T.M. from Nassau County, New York writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Our apartment is on a pool deck facing the ocean. Board decides after vote to redo pool deck. We lived almost a year w/o access to our once beautiful terrace. Once finished, we were left with inferior terrace floor and parts of railing missing and pieces of cement cut out and cheaply repaired with different color cement. We had no improvements and were not even made whole. I hate that my apartment terrace had been destroyed in my view and when we asked that tables be moved away from our bedroom window we were once again ignored. I would like to sit for the damages to my apartment.
Mister Condo replies:
T.M., it sounds like you have a lovely condo. I am sorry that the Board decided to replace your deck with work that was not to your liking. However, it sounds like your deck was a limited common element, owned and maintained by the association. As such, you really don’t have a personal say in how they do so. This was, as you mentioned, a Board decision. If the Board isn’t acting in the best interests of the association members, it is time for a new Board. Cheap repairs are often the result of a Board taking a low bid, versus a reasonable bid based on the quality of work expected. It is also possible that the Board didn’t specify materials to be used or the level repair required. I see this quite often in condominiums where the Board is caught up on the lowest price versus a true quality repair. If enough unit owners share your disgust at the repair job, you could petition the Board to do the project again, only this time specifying the quality of the repair versus the cost of the repair. Other than that, you or like-minded individuals could seek seats on the Board at the next election and make this issue a priority for the Board. Other than that, you get what you get when it comes to quality of workmanship from contractors you had no say in hiring. All the best!