Is this HOA's responsibility or mine?

[wendddd]

I bought a condo in chicago last year. When I bought it, I noticed there were some machine noise behind my bedroom wall. It wasn't loud at all, a tiny humming so I ignored it. Just a few months after I moved in, the sound all of a sudden got a lot louder, like there is some kind of heavy motor running behind my wall. I can live with it during the day time by hiding in a different room and turn on the music, but now it is summer, the fan started to run 24/7, I cant sleep well in the night :/ And I am pretty sure it is beyond the noise ordinance in chicago. (or is the noise ordinance even applicable?)

It turned out there is an airduct/space behind my wall where a large fan on the 10th floor (rooftop) draws air from the first floor restaurant's commercial kitchen. (i live on 7th floor) The association doesn't have any blueprint of the building to share (i was told the builders are not required to provide the blueprint). Because the airduct/empty space is not accessible from anywhere, the only way to find out the root cause & fix the issue is to open my wall. The property manager told me that is likely my responsibility because it is my wall. If I open my wall and find out it is not my responsibility, they'll pay for that.

So my question is, I have no access and control over anything in my condo to change that noise or even see what is the problem, how could this be my responsibility? Anything on the other side of my unit wall should be association's responsibility right? The association insists that I have to open the wall in order for them to evaluate the situation. What can I do?

Thank you

 

[quincy]

I bought a condo in chicago last year. When I bought it, I noticed there were some machine noise behind my bedroom wall. It wasn't loud at all, a tiny humming so I ignored it. Just a few months after I moved in, the sound all of a sudden got a lot louder, like there is some kind of heavy motor running behind my wall. I can live with it during the day time by hiding in a different room and turn on the music, but now it is summer, the fan started to run 24/7, I cant sleep well in the night :/ And I am pretty sure it is beyond the noise ordinance in chicago. (or is the noise ordinance even applicable?)

It turned out there is an airduct/space behind my wall where a large fan on the 10th floor (rooftop) draws air from the first floor restaurant's commercial kitchen. (i live on 7th floor) The association doesn't have any blueprint of the building to share (i was told the builders are not required to provide the blueprint). Because the airduct/empty space is not accessible from anywhere, the only way to find out the root cause & fix the issue is to open my wall. The property manager told me that is likely my responsibility because it is my wall. If I open my wall and find out it is not my responsibility, they'll pay for that.

So my question is, I have no access and control over anything in my condo to change that noise or even see what is the problem, how could this be my responsibility? Anything on the other side of my unit wall should be association's responsibility right? The association insists that I have to open the wall in order for them to evaluate the situation. What can I do?

Thank you

It sounds like you will need to open up your wall so the source of the noise can be evaluated. I agree with the condo association’s statement that any work done on, or any destruction of, your wall will be your responsibility.

 

[wendddd]

Thanks, I thought the same when I first talked to the property manager. But this situation came up and got me rethink....
some units in my building have had water leak issue from their wall, so the association is now quoting a masonary project and will cost about $5M. Every unit from the building will need to share this cost which is a lot. So I compare this to my situation, why those units have water leak (from rain etc) can rely on the association to fix their problem, while my wall that has noise leak is then my responsibility? Equally the issue is on the other side of the wall. What is the difference?

 

[quincy]

Thanks, I thought the same when I first talked to the property manager. But this situation came up and got me rethink....
some units in my building have had water leak issue from their wall, so the association is now quoting a masonary project and will cost about $5M. Every unit from the building will need to share this cost which is a lot. So I compare this to my situation, why those units have water leak (from rain etc) can rely on the association to fix their problem, while my wall that has noise leak is then my responsibility? Equally the issue is on the other side of the wall. What is the difference?

The difference could be that the source of the water leak was identified. You have yet to identify the source of the unwelcome noise.

 

[Zigner]

Equally the issue is on the other side of the wall. What is the difference?

The difference may be that there is (possibly) nothing "wrong" in your situation. There is a noise, a noise that you were aware of when you purchased the unit, behind your wall caused by the normal operation of the building's machinery.

 

[wendddd]

Thanks, so if I open up my wall and there is some kind of sound insulating that broke down (attached to my wall), should the association pay for the expense of me opening up my wall? And in what situation that would be my responsibility?

 

[Zigner]

Thanks, so if I open up my wall and there is some kind of sound insulating that broke down (attached to my wall), should the association pay for the expense of me opening up my wall? And in what situation that would be my responsibility?

Read your condo association rules, etc.

 

[quincy]

Thanks, so if I open up my wall and there is some kind of sound insulating that broke down (attached to my wall), should the association pay for the expense of me opening up my wall? And in what situation that would be my responsibility?

If there is a problem with the structure of the building itself then the condo association may need to foot the bill for repairs - and that could include any damage to your apartment that results from the repairs - but, like Zigner noted, your condo documents would need to be reviewed.

The first step appears to be identifying the source of the noise. You might want to speak to other condo owners to see if they are experiencing a similar problem.

 

[adjusterjack]

Thanks, so if I open up my wall and there is some kind of sound insulating that broke down (attached to my wall), should the association pay for the expense of me opening up my wall? And in what situation that would be my responsibility?

Too much speculation there. All I can tell you is that you aren't likely to win this with the association.

You might want to consider an alternative and put up acoustic panels on your wall to reduce or eliminate the sound. They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors.

sound deadener panels for walls at DuckDuckGo

If your next question is "Why should I incur the cost when it's not my fault?"

The answer is that nobody else is going to do it because nobody else cares and they know darn well that the chances of you spending money on litigation is close to zero.

Self preservation is nobody's business but your own.

 

[quincy]

Too much speculation there. All I can tell you is that you aren't likely to win this with the association.

You might want to consider an alternative and put up acoustic panels on your wall to reduce or eliminate the sound. They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors.

sound deadener panels for walls at DuckDuckGo

If your next question is "Why should I incur the cost when it's not my fault?"

The answer is that nobody else is going to do it because nobody else cares and they know darn well that the chances of you spending money on litigation is close to zero.

Self preservation is nobody's business but your own.

I disagree with your “you are unlikely to win this with the association” statement. It depends on the source of the noise - and marginally dependent on if other condo owners in the building are equally affected by the noise.

Because there is a rooftop fan that (probably) would be the responsibility of the condo association and because there is a commercial kitchen on the first floor that apparently uses the common vents, I can see several ways that noise abatement may fall on someone other than wendddd.

 

[adjusterjack]

I can see several ways that noise abatement may fall on someone other than wendddd.

I agree. But getting there is problematic. Hence my comment.

 

[quincy]

I agree. But getting there is problematic. Hence my comment.

I can accept that.

 

[wendddd]

Thanks for the discussion, I just want to talk this through, this is really helpful. I dont mind opening up my wall myself, I just hope association could pay for that expense. Other units can hear that noise too, but tiny little bit which is what I initially heard when I moved in, so I suspect some portion of the sound insulation fell off from the wall or close to the wall...just my luck :/

 

[adjusterjack]

I dont mind opening up my wall myself,

Yourself personally or hiring somebody to do it.

 

[wendddd]

Hiring somebody. I am totally capable of tearing down the wall, but not to put it back up....LOL