It's a long story but we own the house, so we can do any construction work in the basement to make it safe for living. The only issue is that the person living upstairs smokes cigarettes frequently (and this won't change) so is there a way to block all the vents somehow or make it to where it's safe to live in the basement? I know there's a certain type of paint you can use to de-smokify the basement (which would have to be done, the person has smoked in this house for decades) but once that's done is it safe to live there? We can do anything we can and are willing to put in money to make it safe, is there any way this could be done? Air purifiers by the vents? Or will smoke seep through the floorboards? Any ideas would be so greatly appreciated, thank you guys/gals. It's a small house, ranch style, I own the entire house..
1 Answers
Depends a great deal on the HVAC system(s.)
If you have one hot air furnace/central air conditioner serving both spaces, the air all gets mixed.
If you have two completely separate systems, or mini-splits, or hot water baseboard heat and only use window AC or no AC, there's some hope of separating the two spaces, air-sealing-wise.
If you have to change from a single system to a different type of system or additional system to separate the spaces, it will be expensive; but it can be done.
As for "de-smokifiying" my understanding is that ozone generators (applied when you have the spaces separated and are not actually IN the basement space) are a good approach, along with removing anything that holds the crud (like carpets) and cleaning everything else it will have settled on (like walls, ceilings, and solid-surface floors.)
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