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Outside electrical outlets on balconies of residential towers

Dylan Leblanc

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Hello UT guys :)

Something that I've found in apartment buildings I've lived in is that there are no exterior electrical outlets on the balconies. There are likely safety and practicality reasons for this, but come December it makes it difficult to install Christmas lights outside. Since Toronto has such a wide variety of residential towers I'm wondering if this is a problem there as well? Does it annoy many people? I know there are ways around it but they're not always ideal. So I'm wondering if it's an issue?
 
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Most new buildings have outlets on the balcony (Mostly condos). Older buildings do not.

Every condo I have lived in had one, and every rental building I lived in did not.
 
The last 2 condos I've lived in have had outside electrical outlets - in City Place and in Regent Park
 
OK that's good to hear. Sounds maybe like newer (condo) buildings have them but older (rentals) don't as much. I've always found it annoying if I can't put up Christmas lights, though there are ways around it, like running a wire through a crack in the door and then duct taping the gap, but it isn't perfect.
 
If a condo and there isn't one, ask the board if an outside receptacle could be installed or if forbidden. Likely, if you have to pay for your own electricity, you could add it, at your own expense. However, drilling through the concrete might be a problem, and maybe frowned upon.
 
In a condo, you own the unit but not the balcony or anything past the drywall inside your unit. All of that belongs to the condo corporation. So you'd need to get approval from the condo corporation to add a receptacle. They'll probably approve it.
 
My apartment has an outlet on the balcony, and it's a rental. It is a newer rental building though, which was built in 2005.
 
In a condo, you own the unit but not the balcony or anything past the drywall inside your unit. All of that belongs to the condo corporation. So you'd need to get approval from the condo corporation to add a receptacle. They'll probably approve it.

We could have drilled through our older building's brick wall, and I know others have. But I found a fantastic solar light place online. It's based in Florida. So now our railing is strung with solar LED rope lights that also run up the side walls. At Christmas, we switch out the white lights for coloured ones.
 
Overhead lights on balconies are so common in some provinces that it may be code. I also like when venting is embedded on bottom of the balcony slab. Cleans up the facade nicely. Never seen it here.
 
Overhead lights on balconies are so common in some provinces that it may be code. I also like when venting is embedded on bottom of the balcony slab. Cleans up the facade nicely. Never seen it here.

Screw in an outlet, and you have your outlet. Not perfect, no ground.

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That's what some people do to plug in Christmas lights on porches.
 

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When I moved into where I am now the superintendent was happy to drill through the balcony wall for $20 so that I could feed an outdoor extension cord to the balcony. I had to cut the end off of the extension cord to pull it through, then I spliced it back together & caulked the hole to prevent spiders/drafts and it's worked perfect for 11 or 12 years now. Not ideal, but it works!
 
When I moved into where I am now the superintendent was happy to drill through the balcony wall for $20 so that I could feed an outdoor extension cord to the balcony. I had to cut the end off of the extension cord to pull it through, then I spliced it back together & caulked the hole to prevent spiders/drafts and it's worked perfect for 11 or 12 years now. Not ideal, but it works!
If it's a condo I bet you are breaking the rules and the law: as someone noted above, Unit boundaries are normally the inside drywall. Though one is legally supposed to sign a legal agreement under Section 98 of the Condo Act if you 'invade' the common elements most condo corps would permit this kind of minor invasion without the expense of a s 98.
 
When I moved into where I am now the superintendent was happy to drill through the balcony wall for $20 so that I could feed an outdoor extension cord to the balcony. I had to cut the end off of the extension cord to pull it through, then I spliced it back together & caulked the hole to prevent spiders/drafts and it's worked perfect for 11 or 12 years now. Not ideal, but it works!

A "Mike Holmes" may not like that.
 
LOL, it's an apartment rental, I'm not worried about it. I also had DirectTV, and later a Dishnet satellite fed through that same hole when the "game" was on with US satellite TV. At my three condos I had an outdoor electrical outlet on all three balconies, and a gas BBQ (an upgrade for the gas line) on one of the balconies.
 

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