J.M. from Hillsborough County, New Hampshire writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
We have a unit owner that wants to extend his deck 2 feet out. All of our other units, including 3 season porches, all have the same dimensions. All but one are built the same way. One is all glass. Can the unit owner extend out his limited common property, the deck, another two feet into the common property?
Mister Condo replies:
J.M., unless your governing documents state otherwise, condo unit owners cannot make any alterations to the exterior of their units without explicit approval of the Board of Directors of the association. The reason for this is architectural control which is granted exclusively to the association in the governing documents. Typically, forward-thinking Boards would deny such a request because it opens a can of worms for all of the other owners who could follow suit and request modifications to their own decks. There is also the question of the expense of maintenance and upkeep. As you mentioned, there is also the loss of common area to the association. While I appreciate the unit owner’s desire to expand his outdoor living area, the reality is that he purchased the unit knowing full well what the size of the deck was. If that deck wasn’t large enough, he probably shouldn’t have purchased the unit. Of course, the Board could decide to grant the request but I would caution them against doing so. All the best!
Back in 1987 I was working at a large condo association. One morning tbe board president came to me and said get s couple of your guys up to this unit with chainsaws. We had to cut off a deck extension that was just built by the unit owner. He added on to tbe deck without going through proper channels.This was a pretty good size extension so it was not going to go un noticed.