Darkroom and real estate

[faberryman]

In condos and well as zoning regulations, all bedrooms in multi-dwelling units must be carpeted. For some it is not an option to replace carpeting with anything other than carpeting.

Condominium rules and regulations vary by condominium association and zoning codes differ by jurisdiction.

 

[Pieter12]

Condominium rules and regulations vary by condominium association and zoning codes differ by jurisdiction.

But I have never seen or heard of a zoning requirement for carpeting. A building code, maybe? But even then, maybe interior design shouldn't be regulated? On the other hand, I have seen many condos where interior improvements have been made without regard to any association rules. Not all condos are run by the Stasi.

 

[MattKing]

If you live below a unit that had carpet, and then installed wood floors without additional sound insulation, you will probably be on the Strata Council to force the people upstairs to follow the rules respecting sound-proofing requirements.
Which for no particular reason brings rise to a memory of a research paper I did many years ago concerning the authority that, at that time, regulated tenancies in our province, including disputes between tenants and landlords.
One memorable anecdote that came from my interview with the Provincial Rentalsman concerned a landlord who was successful in evicting a tenant because of a series of noise complaints received from that tenant's neighbours. The evicted tenant's unit had hardwood floors. The noise complaints arose because of the tenant's insistence on keeping goats - in his residential unit!
Who would have thought that goats hooves on hardwood would be that noisy?!!!!

 

[Pieter12]

If you live below a unit that had carpet, and then installed wood floors without additional sound insulation, you will probably be on the Strata Council to force the people upstairs to follow the rules respecting sound-proofing requirements.
Which for no particular reason brings rise to a memory of a research paper I did many years ago concerning the authority that, at that time, regulated tenancies in our province, including disputes between tenants and landlords.
One memorable anecdote that came from my interview with the Provincial Rentalsman concerned a landlord who was successful in evicting a tenant because of a series of noise complaints received from that tenant's neighbours. The evicted tenant's unit had hardwood floors. The noise complaints arose because of the tenant's insistence on keeping goats - in his residential unit!
Who would have thought that goats hooves on hardwood would be that noisy?!!!!

So keeping goats would have been OK if there was carpeting? Maybe there should be regulations about high heels on hardwood flooring for upstairs units, too.

 

[MattKing]

So keeping goats would have been OK if there was carpeting? Maybe there should be regulations about high heels on hardwood flooring for upstairs units, too.

No, carpets wouldn't have made the difference with goats
The anecdote was told partly in response to a common public misconception that landlords were always at fault in tenant eviction disputes.
The other favorite anecdote concerned an eviction of a tenant who caused water damage on a floor below because they planted a growing lawn on their living room floor!

Most stratas around here though have rules that specify pre-approval for the replacement of flooring materials. The criteria generally relate to issues respecting sound proofing and, in some cases, fire safety.

 

[Pieter12]

Most stratas around here though have rules that specify pre-approval for the replacement of flooring materials.

In single-family homes? I would also think that fire safety issues would be dealt with at the supplier-level, not allowing unsafe flooring materials to be sold. But if someone was trying to grow a lawn in their apartment, it is entirely possible that there might be individuals who would want to put down something flammable like straw or sawdust--maybe for decorating/atmosphere purposes. Who knows? Canada has some strange regulations, like Quebec only allowing leases to run from May to May (that may no longer be true, but its whacky anyway).

 

[Don_ih]

If you have carpet but don't want to get rid of it, buy a rectangle of vinyl flooring and roll it out over it. It won't damage the carpet. It doesn't need to be stapled down or anything. The edges will naturally curl up and help contain any spills. I'd nail a termination strip at the doorway, though - so you don't trip on it when you walk in.

 

[Don_ih]

Quebec only allowing leases to run from May to May (that may no longer be true, but its whacky anyway).

You mean it May or May-not be true?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I would think that might depend on your condo association rules. I have never heard of zoning regulations that require carpeting. Hardwood flooring is all the rage now, after all.

