Dogs in Condominiums
Toronto loves dogs. Dog owners love Toronto. Dog owners also love condo's, but I've got news for you - condo's don't like your dogs. A condo corporation tolerates your dogs because they need the units filled. Dogs salivate on floor of the common areas, bark, and poop and pee wherever they wish, even if well trained, cause they can't hold it sometimes. Some owners are too lazy and inconsiderate to clean up, or to clean up properly after their pets.
I can't stand owners who have big dogs like German Shepherds, Doberman's, and Great Danes living in their 650 square foot unit with them. Even if their unit was 1000 square feet, it's too small for such big dogs. The moronic dog owners leave their pet at home while they go to work all day, or engage in something else without the animal. These insensitive people either don't realize or don't care that their sequestered dog's can, and will bark at every other dog or human it smells outside their unit.
That's a whole lot of barking in one day. Most condo's have at least 12, and as much as 24 units on one floor. If even half of these condo inhabitants have dogs and walk them once during a twelve hour period the yapping, barking, yelping, howling, and screeching levels on the floor from the sequestered dogs can be unbearable. The stupid owners seem clueless when you tell them that their animal makes a lot of noise when they're gone.
Dog owners in a condo also seem to think that the surrounding shrubs, bushes, and any area containing dirt that decorates the landscape of the building are a good place to let their pet shit in or on, while they text on the phone or smoke a cigarette. Again these simple minded people should have their pets removed from their care ASAP. If you can't WALK your animal for a good half an hour out to a park or other area where they can run and play, then you should not be allowed to have a dog in the first place. Besides, I don't like to walk in the shit your dog just produced because you are too lazy to be considerate of others.
Toronto loves dogs. Dog owners love Toronto. Dog owners also love condo's, but I've got news for you - condo's don't like your dogs. A condo corporation tolerates your dogs because they need the units filled. Dogs salivate on floor of the common areas, bark, and poop and pee wherever they wish, even if well trained, cause they can't hold it sometimes. Some owners are too lazy and inconsiderate to clean up, or to clean up properly after their pets.
I can't stand owners who have big dogs like German Shepherds, Doberman's, and Great Danes living in their 650 square foot unit with them. Even if their unit was 1000 square feet, it's too small for such big dogs. The moronic dog owners leave their pet at home while they go to work all day, or engage in something else without the animal. These insensitive people either don't realize or don't care that their sequestered dog's can, and will bark at every other dog or human it smells outside their unit.
That's a whole lot of barking in one day. Most condo's have at least 12, and as much as 24 units on one floor. If even half of these condo inhabitants have dogs and walk them once during a twelve hour period the yapping, barking, yelping, howling, and screeching levels on the floor from the sequestered dogs can be unbearable. The stupid owners seem clueless when you tell them that their animal makes a lot of noise when they're gone.
Dog owners in a condo also seem to think that the surrounding shrubs, bushes, and any area containing dirt that decorates the landscape of the building are a good place to let their pet shit in or on, while they text on the phone or smoke a cigarette. Again these simple minded people should have their pets removed from their care ASAP. If you can't WALK your animal for a good half an hour out to a park or other area where they can run and play, then you should not be allowed to have a dog in the first place. Besides, I don't like to walk in the shit your dog just produced because you are too lazy to be considerate of others.
Fire Alarms
Activated at all hours of the day and night. Either by residents, or by accident (flaws with the system). The alarms will wake you out of your sleep, and then the Concierge will come online over the loudspeaker in your unit and tell you that it's been activated, and that the fire department is on their way. Then you will hear the refreshing wailing of a a fire truck racing down the street to the building. The whole debacle will cut about an hour out of the enjoyment of condo living. Recently, the fire alarm has been activated three days in a row several times a day because of a "flaw" in something-or-other on the 13th floor.
Activated at all hours of the day and night. Either by residents, or by accident (flaws with the system). The alarms will wake you out of your sleep, and then the Concierge will come online over the loudspeaker in your unit and tell you that it's been activated, and that the fire department is on their way. Then you will hear the refreshing wailing of a a fire truck racing down the street to the building. The whole debacle will cut about an hour out of the enjoyment of condo living. Recently, the fire alarm has been activated three days in a row several times a day because of a "flaw" in something-or-other on the 13th floor.
The Amenities
The swimming pool is only chest deep, and has no deeper area. It has been converted to a non-chlorinated pool, and now it is much colder to get into. The weight room has equipment you would buy for your own tricked out gym. It is not of a sturdy enough design for thousands of people to use in one month, and as such it is often out of order. The yoga room is hardly used, except for stretching (not yoga). The party room? Well you have to pay deposits, book in advance, and follow a bunch of rules and regulations, and end the party at around midnight! You might as well have the party at your place. Not only that, but it's on the first floor, so if you want to get loud and be wild everyone walking by to the elevator will hear.
