renovation in appt.. residents in Trouble !!

[abhishekjain118]

Hi All,

I need a helpful information.
Scene: I am staying in National Games Village, Koramangala. In my building, there are few flats which are owned by some xyz bank and bank gives them to their senior employees. For the last 20-30 days, some renovation is going on in a flat at 5th floor. We live in 2nd floor. We have no problem with the renovation as they are changing kitchen tiles, windows etc..

The problem will come in few days, when they will start removing the entire chips floor and put floor tiles.
I have a bad experience with this. Few months back also, in another flat owned by the same bank, the entire flooring got changed and they use the vibrating hammer sort of machine to remove the floor. It goes on for the whole day and for many days. the entire building feels the vibration and clattering noise of the iron tip of that tool hitting the hard floor... it's called jack hammer.


Yesterday I talked to one of the worker and it's confirmed that they will start the floor work in some days. But I couldn't get their contractor's number. I will try again today evening.
My ques are:
1. Shouldn't this be illegal to do such renovation in an appartment ?? this can potentially harm the entire building and it's a nuisance also to the residents.
2. Can I complaint about it to any authority ?? (in both legal and illegal case)
3. I will talk to the contractor or bank representative, but if they don't listen, Should I go to the court for complaint or should I go to the police station ??
4. Should I take it up with BDA or Karnataka Housing Board (NGV comes under KHB I guess, it is called KHB Colony also) ???

5. Any other suggestion ??? (talking to resident's association may not help because 80% of the resident's don't like the president and they don't want to take his help.. me too.. ) still I will try to do that today...

Regards,
Abhi

[ardesarchitects]

Hi,I am not sure of legality part of it, but every flat owner has rights to do maintenance jobs in his own flat with out disturbing others.
In most old apartment complexes this is a very regular problem.To make contractor job easier they are using vibrators.this should be done with small vibrator machine. Since a concrete vibrator can create cracks on the below floor slab.
Why are they removing the existing floor. In all my renovation projects I put new tiles on top of existing with rock cement . This way you don't disturb others and save lot on the demolishing and scrap shifting.
There are various methods to be followed in renovations to control cost and time

Regards
Ar. Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
ardesarchitects@gmail.com

[abhishekjain118]

Thanks Praveen..
I knew about putting new tiles on top of existing floor..
I am just afraid because few months back the similar thing happened in the neighbouring flat..

anyways, I am in talks with the other residents and I am planning to find KHB officers also... surely this time I will not let them do it.. (by any means)
it's just I wanted to know if it is legal to do such renovation or not....

because if it is legal, then we need to have other strategy and if it is not legal then it would be easier for us to stop them...
-Abhi

[anandchida]

This is just bullshit. It is people like you who make lives of other people living in apartment miserable to everyone else.

A friend of mine bought an old apartment for 40 lakhs and the apartment needed renovation. You know like paint, tiles, door/window changes, flooring and changing wash basin and toilets before they moved in.

Also, since this is an old apartment, there was also very very minimum electric sockets. Today, one electric socket does not suffice and he wanted more to be added by the electrician.

He did not have any trouble with paint.. door and windows .. but the rest was a nightmare. The apartment folks who have nothing better to do than putting their nose in others business, started telling him he cannot change the toilets because something will happen to toilets. He paid more for a bonded contractor and got his done. When electricians came to add more sockets and drill a groove in the wall to put the electrical pipe .. hell broke loose. They made excuses like the building will collapse ... or the noise is too much (in the day time between 10am and 5pm) and even threatened with legal action and eviction.

He had to fight everyone of them and by the time he was frustrated. He cannot do anything in his apartment inspite of paying 40 lakhs for it. He fought and didn't care. It turns out it's a bunch of people who have nothing rlse going on in their lives and want to do something to add excitement.

When you move into an apartment it's a given that people will want to renovate and make their homes beautiful and comfortable. 40 lakhs is not small change. You do not own all the apartment's. Just mind your business .. as long as they are not demolishing the apartment.

In your case .. the intelligent thing to do is ..take a box of sweets to your new neighbor ..welcome him and explain your concern. Talk to them. Give them ideas and solutions. Request them to use a smaller drill for the safety of their and others apartment. Be a friend.

Instead you are going for an all out war complaining and grouping people from apartment association, KHB, BDA and what not. If your life sucks or hate your apartment .. stop creating problems for others.

Anand

[tvsh]

In all my renovation projects I put new tiles on top of existing with rock cement . This way you don't disturb others and save lot on the demolishing and scrap shifting.

Praveen,

Wouldn't adding an additional layer of flooring increase the dead load of the building? This may not matter in apartments with fewer floors, however in high rise apartments, such increase in dead load might be a cause of concern, especially given the quality of construction by Karnataka Housing Board and many private developers.

abhishekjain118,

Both the existing apartment owners and the new owners have indivudal rights as well as duties towards others. If the law does not specify clearly as to what is permissible during renovation, then it is left to the individual apartment associations to define what is permissible during renovations that would be fair to all. Instead of fighting with the person doing the renovation, it is better to consult legal experts and structural engineers and define a set of rules that applies to everyone doing renovation within the apartment community and ask the renovator to abide by the rules of the apartment community.

[raju_nvm]

i agree wtih you Anand.

[ardesarchitects]

Hi Tvsh,
Adding tiles on existing floor will add dead load but then its same effect in a low rise or a high rise apartment.The dead load added by tiles are not a really serious concern for structural stability as long as the building is not very old (above 40-50yrs).Also adding tiles on existing floor is just the tiles load there wouldn't be any mortar added to it.
We should worry more if some one is hitting a beam or a column straight away .One shouldn't touch any of the structural frame with out the approval of structural consultant.

Regards
Ar.Praveen.N
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
ardesarchitects@gmail.com

[ashraf]

Hi All,

I need a helpful information.
Scene: I am staying in National Games Village, Koramangala. In my building, there are few flats which are owned by some xyz bank and bank gives them to their senior employees. For the last 20-30 days, some renovation is going on in a flat at 5th floor. We live in 2nd floor. We have no problem with the renovation as they are changing kitchen tiles, windows etc..

The problem will come in few days, when they will start removing the entire chips floor and put floor tiles.
I have a bad experience with this. Few months back also, in another flat owned by the same bank, the entire flooring got changed and they use the vibrating hammer sort of machine to remove the floor. It goes on for the whole day and for many days. the entire building feels the vibration and clattering noise of the iron tip of that tool hitting the hard floor... it's called jack hammer.


Yesterday I talked to one of the worker and it's confirmed that they will start the floor work in some days. But I couldn't get their contractor's number. I will try again today evening.
My ques are:
1. Shouldn't this be illegal to do such renovation in an appartment ?? this can potentially harm the entire building and it's a nuisance also to the residents.
2. Can I complaint about it to any authority ?? (in both legal and illegal case)
3. I will talk to the contractor or bank representative, but if they don't listen, Should I go to the court for complaint or should I go to the police station ??
4. Should I take it up with BDA or Karnataka Housing Board (NGV comes under KHB I guess, it is called KHB Colony also) ???

5. Any other suggestion ??? (talking to resident's association may not help because 80% of the resident's don't like the president and they don't want to take his help.. me too.. ) still I will try to do that today...

Regards,
Abhi

Hi abhi,


you can't fight for this, u can't say it's illegal, fix some time fro them to work and some time for your relaxation, any authorities can question this as it's necessary, Instead fighting request them, so the contractor may listen to u and try keeping calm