Los Angele County Zoning Ordinance. Hallways must be carpeted. Living rooms and dinning room may be carpeted or have hardwood floors. It keeps people who are sleeping from being disturbed by the people above them.

 

[Sirius Glass]

If you have carpet but don't want to get rid of it, buy a rectangle of vinyl flooring and roll it out over it. It won't damage the carpet. It doesn't need to be stapled down or anything. The edges will naturally curl up and help contain any spills. I'd nail a termination strip at the doorway, though - so you don't trip on it when you walk in.

That is allowable in Los Angeles County.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I’d like to see a citation on the zoning requirement.

That said, when I was using an extra bedroom as a dry darkroom, it was carpeted and I laid down those plastic carpet runners on the wet side to catch spills.

The internet is yours, feel free to look it up yourself.

 

[MattKing]

In single-family homes?

No - shared multi owner properties here in BC are referred to as Condominiums or Strata properties.
So when I refer to strata units, I mean those sort of properties.
Of course any such sound related rules are only applicable to units where people have units below them.

The fire safety criteria is only encountered in buildings that have been designed with very high end fire suppression materials and features. That happens sometimes when developers decide to make such features a marketing feature, because those features can provide a long term benefit arising from reduced shred insurance premiums.
Savings on shared insurance costs are often the reasons why multi-unit buildings will have rules prohibiting bar-be-ques or mandating metal clad washer hoses and a bunch of other similar restrictions or requirements.
When one considers buying into such a building, one needs to read those rules first before signing the offer.
A fair number of stratas are now being built with, or bringing in changes to the rules to, prohibit smoking or vaping anywhere in the building, including within individual units. That is a real sales feature for more and more people. Generally existing smokers are grandfathered in the buildings that pass the change.

On the actual topic of the thread, I'm pretty quiet about the fact that I do darkroom work in our unit, because I don't want any of the neighbours to think that I am doing something that they think, because they don't understand it, should be against the rules.

 

[BobUK]

If you keep goats in the living room do not be surprised if you end up with a carpet having a thick pile on it.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Only plastic goats will eat astroturf, so you could try that. On a more serious note, the price of condos in this area is geared to the scale of code-rated sound control when the units are built in the first place, which has a lot to do with what kind of soundproofing is between floors and walls rather than upon floors, which can be just about anything you wish, even genuine marble. But if you can afford that kind of residential space, you're probably rich enough to own your own commercial lab space, and don't even need a home darkroom.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Los Angele County Zoning Ordinance. Hallways must be carpeted. Living rooms and dinning room may be carpeted or have hardwood floors. It keeps people who are sleeping from being disturbed by the people above them.

No - shared multi owner properties here in BC are referred to as Condominiums or Strata properties.
So when I refer to strata units, I mean those sort of properties.
Of course any such sound related rules are only applicable to units where people have units below them.

The fire safety criteria is only encountered in buildings that have been designed with very high end fire suppression materials and features. That happens sometimes when developers decide to make such features a marketing feature, because those features can provide a long term benefit arising from reduced shred insurance premiums.
Savings on shared insurance costs are often the reasons why multi-unit buildings will have rules prohibiting bar-be-ques or mandating metal clad washer hoses and a bunch of other similar restrictions or requirements.
When one considers buying into such a building, one needs to read those rules first before signing the offer.
A fair number of stratas are now being built with, or bringing in changes to the rules to, prohibit smoking or vaping anywhere in the building, including within individual units. That is a real sales feature for more and more people. Generally existing smokers are grandfathered in the buildings that pass the change.

On the actual topic of the thread, I'm pretty quiet about the fact that I do darkroom work in our unit, because I don't want any of the neighbours to think that I am doing something that they think, because they don't understand it, should be against the rules.

Also apartment buildings are included. However apartment buildings must have living rooms, halls and dining rooms carpeted.

 

[Sirius Glass]

If you keep goats in the living room do not be surprised if you end up with a carpet having a thick pile on it.

Mares eat oats
Does eat oats
And little lambs eat ivy.