2015
The BBQ's:
There are 4 barbecue's for about 1000 people who live in 215 and 209 Fort York Blvd. In 2015 two of them actually worked as they were supposed to, and even they had knobs that turned in various directions that made no sense. The other two BBQ's simply did not get hot enough, or had a partial grill areas that got heated. On at least two occasion's our BBQ had to be aborted, because the equipment simply did not do what it was designed to do.
The swimming pool is only chest deep, and has no deeper area. It has been converted to a non-chlorinated pool, and now it is much colder to get into. The weight room has equipment you would buy for your own tricked out gym. It is not of a sturdy enough design for thousands of people to use in one month, and as such it is often out of order. The yoga room is hardly used, except for stretching (not yoga). The party room? Well you have to pay deposits, book in advance, and follow a bunch of rules and regulations, and end the party at around midnight! You might as well have the party at your place. Not only that, but it's on the first floor, so if you want to get loud and be wild everyone walking by to the elevator will hear.
2015
The BBQ's:
There are 4 barbecue's for about 1000 people who live in 215 and 209 Fort York Blvd. In 2015 two of them actually worked as they were supposed to, and even they had knobs that turned in various directions that made no sense. The other two BBQ's simply did not get hot enough, or had a partial grill areas that got heated. On at least two occasion's our BBQ had to be aborted, because the equipment simply did not do what it was designed to do.
Management Needs To Frequently Access Your Unit
So far in 2013, the building management has sent out emails, and/or letters shoved through our doors telling us that they need to access our units for checking the working condition of the air-conditioning, the smoke and CO2 detector, inspecting any repair complaints that we may have within our units, and the safety of the balcony railings (then coming back to fix the balcony railings of many units in a 3 year old - 38 story building). All of these occasions are separate and during day time hours. The maintenance people usually show up with a Concierge. The main complaint I have a about this is the frequency, and the fact that they don't always come with booties. The maintenance people walk through your unit with their dirty shoes, tracking animal hair, MRSA, and who knows what else from one unit to another. Thankfully, I am home most days, and work at night. I can catch them in the act of neglecting to don booties, and making a mess of my unit and leaving. Our building Superintendent Robert, will also show up and enter our unit with a brief knock and without any notice whatsoever. Management does not seem to want to honour the 24 hours notice in writing law for entry into units.
In 2014, after a barrage of the routine this and that inspections, I refused entry once. They had wanted to inspect the apparently chronically unsafe balcony railings and the glass panelling. Like any normal person living in a dwelling I was put off by having three people walk across my living room to inspect the balcony once again. So I asked them what specifically about the balcony was wrong and why it needed fixing. Their answer was - they weren't sure, and I would have to get that info from the property manager. I was supposed to let them in simply because the balcony was considered a common element and I had no control of the goings on of such things. So I told them that if they can scale up the balcony from the outside - have at, but I wasn't letting them in my unit. I stated my case, and closed the door because I couldn't get any sort of clarification about what was wrong with the bloody veranda. I left the unit shortly after and came back three hours later. Lo and behold, the concierge had entered our unit and left a yellow paper saying they were there. Really????!!!!! The paper didn't even give a reason why! I was appalled. I shot off an email to Simerra Property Management and promptly received NO answer. No answer at all as to why my unit was entered when I was not there.
The moral of this story is: if you like your privacy, and feeling generally safe in the place you live in, 215 Fort York Blvd is definitely not the place for you.
2016
IN UNIT FIRE ALARM TESTING
We were given a week's notice about accessing our unit for annual fire alarm testing of the in unit smoke alarms. Security escorts are still walking into our unit after two knocks. The people hired to test the system walked in without booties, in their outdoor shoes. They have no idea how to silence the alarm at the doorway after they've checked the smoke detector and "reset the alarm". Once they have "reset the alarm" they walk away with the the door alarm beeping until the condo owner gets home. We have left instructions on how to silence the system (after getting them from the concierge a couple of years ago) in the door of the alarm unit. How hard is it to read and follow instructions? We don't even use the stupid device, and it has always been left with the default settings intact.
The Traffic, and The Ongoing Building of More and More Condo's
When we moved here three years ago, it was easy to get to and from my job by car or TTC. Ten minutes by car, twenty by TTC. There was no long vehicle line-up, because there weren't as many dwellers. In the last three years several multi-story condos have gone up resulting in ridiculous amounts of traffic during rush hour, and for hours before and after rush hour. As well, the TTC has initiated construction on Union Station and the streetcars no longer take a direct route to that subway station. Instead buses use the over crowded Lakeshore Blvd just as the cars do to get to Union Station. The convenience and time aspect has gone up in smoke. It will only get worse once the new buildings are completed.
