I got home a little while ago and noticed that my neighbor (the Steelers fan) had taped the bottom of his apartment door with masking tape as seen in the picture below:
Door bottom with tape
This is the second time that I’ve seen his door taped in this fashion, and I have no idea why.
My first thought is that he’s doing something inside and doesn’t want the smell to get into the hallway (e.g. cigar, wacky tobacky, etc.), but if that were the case, the door would be taped from the inside and I would never know about it.
Since the door is taped from the outside and the tape left in the hallway, it’s safe to say he did the taping on his way out and is not home. With that in mind, he could be using a pest-control fogger, but I doubt it since we don’t have pest problems in this building, and the management company would hire an exterminator and there’d be signs posted (in case someone had to run in to get a manuscript).
It’s probably not to stop a draft because he could just get a draft guard that are advertised on TV all the time. If it were draft related, I’m sure I’d see the door taped more often.
Maybe it’s part of some elaborate booby trap? Maybe it’s a “tell” to see if someone entered the apartment while he was out, but I’m sure there are less conspicuous ways to do that. Maybe he has someone tied up in there and this is one last way to prevent them from escaping?
Does anyone have any ideas? I’m completely flummoxed.
I really need to ask him about this next time I bump into him.
Just looking at the door isn't going to do it. Have you tracked his electricity and gas meter usage from the meters (presumably) in the basement. If they are working overtime when the door is taped, he is obviously letting something cook while away. Two things spring to mind. A still or a meth lab. Or maybe he really likes boiled cabbage. Or he may be following in the footsteps of the guy in Sweden an trying to cook up his own nuclear reactor ingredients. Ok, that's 4 things…..
When I was a kid and on youth group trips with my church, we would stay in hotels (obviously). I was known to be a little mischievous, so at night, the youth pastor would put a piece of tape over the bottom of my door (exactly like the picture) to make sure we never left the room at night. If the tape was still intact the next morning, then we never left the room. If the tape seemed to have been broken away from the door then he knew we left the room sometime in the night…. Maybe a possible similar reason for the tape on your neighbors door.
But putting across the door like is to block air or smell. If I wanted to see
if my ex still visits my apartment, i would be a small piece of tape that she can't notice it.
I wouldn't seal the door.
I'd say that your second thought – that he is using a pest-control fogger is the most likely. You may not have a building wide pest problem, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have an apartment wide one. Think bed bugs and start itching. On the other hand he may have OCD and is just making sure nothing is getting in while he is gone – you might want to look under his door when he is at home to see if he is taping on the inside when he is there. You might also want to have a good excuse ready in case he should open the door while you are looking under it.
Because the neighbor is sick of their cooking smells…….
Probably trying to keep out bedbugs.
ur nosey as hell