 

[Pieter12]

Also apartment buildings are included. However apartment buildings must have living rooms, halls and dining rooms carpeted.

I have been in many, many homes in Los Angeles County with tiled living rooms, hallways and dining rooms. And not a scrap of carpet anywhere in the rest of the house, either. Many are of recent construction, too. Take a look at Zillow.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have been in many, many homes in Los Angeles County with tiled living rooms, hallways and dining rooms. And not a scrap of carpet anywhere in the rest of the house, either. Many are of recent construction, too. Take a look at Zillow.

Houses are not mult-unit dwellings. They are houses again not an apartment nor a condo.

 

[VinceInMT]

The internet is yours, feel free to look it up yourself.

Why? I’m not the one who made the claim.

 

[VinceInMT]

For reference, new construction, multi-family building:

315 E 104th St, Los Angeles, CA 90003

Laminate in bed rooms.

 

[Don_ih]

The internet is yours, feel free to look it up yourself.

Results of a 1-second search online determined that there is a convention adopted in major cities, such as Los Angeles and New York, that 80% of the floor in a condo or apartment building be carpeted for noise control. It's not written in any set of municipal codes, but it is enforceable by the board of the building your condo or apartment is in. It is, however, practically never enforced.

See here

 

[VinceInMT]

….It's not written in any set of municipal codes, but it is enforceable by the board of the building your condo or apartment is in. It is, however, practically never enforced.

And certainly not part of a “zoning” code. That original statement inferred that it was encoded everywhere. Here in Montana, that would be the type of government intrusion into private property rights that gets people riled up.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Almost nobody uses much carpeting around here, except perhaps bedrooms. Real hardwood flooring is preferred, or for those unable to afford that, hardwood laminate over ply, or phony printed hardwood laminate like Pergo. I have kept my old carpeting in the house mostly as a default "dropcloth" due to the cats, though I have some hardwood too.

Rental apartments use carpeting; but purchased condos are entirely different category, mostly customized, very expensive, and with built-in effective sound barriers via code. And here along the CA coast, building codes get enforced by God. Cut corners and under-build something, and the next serious earthquake will betray you.

I doubt anyone in Montana is anymore annoyed by "rules" than the rural mountainous parts of this State (CA). But in that particular house, my carpeting was limited because of constant critter invasion and cleanup ssues. You name it - lizards, possums, deer mice, squirrels, snakes, bugs of every description, even pet hawks at one time - all inevitably got inside. Fortunately, the mtn lions, bobcats, badgers, and coyotes stayed out on their own. Glad I never installed a darkroom there because the water was so hard.

 

[VinceInMT]

An interesting aside regarding flooring, about 6 years ago I bought the house across the street to use as a rental. It was built in the 1950s. I tore the carpet out of the place and resurfaced and finished the hardwood floors. I noticed that the pieces of hardwood were shorter than in my place, ranging from 12-24”. I was talking to a retired architect friend and he said that back in the day, in order for a house to qualify for certain kinds of loans, the floors had to be hardwood. He said that to cut corners, the builders would install the end pieces from other projects. It doesn’t look bad, in fact, I like it.

BTW, I charge a really low rent for my tenant, an elderly, single woman, and I retain the use of half the garage (a place for my ‘83 Volvo and one of my motorcycles,) the slab off the alley (for my sailboat,) and the RV parking slab on the other side (for my ‘72 Ford F-250.). The place has a half basement that is unfinished and only has the furnace, water heater, washer, and dryer down there and only 2 windows on the north side. If I needed darkroom space, I’d probably drop her rent a few more bucks and use that too. Access is through the rear entryway and doesn’t required walking through the rest of the house.

 

[pbromaghin]

Given other's difficulty finding space, I feel a bit embarrassed to describe my almost perfect situation. I have a full 2000 sqft unfinished basement. Due to Colorado's expansive soils, it has a floating wood floor over a crawl space for easy connection to sewage. An incomplete project from the previous owner left a windowless spot with 2 stud walls and hot&cold water pipes overhead. Too bad I'm such a terrible procrastinator.