When we moved here three years ago, it was easy to get to and from my job by car or TTC. Ten minutes by car, twenty by TTC. There was no long vehicle line-up, because there weren't as many dwellers. In the last three years several multi-story condos have gone up resulting in ridiculous amounts of traffic during rush hour, and for hours before and after rush hour. As well, the TTC has initiated construction on Union Station and the streetcars no longer take a direct route to that subway station. Instead buses use the over crowded Lakeshore Blvd just as the cars do to get to Union Station. The convenience and time aspect has gone up in smoke. It will only get worse once the new buildings are completed.
Numerous Events
This area has many many events going on. Too numerous to name. Part of Lakeshore Blvd is closed several times a year to accommodate several marathons, the Honda Indy, and large festivals. As well the annual Exhibition goes on for a week or so and bring extra people and traffic to the area. All of this directly affects those of us living in the area, and makes gaining entrance to our building, and leaving almost unpleasant.
This area has many many events going on. Too numerous to name. Part of Lakeshore Blvd is closed several times a year to accommodate several marathons, the Honda Indy, and large festivals. As well the annual Exhibition goes on for a week or so and bring extra people and traffic to the area. All of this directly affects those of us living in the area, and makes gaining entrance to our building, and leaving almost unpleasant.
ONGOING ISSUES:
When we moved into our brand new unit at 215 Fort York Blvd nearly 3 years ago, upon close inspection, the fit and finish around most of the baseboard moulding were poor. Little did we know that was the least of our concerns. After living here for less than 3 years, our parquet wood floors are visibly lifting. They started lifting in the summer of 2013, so that is actually 21/2yrs that they (un)lasted after Lanterra finished with the building. Can you imagine? Well no need to imagine when the pictures of our floors have been posted for your viewing pleasure. This is the height of cheapness. A developer who cuts corners and installs the cheapest particle board or wood-type floors that won't even last 3 years?! All we do with these floors is walk on them and clean them with Swifter products, and apparently it is too much for the poor things. I'm sure Lanterra and their contractors would like to put the blame on us and say we messed up their work. However, my answer to that is -- there is no messing up a properly installed hardwood floor to the point of lifting. I would steer clear of investing in anything Lanterra Developments of Toronto puts their hands on, because it won't last more than a couple of seasons. We should have known things weren't as they seemed. Our guest shower door had leaked at 4 months when we first moved in and the area around it required caulking and mending. The sink was cracked and replace about two weeks after we moved in, the bathtub stopper in the master bedroom did not work at all and required replacing.
As of Dec 2013 our heating/AC unit stopped working and we had no heat for 8 days. The $4,000 unit was replaced for free (building management took care of the logistics). Our condo faces the south by the Lakeshore, and gets a crap load of wind coming at it. You can hear our balcony metal and glass frame rattling like it's going to tear off at certain times of the year. The noise is not sleep inducing. As well, we had to get use to a noisy heating/air-conditioning system in our bedroom that loudly clicks on and off. When we brought it to their attention they stated that that's just how it is. It still wakes me up at times, and it an enduring reminder of what to NOT to expect from any new development we move into.
Aug 2014
As of Aug 7, 2014 our A/C in our bedroom is no longer working to cool the room. We reported it to the building concierge who sent up a building maintenance guy to inspect and reset the A/C (as though we couldn't do this ourselves). He turned off the unit completely as we had for a minute or so, and then turned it back on, and then fiddled with it some more before he proclaimed that the motor wasn't working. Not only that, he stated that a tech from the outside company that repairs and replaces the A/C units will have to come and do an inspection as well. Then, and only then, will we be able to get a new unit. So we will have two further visits before we can have air conditioning again. An inconvenience for people who work the night shift such as us, because these repair people show up at any time of day, and holler "is anybody home?" Well yes we are, and we are sleeping in bed!
Furthermore, why is another A/C unit on the blink again in this less than a four-year-old condo?! What are we doing with it other than using it to cool or heat our unit in the summer and winter? Cheap, and flimsy products from a rip off company that Lanterra contracted with. Not only was the A/C in the bedroom noisy clicking on and off, now the motor stops working and it is not even that hot or humid in Toronto this year.
