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While often thought of as outdated, a B.C. man is being forced to carpet his apartment after losing a fight with the strata over the noise his hard floors are creating.

Despite Ahmed Shafey argument that carpet would exacerbate and aggravate his allergies, the strata ordered him to remove his 15-year-old laminate flooring and replace it with carpet throughout his condo. The kitchen and bathroom are exempt from the rule.

Unhappy with the prospect of living in an all carpeted condo, Shafey took the strata to a B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal asking for an order that would block the strata from its demand.

According to the Mar. 28 B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Shafey purchased the condo in April 2021, and the previous owner had had multiple complaints and fines for violating the strata's noise bylaw.

"The council members concluded that the unreasonable noise was due to a combination of the previous owner’s living habits and the 15-year-old hard flooring," the decision says.

READ MORE: Kamloops strata loses fight with tenant smoking on balcony: court

The decision says the previous owner had tried to mitigate the noise but had no luck and months before they sold the condo, the strata had ordered the previous owner to replace the current flooring with carpet.

The decision says the strata decided to grant Shafey a grace period before fining him and enforcing its previous decision demanding that the condo be carpeted.

While the strata had decided the noise was a combination of the hard floors and the previous owners' "living habits" the noise wasn't any better once Shafey moved in.

The decision says his neighbour in the condo below kept a daily record of noise which continued after Shafey moved in.

On one occasion the noise woke the downstairs neighbour up.

"I find such noise unreasonable," the Tribunal ruled.

The strata also hired an acoustics engineer that did a full assessment of the condo.

"From the report, I find the flooring in (Shafey's apartment) has insufficient impact noise insulation. So, I find the floor increases or causes, the noise heard (below)," the decision reads.

Shafey argued he could replace the hard floor with "softer sound absorbing flooring materials" but provided no explanation or evidence of what this would consist of and how it would cut down on the noise.

Shafey also argued carpet would worsen his pre-existing dust mite allergies and included a doctor's note as evidence.

"However, the note does not explain how much worse the condition would be, or whether certain types of carpet might be better than others," the Tribunal said. "Further, although Mr. Shafey says he has not budgeted for the expense of floor removal, he provided no evidence or explanation about how much it would cost and whether that cost would be a burden to him."

Ultimately, the Tribunal sides with the strata leaving Shafey to start looking at what colour carpet he wants his apartment decked out in.

READ MORE: Vernon couple's 'pony wall' costs them $15K in legal battle with strata

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