Help, My Apartment Smells! Does Aurora, IL Renters Insurance Cover That?
Smoke Smell
If the source of the smell is cigarette smoke from a neighbor or former tenant, your Aurora, IL renters insurance won’t cover that. That’s not a covered peril, and it’s something that you can often resolve with a bowl of half vinegar, half water or baking soda on the carpets for a day or two, then vacuuming. You might have to sponge down the walls, as well, but make sure you pay attention to the paint or wall covering. You fixing a smell doesn’t make it acceptable for you to damage wallpaper, for instance.
On the other hand, if the smell of smoke is because you had a small kitchen fire, or because you neighbor had a fire, you’re in luck. Renters insurance in Illinois generally considers smoke from a fire to be a covered peril. Even if it wasn’t your fire, and there was no other impact to you, you may still have coverage for damage to your things and/or fixing the smell. Check your policy, and make sure to keep your deductible in mind.
Neighbor’s Cooking Smells
Some people just like to cook stinky food. There’s not much to be done about that fact by the landlord, of course, for a wide variety of reasons. But there are things you can do to mitigate it. Boiling cinnamon sticks is often effective at creating a good smell and mitigating the bad one. We don’t, as a matter of course, ever recommend candles because they’re a fire hazard in an apartment.
The bowl of half vinegar and half water trick will remove the smell in a few hours. If it’s someone you know, you could ask them nicely to use the vent hood on their stove when they’re cooking. Provided that it’s properly designed to vent outside, this can often make a world of difference and it’s something the person might not have even considered. Apartments converted from single-family residences may not vent the smell outside, so this could make the problem worse in a poorly designed conversion.
You could leave out a plate of charcoal briquettes – the ones that are not pre-soaked with lighter fluid, please! – because charcoal is known to remove odors from air and effectively filter many things. Air flow in your apartment will determine whether this is successful or not.
We’ve also been told that you can use a crock pot (a pot on the stove would burst into flame if it ran out of liquid) with a baking soda and water mixture. The crock pot can be set on low with the lid off. Give it a few hours, make sure it always has water in it, and it will pull the smell right out of the air. If you add a few drops of essential oils, you’ll have the added bonus of making your home smell like peppermint or other good things, instead of like your neighbor’s dinner!
There are a number of other DIY remedies that can help to solve apartment smells, regardless of the source. To some degree, this is just part of living in an apartment. Do you know what else is just part of living in an apartment? Having Illinois renters insurance. To find out how easy and affordable it can be, just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Illinois renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
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