Two housing types on the same blocks
- Feature
- Typical age
- Older low-rise condo buildings
- Mid-twentieth century, many converted from apartments
- Newer duplexes and townhomes
- Built in recent decades, often replacing older buildings
- Feature
- Heat and cooling
- Older low-rise condo buildings
- Often hot-water baseboard from a shared boiler; through-wall or window AC
- Newer duplexes and townhomes
- Forced-air furnace with ducts, central AC
- Feature
- Where residue hides
- Older low-rise condo buildings
- Baseboard heater fins, AC sleeves, original cabinets, closets
- Newer duplexes and townhomes
- Ducts, returns, carpet and pad, cabinet interiors
- Feature
- Floors
- Older low-rise condo buildings
- Older carpet over concrete or wood; some original parquet
- Newer duplexes and townhomes
- Hardwood or engineered wood, carpet in bedrooms
- Feature
- Who decides on common elements
- Older low-rise condo buildings
- Association, often with older governing documents
- Newer duplexes and townhomes
- Small association or individual owners
What matters most in the older buildings
Many of the smaller condo buildings in Cherry Creek East were built as apartments and later converted. Units are compact, and long-time owners and tenants may have smoked indoors for decades. Hot-water baseboard heaters are common in this kind of building, and their thin metal fins collect dust and residue that heats up every winter, sending odor into the room. Cleaning the fins and covers is easy to overlook and often makes a noticeable difference.
Through-wall air conditioners and their sleeves are another reservoir. The unit itself pulls room air across a coil and filter, and the sleeve and surrounding wall cavity can carry smell from outside or between units. Garden-level units, partly below grade, tend to have less air exchange and may smell mustier as well as smoky, so it helps to separate the two odors before choosing a treatment.
In the newer duplexes and townhomes, the job looks more like a standard forced-air house: ceilings, closets, carpet and the duct system.
Checks for an older Cherry Creek East unit
- Remove baseboard heater covers and look at the fins for dust and film.
- Pull the wall AC filter and look inside the sleeve with a flashlight.
- Smell kitchen and bath exhaust grilles, which may connect to shared shafts.
- Check original cabinets and closet shelving for raw wood that will need sealing.
- In garden-level units, look for any sign of moisture before treating for smoke alone.
- Ask the association whether the boiler, piping and AC sleeves are owner or association responsibility.
Common questions
Can baseboard heaters be cleaned without a professional?
Often the covers lift off and the fins can be vacuumed with a brush attachment once the heat is off and the unit is cool. Bent fins and anything involving the piping or boiler are best left to a heating contractor.
General information for Cherry Creek, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.