The A/C company Lanterra contracted with is located in Ajax, Ontario and is called Johnson Controls. From their website they supply: "Vertical Stacked Water Source Heat Pumps (VSCS) from SKYMARK offer the ultimate in multi-story HVAC design flexibility. The VSCS Series is a compact, concealed system, capable of providing total heating and cooling functions for a single zone or multiple rooms." That is the type of system present in every condo in 215 Fort York Blvd. Look up the hashtag #fail in the dictionary and surely Johnson Controls must be in there. Both of their A/C systems failed in our unit within less than four years (see above complaints), and eight months apart! I'm sure at some point Johnson Controls will be billing the landlords and tenants of this building for the failure of their crappy "VSCS Series", because they already replaced the one in our living room for free. A repairman from Thermocool came out to assess the HVAC in our bedroom, and had to take the thing away. Apparently, our first system was replaced with one from Aquatherm, and this one in the bedroom will also be placed with an Aquatherm. So much for the Skymark HVAC's. Imagine making one thing, and you can't even do that right? The repairman also said that he personally comes out at least once a month for fix the HVAC's in this building, but overall his company comes out several times a month to fix or replace the Skymark systems. We had the entire unit replaced after a one week inconvenience. It is working a little quieter for now, without the loud clicking on and off.
BASIC NONSENSE:
(Ongoing) Stairway doors that will not self shut after you've gone through them. The one purpose that a door is supposed to serve does not happen unless you stand there and manually push the heavy door until it locks. If you do not insure that the doors are sealed shut, then a bizarre down-draft or up-draft occurs and it affects the functioning of the elevators (management states).
(2014-2015) The two elevators that service the garage to the 8th floor are constantly in some state of flux. When they work they are quick and efficient. When they are not working which has been about 40% of the time from June 2014 to Jan 2015, it is very difficult to get to your unit from the garage or the first floor. You will have to go over to building 209, get off on the 3rd floor, and traverse through the gym to get into building 215. From there you can get to any unit up to the 8th floor, but don't have any groceries in your hand or you will be exhausted.
As I write this now the elevator has been stuck on the 5th floor making a loud buzzing sound for the past 2 hours, and the time is 5:00a:m!
May 2016
We received a noise complaint letter from our condo, because we were cheering for the Raptors on Sunday May 15th.
We were watching the Raptors play game 7 against the Miami Heat on television on a Sunday afternoon at around 4 o'clock. Our TV is capable of going quite loud, but we had it down to a suitable level. Yes we were cheering for our Toronto team, and all within the confines of our unit.
The game lasted less than two hours, so all cheering and so forth ceased before 6pm and we went to work by 7pm.
I have a couple of points of contention. Let's say we were having a few friends over for a hockey game, or a birthday party; is everyone supposed to whisper? The wall and door are so paper thin in this complex that even 15 people whispering would be too loud.
The security guard "Maneesh" showed up at our door, knocked and I answered it right away. My roomate was right there when I spoke to him. At no time did I mistreat him, or use foul language. When he said he could hear the TV at the elevator (8 feet away), I said we had turned it down from before, and we were watching the Raptors make history. He said to turn the TV down because there was a complaint. Perhaps it was the whistle we were using, but I doubt it was the TV. He continued to talk, and I said I was missing the game. I told him "thanks" and closed the door. How much longer did he actually need to tell me to turn the TV down? It was his mannerism that was off putting especially since I know him, and we were on good terms.
So it is a surprise to me that he put in a noise complaint letter and lied about what I said! What really disgusts me is I don't speak like that. "It's the f-king evening"?! it said in the letter. It was not evening, nor was there any cause to be swearing. Where did he get that from? I had said it was Sunday afternoon and we were enjoying a basketball game, not the middle of the night. He also said I slammed the door in his face. I did not slam the door in his face. The doors can't slam because of its hydraulic nature.
I was so disgusted with the notice that I spoke to a customer relations person at First Service Residential (the current property management company) as well as sent an email to the building property manager. Vesna is looking into resolving this issue for us, so I will report back on what happens.
This goofy guard went from just warning us to filing a complaint with the office, because I closed, not slammed the door in his face while he was still talking. Then he had to make up something that warranted him filing a noise notice, citing verbal abuse and mistreatment. Ridiculous!
AUG 29TH 2016 - SEPT 3 2016
No Cold Water!!
Spent an entire week without cold water coming from the taps in the unit. You don't realize how necessary cold water is until you have to get a drink of cold water, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a shower, water your plants, or do your laundry in cold water.
Funny thing (not funny) is we advised management about the non-cold water issue on Friday Sept 2 2016. They sent a plumber who happened to be on site to check things out. The plumber went to other units above and below ours, and then concluded that there was a "problem with the line". I asked when it would be fixed and he said he'd have to ask management. Management of course never called us or emailed us after to say what would be done about the issue, and merrily went away for the long weekend. Of course nothing would be done until perhaps Tues Sept 6th or Wed Sept 7th, because Sept 5th was Labour Day. But what do they care if some tenants or owners were inconvenienced over the long weekend without cold water?