Really Well Built Condos

[SunriseChampion]

Which builders would you consider as quality builders?

I work in custom residential and my experience with condo builds is limited to ones I have lived in which is to say three.

Two of them I don't even know who built (one is older) and one is by the now-defunct Urbancorp and is rubbish.

 

[BubbleTea]

As someone in the construction industry, I don't mind telling you that "quality of the units" and "completion time" (by which I'm assuming you mean prompt) are mutually exclusive concepts.

Quality work IS NEVER fast.
Fast work IS NEVER quality.

Oh, I think Completion Time was a poor choice of word, my bad. I meant as in, the estimated time of completion isn't 3 years off. Of course, I understand that unforeseen circumstances (Such as the current global situation) may cause some delay, but developers like Tridel, from what I heard, are of above average quality and generally complete projects within the timeline.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Oh, I think Completion Time was a poor choice of word, my bad. I meant as in, the estimated time of completion isn't 3 years off. Of course, I understand that unforeseen circumstances (Such as the current global situation) may cause some delay, but developers like Tridel, from what I heard, are of above average quality and generally complete projects within the timeline.

Timelines in construction are largely meaningless and any strict adherence to them is cause for suspicion if not alarm.

There are a multitude of unforseen circumstances that can arise, most of which are completely out of anyone's control.
Never mind the shortage of actually skilled labour in Ontario.

I wouldn't trust anyone pushing strict adherence to timelines as it almost always means cut corners and pushing tradespeople too hard, neither one of which is conducive to a quality build, and in the case of pushing workers, is a sign of inhuman greed and selfishness.

Think of timelines and schedules as general guidelines and concepts.

The best builders will have them, but they will only use them for forward planning and to have a rough idea of the timing of certain components of the build.

Trust me, I've seen the most elaborate schedules get to the point of being laughable, but the build did not suffer for it. In fact, one could just shift the dates and all was as it should be, without the need to rush things along.

Trust me, it's better this way.

I never understood why anyone would rush the building of a necessity. It's foolish to not have the patience to see a home build through to its best conclusion.


It's a sign of respect for the skill and work involved and that respect is consequently returned. It is mutually beneficial to be diligent.

 

[cdr108]

After living in so many of these condos, majority of them suck and part of it is due to the building code. Doesn't help that the building boom meant that the quality tradespeople became few and far between.

Find an older home and renovate it.

Or an older condo building from 1980's/90's that have solid concrete walls between units if freehold is outside of one's budget/location.

 

[mgl]

The Alexus (70 Alexander St) built in 2000 is the quietest place I've ever lived. I can hear noise from the common hallway, but nothing from the neighbours. I can hear their shower running when I'm in the adjoining washroom, presumably due to the shared water riser.

 

[robmausser]

What I think about all of this is how in the various places ive lived in, I can hear different things due to various issues. I wish they could incorperate all of the solutions into one magical building lol

1. In my first apartment, I could hear my neighbors through the walls and the people above me a little, but not as much as #3. The walls between our unit were "fill in" and there were square pillars in my unit for structural load bearing. I could hear the waste water from the shower and toilet trickle down inside the wall, but could not hear the pipes for feed water at all. I could not hear anyone in the hallway as the door was super thick and soundproofed. When the neighbours upstairs used their kitchen it sounded like I was inside a bowling alley.

2. In my second apartment, I could hear my neighbors through the walls (same issue, pillar design with filled in non-load bearing walls) but not above me at all, period, except when they were in their bathroom I could hear them talk through my bathroom vent. But I could not hear them walking or anything, I believe due to the flooring being MLV and ontop of an acoustic barrier. The previous place was parquet glued directly on the concrete. I could not hear any running water sounds in the apartment period, ever. No flushing noise, no wastewater, no feed water, nothing ever. The door was thin and I can hear hallway sounds like the person was in my unit.

3. In my third and current apartment I cannot hear my neighbors on either side at all because the whole wall is one large load bearing column that extends the entire length of my unit on either side. The concrete is extremely thick and its holding the building up. However, I can hear my neighbors above me much worse than the previous two. The floor is parquet glued to the slab, and my suspicion is that because the walls are such large load bearing structures (I mean they extend the whole way along my unit on either side) it means that the slab for the floors can be built thinner, since that weight can be distributed evenly along the wall, and not onto one central pillar point. This means that I hear lots of foot stomping, almost like its not even concrete. I can hear the feedwater from all the taps, but not flushing/waste water noise.

Its like damn man, can we all not just put all these good features into one building? haha.