It's no fun living in a construction zone

Head up Sherbourne and make a right at Wellesley.

You'll pass a pretty brick building on your right, then Bleecker St., and then you'll see a 12-storey hunk of concrete covered in scaffolding. That's my place. The Star of Downtown! (that's the name of the project.)

My unit was stamped as liveable in late February, but the building itself is still months away from completion. When I got my first look, the façade was mainly covered in tarp. The hallways had no wallpaper or carpet and many of the units on the upper floors weren't even started.

And so I begin my "occupancy period."

I'd be paying quasi-rent to the builder until the entire thing was finished. Once that happened and the building was registered, the condo would go in my name and I'd start paying a mortgage. This was mid-March and, if all went well, everything would be done by mid-summer.

Until then, I'd be living on a construction site. Well, at least I would be in a few weeks. Thanks to poor financial planning, I was still paying rent at my other place until the end of April. I planned to live there until then and in the meantime, paint and slowly move in to my new digs.

On one such painting trip, my neighbour Denny Hunte came over to introduce himself. It was strange. I'd been living in a duplex on Granby St. for five years and had barely spoken to any of my neighbours.

"Hey, I'm Denny," he said warmly. "Thought, I'd let you know there's a meeting down the hall at about 5 p.m. Just some of the neighbours getting together to discuss a few problems we're having with the building and the construction workers."

Problems?

I thanked him, told him I'd probably stop by, and then excused myself. I had to run to the little girl's room. It was the first time I'd used my ensuite and consequently the first time I realized the door didn't shut. It hit the counter about five inches away the frame.

I took a look closer around the condo. Dents in the wall, a broken door handle, a bathroom fan that sounded like a freight train – these were just a few of the flaws I noticed right away.

That night at the meeting, I met a dozen other condo residents who lived on various floors. Some – like Hunte – had been in their units for several weeks. Others, like me, had just moved in. Every one of us had problems. Some had been promised double showerheads only to find there was only one. Another had been promised a pantry, but discovered it had been scrapped along the way. These stories aren't new, of course. Developers often make changes to original plans as the building is constructed. And there's little a buyer can do. But as for workmanship issues, this was unexpected for all of us.

My neighbour's bathroom smells like curry. It seems the vents between her bathroom and her neighbour's kitchen are connected – not an ideal arrangement for either. The problems will be fixed eventually. Most of our unit deficiences are covered under the Tarion new home warranty (which I'll cover in column 7). Apparently this is common in new buildings.

"The worst is when the workers come to fix stuff, I end up spending the rest of the night cleaning up after them," said one neighbour.

"And the noise!" said another.

Then there was my next-door neighbour, Hunte, 54. He has severe allergies to dust, mould, pollen, and grass. As a result, everything in Denny's apartment is covered in plastic or cotton sheets.

"I have to. It's the only way I can survive here," he said, only half joking.

The problem is that whenever he opens the door, construction dust trickles in. Or whenever workers come by to fix problems in his place – everything gets covered in grime.

"I've been waiting for this for five years. I researched for three years before buying. I don't regret buying, but I regret this experience," he said. "It's not easy living on a construction site."

NEXT WEEK: I've been religiously watching do-it-yourself design shows for 10 years, preparing for that moment when I would buy my own place. But is it actually possible to scrape off a stucco popcorn ceiling yourself?