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Noisy Condo Tenants

Nice to know that there are other gems out there. I thought that we were a rare bird.

There is one unit for sale now. 1200 square feet, two bedrooms and a den for just under $300K. A 40 minute TTC trip south of us will give to a 350 square foot bachelor for that price.

Interesting that you picked the building and then waited for the right unit to come up for sale. We did the same thing. Our first offer fell through so we just waited for a another one to go up for sale. If we couldn't make a deal on the second one, we would have waited for a third.

Some of the owners here play cards in the party room. We can use the party room, if it is not booked, to read, students can study, play cards, watch TV or have a meeting at no cost as long as there is no eating. No eating means that there is no clean up costs.

I give little mini tours of this building to other condo owners. One director wants to bring her whole board over for a tour so they can benchmark how far they need to improve. My last condo was the opposite. I used that to show how bad and how fast a new building could become a dump.
 
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We did the same thing with our previous condo, i.e., picked the building and waited for a unit. When we wanted to upsize, we would have stayed there but nothing was available.

Our party room is also open for use and gets used a lot, particularly for studying. I use it for meetings as I work from home. We don't have the no eating rule and so far there haven't been any issues (touch wood!)

We're a new building with a high tenant ratio (although that is slowly changing), and we're working hard to make it a desirable place to live -- and an unpleasant place to live for those who cause problems!
 
So what are some good buildings downtown? I don't think I'll look at a newer build for my next condo but have no idea what older buildings are good. I do like the style and overall newness of newer condos but that quickly goes away once you live in them for a while. Are there any well built newer condos or is that a waste of time?
 
TheKingEast said:
So what are some good buildings downtown? I don't think I'll look at a newer build for my next condo but have no idea what older buildings are good. I do like the style and overall newness of newer condos but that quickly goes away once you live in them for a while. Are there any well built newer condos or is that a waste of time?
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I think the Market Square area has some gems.

A couple in Rosedale. 21 Dale for example. It has very hgih maintenance fees, though.

There are not that many older buildings downtown-ish (that I know of) and most would be quite expensive, IMO.
 
A lot of condos (both townhouses and towers) in Ford country, in a horseshoe running from south Etobicoke up to Steeles and over to Agincourt and down Scarborough heading towards the lake are in real bad shape. One way you can tell by the asking prices. There are units in a couple of buildings that are selling for $250,000 that should be half of that but the problems are being well hidden.

If you got the money, a very good buyer's agent should be able to pick out the good ones for you. Follow the buying advice I put on my website. That should help keep you out of the bad ones. Unfortunately I know more about the bad ones than the good ones.

There are a few new builds downtown that will be sketchy because of the huge number of bachelor and one bedroom units. They will actually be rental buildings with 200 different landlords.
 
A construction of poured concrete or cinder block walls will isolate noise a lot more efficiently then a single stud wall covered with 5/8" drywall. The lowering of this minimum standard benefited no-one but the builders.older homes in general are built better than newer ones I think. Older craftsman seem to put more effort in their work.
 
New condo construction uses drywall instead of concrete between the units because the units now are very small.
But this is how the walls between the units, at least in the better buildings are made.

A 4" thin wall steel stud wall is built. This wall has 5/8" drywall on each side and it is filled with fibreglass pink insulation. This is a solid wall.

A 3" thin steel stud wall is built tight up against the 4" wall on both sides. The electrical wiring, plugs and receptacles are run inside these two thin walls. The gaps are filled with pink installation. You have a 10" thick wall with four pieces of drywall.

Still, a concrete wall and a thin wall on each side of the concrete is better.
 
Condo Madness said:
New condo construction uses drywall instead of concrete between the units because the units now are very small.
But this is how the walls between the units, at least in the better buildings are made.

A 4" thin wall steel stud wall is built. This wall has 5/8" drywall on each side and it is filled with fibreglass pink insulation. This is a solid wall.

A 3" thin steel stud wall is built tight up against the 4" wall on both sides. The electrical wiring, plugs and receptacles are run inside these two thin walls. The gaps are filled with pink installation. You have a 10" thick wall with four pieces of drywall.

Still, a concrete wall and a thin wall on each side of the concrete is better.
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I've never seen this method of constructing walls anywhere in Toronto, I think you're mistaken.
A typical drywall demising wall uses 3 5/8" steel studs, with double layers of 5/8" type x drywall on both sides. You're lucky is you get insulation in between them.
 
Your must be talking lower-end construction. Minimum code. The double drywall is for fire code.

Yes, I have seen the triple stud walls that I am talking about. That is what is being installed in the condo building where I presently work and the contractors assure me this standard for them.

When you get the electrical wiring and boxes inside the single stud that you are talking about, there is no room for sufficient insulation. With those insulation gaps, you will hear everything that happens in the next unit. You will get second hand smoke as well.
 
doug said:
I've never seen this method of constructing walls anywhere in Toronto, I think you're mistaken.
A typical drywall demising wall uses 3 5/8" steel studs, with double layers of 5/8" type x drywall on both sides. You're lucky is you get insulation in between them.
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This. I've snooped around different units at various projects under construction and there is NO use of insulation. I have never seen it. It's not required so builders do not use it. All they do is place the studs against the concrete and put the drywall over it. No insulation.
 
Condo Madness said:
Your must be talking lower-end construction. Minimum code. The double drywall is for fire code.

Yes, I have seen the triple stud walls that I am talking about. That is what is being installed in the condo building where I presently work and the contractors assure me this standard for them.

When you get the electrical wiring and boxes inside the single stud that you are talking about, there is no room for sufficient insulation. With those insulation gaps, you will hear everything that happens in the next unit. You will get second hand smoke as well.
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All the new buildings are built the same way. There is no insulation between units unless the building is high end and even that I'm not sure of.
 
TheKingEast said:
All the new buildings are built the same way. There is no insulation between units unless the building is high end and even that I'm not sure of.
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I'm not a building code expert, but most places I've worked on had concrete walls between units. On the places that only had studs, they had insulation. If you are putting studs against concrete then no insulation needed. Usually the drywall is nailed to the concrete.
 
Wooba said:
I'm not a building code expert, but most places I've worked on had concrete walls between units. On the places that only had studs, they had insulation. If you are putting studs against concrete then no insulation needed. Usually the drywall is nailed to the concrete.
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Yes. If there is concrete, there is no insulation. And yes, they'll attach the drywall directly to the studs. However, I have seen some units with studs drilled into the concrete, then drywall hung onto the studs and no insulation in between. I should have taken a pic the last time I saw it.
 
TheKingEast said:
Yes. If there is concrete, there is no insulation. And yes, they'll attach the drywall directly to the studs. However, I have seen some units with studs drilled into the concrete, then drywall hung onto the studs and no insulation in between. I should have taken a pic the last time I saw it.
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I'm a bit confused. Are you talking about studs drilled to the floor to create a wall that separates the suites?
If so, how would you know there is no insulation?
 
Wooba said:
I'm a bit confused. Are you talking about studs drilled to the floor to create a wall that separates the suites?
If so, how would you know there is no insulation?
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The units are separated with a concrete wall. At times the drywall is either drilled to the concrete or it's drilled to the metal stud which is then drilled to the concrete. They have the option of leaving the area between the studs as is, or filling it in with insulation.

I have been in units that were partially completed. I just peek through the receptacle holes in the drywal and just see air. Not a single sign of insulation.

No insulation between the studs:

STEEL_STUD_SYSTEMS.JPG
 
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