the apartment complex management might well be your only option.

 

[jtr1962]

I was once in a very similar situation to you. When I was a kid I used to live in a NYC housing project which was steam heated. Each room had it's own radiator and in addition there were two pipes running vertically from floor to floor. There were openings where the pipes went through the floor. These were definitely not for expansion(lamp posts are embedded directly in concrete with no cracking problems). Rather they are to make it easier to install, repair, and remove the pipes. Imagine trying to remove a pipe that is tightly fitted in concrete!

Anyway, there was about half an inch or so of space around the pipes. This never presented much of a problem until some dirty neighbors moved in below us. Not too long after they moved in we started getting roaches by the dozen. Prior to this me and my brother and sister had never even know what a roach looked like. Since we knew we weren't the source, we begin looking for how they were coming in. One day we noticed our cat chasing after something near one of the steam pipes, and then it dawned on us that this was how they were entering our apartment. The roaches were coming up through the small openings around the pipes.

Needless to say, the situation was unacceptable. Other than providing fleeting entertainment for Kimba, the roaches served no useful function that I could think of. They had to go. First we tried spraying all areas where they entered. This didn't work since NYC roaches are pretty much immune to Raid and anything similar unless you spray loads of it on them directly. Eventually we filled the openings with steel wool and then some kind of caulking. This reduced the problem considerably, although they still came in through the electrical outlets. Eventually, we just threw in the towel and moved, leaving a white flag of surrender in our wake. Sadly, roaches were here long before us and will likely be around long after we are extinct.

Anyway, applying this to your situation, I recommend first putting some kind of filler material around the openings and forcing it in. Steel wool is good, so is fiberglass insulation. This will provide a backing for the caulking. Silicone will work well. I love the stuff and use it everywhere. You'll probably need to hunt around to find all the openings. Also, if the problem persists, you might even have smoke entering through the electrical outlets, and you'll need to go to each and every outlet and fill the gap around where the wires come in with silicone. Regretably, we didn't do this or it may have completely solved our roach problem. Nevertheless, sealing against your smoke problem will also provide future insurance against roach infestations as well, so it certainly can't hurt. If it is possible it may even be a good idea to seal from both sides, if your neighbor is willing to let you into her apartment. Perhaps use the excuse that you plan to have some guests over who are prone to flatulence and are looking out for her well-being. :mrgrn:

To end my story, since living in a private home for the last 24½ years we only had roaches once, and only briefly. Our next door neighbor's house, which was being rented to some slobs, had a huge(as is bags full) roach infestation and a few crawled across the driveway into our house. Fortunately, they never established a breeding colony or we'd never have been rid of them. They were mostly entering through the air conditioners since everything else is pretty much sealed. I dread to think of the problem we would have had if the houses were attached.