What CO is the car producing when it’s not running?

Carbon monoxide
CO

You're not gonna get CO poisoning from 1-2 minutes of taking the car in and out every day lol. That stuff would take a good 15+ minutes of running to happen. Get a CO monitor if you're worried, they are less than 50 bucks.

CO can be a sneaky bitch, but if you toss a monitor beside your work area and only run the engine to get in/out of the garage you should be fine.

I have a tandem garage, honestly it’s amazing how long fumes stay in that thing. Zero circulation.

^
That's it. No circulation and of course, it's a matter of long term exposure.

I do try to leave the garage door open as long as possible before closing it when park my truck. Having the garage door and a back door open really helps air out garages quick aswell.

Don't people have workshops in garages?


My aunt worked as a seamstress out of her garage many decades ago sharing the spaces with the family cars. I don't remember the layout of the garage, but she's still alive and kickin.

Get a couple carbon monoxide detectors if the place is big, and have a box fan venting the exhaust or something if gets too smelly to handle

The tandem garage should have a built in exhaust fan

mine does in south surrey, can't imagine if it didn't.
my ex-m4 produced some of the worse fumes on startup :lawl:

Those garages should be essentially sealed from the living space, also why the man-door into the unit has to be a self-closer to seal off the entry/stairwell etc. As far as I know fans and whatnot are not required

Once in a while I'll run a car on the lift which is smack in the middle of the shop. I have a regular sized garage door on the side with a 30" wall mounted fan and a 16 x 16' door at the back. Twice now I was okay after working but the next day I was puking with a bad headache and unable to get out of bed. I wonder how many brain cells I've killed and years I've taken off my life.

If you're going to be spending lots of time there I'd make sure it's safe.

Reminds me of two stories on reddit

Dude almost dies of CO poisoning:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/commen...he_long_sleep/

OP thinks landlord is entering unit and leaving notes:
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice..._in_apartment/

It was actually CO poisoning and it was their own notes:
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice..._in_apartment/

I would check to see if your garage is part of your strata lot, or if it's limited common property, before making any alterations to it.

Thanks for the info guys, gonna start off with a co (sorry meant co and not co2 in the first post lol) sensor and some fans and making sure that I don't run the car for too long inside the garage. Also making sure to keep the back door ajar when I first get home. It doesn't look like there's any type of exhaust or ventilation built in

Will definitely be spending a lot of time in there since it is my office so will see how it is for the first little while.

Also thanks Eff-1 just double checked and it is part of my strata lot and not marked as limited common property.

Ok, that's better for you that it's not LCP. You'll still need to submit your plans to the strata council and request permission to do the renovation as that would be considered an alteration to your strata lot. The council can't unreasonably deny a request, but they might require you to submit drawings, plans, sign waivers, etc.

Got it thanks, even if it's just adding the flooring I'd require to get approval? Reading through the alteration section it only really mentions the common property or the exterior / envelope of the townhome. I emailed to install a video doorbell but didn't know about the rest of it.

Would custom millwork (shelves/cabinets/bench in the dining area) also require strata approval?

The Strata Act says the following:

If you're adding walls, that falls under (a) because walls are structural.

If you're doing anything that involves common pipes, wires, ducts, plumbing, etc that falls under (f) as those are all common property.

Under (g), the council has to insure anything that the developer installed, so that's original flooring, fixtures, etc.

So bottom line is yeah, you can't proceed without your Council approving the renovation.

But like I said, the council can't unreasonably deny your request. They might make you jump through a lot of hoops though.

My opinion is custom millwork isn't an alteration that would require strata approval. We put custom closets in our place and didn't notify the strata. They aren't structural at all.

The regulation I posted above is from the standard bylaws. A council can always change/amend the standard bylaws, so make sure you also read specifically what your bylaws say in case there is something more. i.e you might have a bylaw that says no hard floors are allowed, only carpets. Etc.. Stuff like that.

A curtain wall like what I imagine ForbiddenX is describing would not be structural in any way though...

Walls are only structural if they're load bearing.

To my knowledge, the Strata Property Act doesn't look at it that way. Changing walls/adding or removing rooms = changing the building's structure. It doesn't differentiate whether the walls are load bearing or not. I shouldn't have used the word "structural" just "structure".

Something I didn't mention earlier but there is also the issue of whether ForbiddenX is increasing the habitable area. That's a whole other can of worms. Habitable area defines your square footage which defines your strata fees (assuming the fees are calculated based on a % of unit entitlement).

If you're making changes that change the habitable area, you would have to change the unit entitlement and that requires unanimous approval at at AGM. Sounds like a nightmare.

I did some quick google research. Check this out. Bottom of page 11.
https://www.visoa.bc.ca/wp-content/u...ay-27-2018.pdf

Makes sense I guess.

Ugh, living in a strata sounds horrible.

Close the door, build the wall, don’t show it to neighbours lol

Worst case you’ve got to tear it out. Not even worth mentioning to strata imo

Oh yea, serious first world problems
Someone does your gardening, snow removal, repairs, dealing with your neighbors, planning, management, so much horribles

Great68 has a point though. The poor guy wants to reno his garage and he can't do it without going through all these hoops, and that's if he even gets permission. A homeowner doesn't have to worry about those things.

At the same time, I understand WHY those regulations are in place. At the end of the day, you're sharing a structure with a bunch of other randos. There has to be rules that govern this kind of thing so that one mofo doesn't do something dumb and wreck everyone else's home.

Lol, looks like I hit someone in the sore pee pee spot.


Sounds terrible. I like gardening, let me direct you here:

https://www.revscene.net/forums/7173...-see-them.html


Lol if I'm lucky. I was pretty excited to finally get to use my snow for the first time a couple years ago.

Meh, I'm handy and that means I get to do them my way, for the price I want to pay.


I assure you I "deal" a shit ton less with my neighbours than you would in a strata. I mean your neighbours literally directly control how you live. I actually like my neighbours, they come over for beers and we crank the tunes.

Ok? I can PLAN to do things how I like them. Suits me fine

I mean if you're not into those things that's fine, you do you but it's not for me. I would go crazy in that situation. Strata living is not compatible with my lifestyle.