House Smells Of Coal Dust

[jubileejane]

There is a smell like coal dust in my house, which makes me cough from time to time. My neighbours have a coal fire. I have gas central heating.
It is only happened the past week.
Could it be coming from next door?

[emmie]

..i had a coal fire many moons ago, and never had a problem with storage or coughing from the coat dust.

[AuntPollyGrey]

It could be. Are you semi-detached with them? Their chimney could be leaking through your party wall, or if you are keeping a window open maybe the smoke is blowing into your house through a window.

[KARL]

Could you please describe the circumstances. What age is the building, how is it constructed, what is the division like (assuming the building has multiple dwellings), which part are you in, etc.

[jubileejane]

Hello Karl...these are terraced houses, possibly pre war. I rent this house so don't have all dates. My dining room and living room are adjoining their kitchen and living room. I think their coal fire is in living room as I've never been inside. I moved here in June. I don't have any windows open but can smell it night and day.

[Sunk]

Is there a vent in your house. If the fireplace has been bricked up, they usually put in a vent for safety. Smoke from their roof chimney could be blowing down yours.

[malagabob]

It’s surprising. Fumes, for the lack of a proper name, from coal or wood fires can infiltrate any building. There is a ex miner living close, who I assume is still having free/discounted coal lights/stokes his fire. If the wind is in a certain direction I can smell it in my house.

[Zacs-Master]

Report it to your Landlord and ask for a 'smoke test' to be carried out.

[KARL]

We have what is a Victorian semi and it had a fireplace in every room when we bought the place almost 50 years ago. I ripped every one of them out and the walls were built up to be entirely flat and continuous (chimneys blocked and filled down to the roof line with no vents anywhere) - I installed a heating. Our main bedroom backs onto the main bedroom in the other half of the building, and into our side of the wall (in the ex-fireplace) we set a small safe. A previous resident of the other house was a heavy smoker, including in bed. We could observe the same thing malagabob describes: We got cigarette smoke at the pillow end of our bed (against the ex-fireplace wall) when the wind was right - only a trace mind, but unmistakable nevertheless. These "well built" (so they keep calling them) old houses have walls that are so gaping that air passes right through them. Next door's fireplace was still there until about 3 years ago when it too was taken out and the same treatment carried out as on ours - we would probably not now get anything from someone smoking in bed there.