Too bad there isn't anyone out there to make this into a discussion; the Internet is such a great way to take an informal poll!

Yesterday I noticed a familiar rubbery smell in the master bath of my 09 unit. I closed the door assuming I would trap the odor in there until Jose came to work. When I returned a half hour later, the smell was gone and then it dawned on me: the efficiency of the exhaust fan system must be significantly improved if the door is closed and the fan doesn't have to suck-in any extra air circulating in the apartment. I have often theorized that just opening a sliding door screws-up the air balance and know specifically of at least one instance when cooking odors entered my unit after I opened the sliding doors.

So that's my suggestion, keep your bathroom doors closed (the fire safety people advocate keeping all internal doors closed to prevent the spread of smoke damage from a fire within the unit). I have also noticed that the bathroom just smells fresher since I have kept the door closed.

By way of a poll, if anyone reads this, respond with an answer of whether you normally close your bathroom doors or not; I assume most people are like me and normally leave them open for convenience.

By Stewart Sexton

Doors

Thanks for sending me to this site. I keep my doors open. I'll try closing more of them.

By Bridget Ryan

More info on my odors

That rubbery smell was originating from an exercise ball that was ''stored'' (okay, so I didn't use the exercise ball very often, but I do use it more often than the bathtub!). The ball was resting against the overflow drain. The rubbery smell was produced when someone else in my stack (probably in a unit below mine)drained their tub. Steam from the hot water coming in contact with the cold drain pipe rose through the vent pipe attached to the drain system. Because my bathtub had not been used recently, the water that is supposed to collect in the gooseneck under the tub drain had evaoprated and hot, smelly air was able to back-up into my tub.

My solution was simple, I run water into the tub every couple of weeks to ensure the gooseneck doesn't dry-up and I haven't had any odor problems in my bathroom since. The same would apply to sinks that are used infrequently.

P.S. I have also started using the exercise ball on a regular basis!

Neighbor's smells

I noticed that smell coming up from my bathtub too. Ran the water and no worries! What about smells from next door? I can smell my neighbor EVERY TIME he smokes. Why is this??? Are they coming in from under the from door due to the negative air pressure? If so, how do thy get into the hall in the first place? That's just unpleasant.