Condo woes :(

[Lindsey]

We bought all this laminate to put down on the floor, thinking there would be no problem. The carpet in the place is 13 years old and of course has old pee stains from a dog the previous owners had visiting, and new pee stains from Layla peeing overtop of them. So we have enough laminate to replace all the carpet. Almost 3 weeks ago I let the condo board know in writing what I wanted to do, and asked for approval. They had a meeting almost 2 weeks ago and we still hadn't heard anything, and we've been trying to organize my family to be able to come up and help with the work but we needed approval first.
Finally today Scott called the building manager to see what's going on. He gave us permission to put down laminate everywhere but the bedrooms So now we have probably 10 boxes of laminate to take BACK to the store and hopefully get refunded the full amount. And now I have to decide... keep the ratty old carpets in the bedroom or spend even more replacing it.
On top of that, I gave them permission to take "x" number of dollars from my bank account monthly for my condo fees. It's a set amount that was written on a form and signed by me with a void check. In August, they didn't take any out. In September they took about $15 more than they should have. They also sent a letter at the end of August saying they wanted a check for whatever amount for missing the August payment. I sent a check. In October they took out about $70 more than they should have. Scott mentioned that to the manager too... how are we supposed to keep our finances in order when we never know how much they are taking from my account?? It turns out as of right now we have a $40 CREDIT. I don't understand why they would overdraw like that in the first place.
Overall I'm just really frustrated, and I have to say that I don't think I would ever buy a condo again

[paula1961]

Lindsey so sorry to hear about your condo troubles. Wow I can't believe they wouldn't rather you put down wood floors than replace carpert when they allow pets! That is just odd. I would certainly check on them taking a different amount out of my account other than what is specified in a contract. I hope everything works out for the best. I'm sure it will........it's just a pain in the a$$ when things like this happen.

[DianaB]

I think that you need to check into why they withdrew different amounts too. It should be a set amount so you know each month what to expect.

As for the flooring....did you explain why you were wanting to put down new flooring? I don't understand why you would be turned down for any of it.

[Lindsey]

Diana... he said the reason for not allowing laminate in the bedrooms is there is a noise issue. All of the bedrooms are stacked on top of each other, and since I'm on the third floor, the second floor bedrooms are right underneath mine, and the first floor's bedrooms are under theirs. He said if you wake up in the middle of the night and get up, the noise on the laminate might be too loud for the people sleeping on the next floor beneath.

My parents have both laminate and carpet upstairs, and honestly I can't tell a difference between them when I'm downstairs! A footstep is a footstep... unless you're wearing shoes of course. But I usually don't wear shoes in the middle of the night

Anyways, another guy from the condo board called Scott after I had started this thread. Scott said that yes, he had talked to the manager, and knew we couldn't put laminate in the bedrooms. The condo board guy asked why and Scott explained the noise issue. Then the guy was like "If I were you, I'd go ahead and do it anyway. A lot of other people have done it and are still doing it. As long as you're not going to make a lot of noise at night it shouldn't be a problem. If you think it is getting loud, you can just put down a rug!" and of course he added "But you didn't hear it from me!" lol. We don't have to have anything checked or inspected after we do renovations so I think we're just going to go ahead and do it all anyway.

The money issue really makes me angry though. Obviously the manager knows we're upset about it now and hopefully will talk to the accounting department about it. He personally went through the statements and called back to say it's not right and told us where we were standing financially ($40 credit). So hopefully this month we'll have that much off the normal amount, and next month will be back to normal. It has just been such a headache so far... I really hope everything works out soon.

[DianaB]

It was nice of the man to come and talk to you. It's funny that others have done it and it hasn't been an issue. I was going to say the same thing......put down a rug. You'll probably want one by the bed anyway so your feet aren't on the cold floor when you get up first thing in the morning anyway. I really don't like the fact that you're going against the rules. It just seems like there should be a way to do it and have approval at the same time.

I'm glad that someone was concerned about the money issue and that it will be straightened out in a couple of months.

[Marilyn]

There is a condo that we use sometimes in the summers for a short vacation. It originally had carpet and a few years ago, the owner changed the flooring to ceramic tile. The first floor of the condo is on the second floor of the building. There is a one bedroom condo below. We have to be so careful about noise now. Sliding chairs at the dining table can be really loud in the condo below. One year we had some young people with us and were playing some board games. The man downstairs took off suddenly in his car, spinning wheels and everything. We thought he had a medical emergency or something. A few minutes later, a security guard showed up at the door. The man had told them we were having a big loud party, and the noise was so horrible that they couldn't sleep. The security guard didn't have a problem with what we were doing, but we had to tiptoe around the condo the rest of the evening. This had never been a problem with the carpet.

So what I'm saying is, they may have a legitimate concern with the laminate in the bedrooms. You may be courteous to your downstairs neighbors, but what if you sell the condo. Will the new owners be so kind? Just pointing out that this may be where they are coming from.

Hope all works out and you love your renovations when they are all complete!!

[judy]

I hope they straighten out the financial mix up Lindsey! Can you set up a monthly payment sent to them by your bank? If you control it, they can't mess up. I have automatic payment of my mortgage and my maintenance fee, which I set up.

I would definitely put down the laminate. We are not allowed to do anything here! My neighbor taught me to tell them that I did not do that, it was here when I moved in, whatever it is!

We are always breaking the rules. The people whose back windows aren't easily seen from the road even have a/c installed. We aren't allowed that either.

If you do sell, you can just put inexpensive carpeting in the bedroom when you put the condo up for sale.

[Lindsey]

Thanks for your view on this Judy! I think it's easier for us to side with the guy on the condo board because he's an actual resident as well. The manager just works downtown, probably has a gigantic house somewhere, and never even enters our buildings. They seem to be pretty slack with most of the rules anyway. We're pretty much allowed to do anything... the previous owners even knocked a wall out. Besides, we are hardly in the bedroom anyway. We're only there to sleep and to get dressed in the morning. The spare bedroom doesn't get used at ALL except when guests are staying over, or if we are hanging laundry on the clothes horse in that room. I don't think we even use the rooms enough to really change the amount of noise coming from them.