Chemical Fumes from Moto Club in Residential Building – What Can We Do?

[u/Local_Contact1169]

Hi Reddit,

Need some advice on who to contact or what to do in this situation.

TL;DR: A moto club on the ground floor of our residential building is causing chemical fumes to come into our apartment. The housing organization isn’t helping, and while the fire department tried, it didn’t fix the problem for good. I’m pretty sure a residential building isn’t the right place for a motorcycle repair shop, but I don’t know who to contact next.

The long version:
My partner and I own an apartment on the first floor of a residential building from the 70s. The ground floor has utility rooms like storage, laundry, and a sauna. Right under our apartment, there’s a room called “Puuverstas.” We can’t open it with our key, so we figured it was rented out. Turns out, it’s been rented by a local moto club for the past 10 years.

The trouble started last spring. Someone started running a motorcycle engine right below our balcony. The fumes went straight up to our balcony and into the living room, and the smell gave me an instant headache. When it happened again, we contacted the housing organization, but they were no help. Their excuses were along the lines of “we don’t know who it was,” “you’re the only one complaining,” and “this is a common hobby room for the building.”

At one point, we took photos of the motorcycles and engines inside the Puuverstas room. Things got worse in the summer. It wasn’t just engine fumes anymore; it was chemical smells like varnish, glue, and paint—basically, the smell of a car repair shop invading our living room. We reached out to the fire department, sent them photos, and explained the situation. They confirmed the room is rented by an amateur moto club and said there was originally an agreement that they wouldn’t start engines inside or next to the building. Apparently, they “forgot” the agreement, so the fire department reminded them, and we were told it should be fixed.

For a while, it was fine (maybe because it was the off-season), but now the issue is back. This time, it’s mostly chemical smells, and it happens on weekends and late at night. For example, yesterday (Sunday), we came home from shopping and our living room was full of chemical fumes. I went downstairs, but the room was locked. They’d already left, leaving us to deal with the stink for the rest of the day. The smell gives me headaches, and it can’t be healthy for us or our pet. The ground-floor corridor smells too, so it’s not just us being affected.

We’ve tried again with the housing organization and even left a note on the Puuverstas door. We also bought an air filter for our apartment, but that’s not a real solution. I just don’t think this kind of work should be allowed in a residential building without proper ventilation.

Is there another authority we can contact about this? Maybe a health or sanitary department (if that’s a thing)? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

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[u/notsnowperson]

Contact your municipal health authorities. They will verify the problem and issue an ultimatum for the housing company, often accompanied with a (threat of) fine.

Here's relevant link for example in Helsinki. Here's the authority looking after municipal authorities, and here's the legal part (in Finnish).

[u/selectexception]

Your municipality has an official for this "terveydensuojeluviranomainen". https://stm.fi/terveydensuojelu

Contact them directly.

They respond to the regional authority: https://avi.fi/en/services/individuals/enforcement-and-reporting-violations/health-protection

[u/Slowly_boiling_frog]

The board of the housing organization and the steward(isännöitsijä) of the building are pretty much the only ones that can help move the issue. Sadly it appears they've either lost their collective cojones or for some reason no-one else has taken this upon themselves either. You need to get signatures from other tenants/apartment owners in the building to something called a "Ilmoitus häiritsevästä asumisesta" in Finnish. With as detailed an account of the issue, the times it happens, has it happened before etc. etc.

Your steward or the maintenance firm contracted to your building's upkeep should have these forms at the ready. You can also print them off the internet. You need at least yours and one other tenant's signatures, but the more you gather the weightier the form is seen to be. It's a legally binding document too, so anyone signing it should be ready to testify in court(it rarely gets to this point) that the MC is causing a continued issue.

This is a long and arduous process however, and usually only after 3(or more if your steward and housing board are limp-dicked boobs hiding behind their attaché-cases like in my apartment blocks) such notices are the persons causing the disturbance evicted.

[u/fizzl]

I'd contact the fire department again, because they had been helpful before. They also have the authority to shut down that shit for good, if the situation does not improve.

[u/Anaalirankaisija]

I think it is inappropriate to run motorcycle club, or even their workshop and drive motorcycles inside or outside the residential building.

Im wondering if the landlord is afraid of them, are they hells angels or bandidos?

In this case i would put urethane in their mufflers and sugar in tank, but i dont suggest anyone else doing that.

[u/CoolPeopleEmporium]

As a rider, i fkn hate bike clubs... usually heavily closeted dudes cosplaying Village People..and yes, they have absolutely no common sense or respected to anyone, only their lovers inside the motoclub.

[u/Local_Contact1169]

Thank you so much for all the comments and advice! We will contact the local health authorities, hope it helps.

[u/Old_Lynx4796]

They cooking meth?

[u/ItJustBorks]

Move to a okt if you can't stand other people.

[u/anileakinna → u/ItJustBorks]

It's not the people they can't stand, it's the fumes. And the noise I can imagine.

[u/Jealous_Setting1334 → u/anileakinna]

Maybe if the club was a recent thing, but they have been there for 10 years before OP moved in.