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A Vernon couple has been ordered to carpet their condo after the previous owner put in vinyl plank flooring with out the strata's permission.

According to a Dec. 20 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, when Edward and Linda Duck bought the condo it had vinyl plank flooring which had been laid without the strata's permission.

When the downstairs neighbour complained about the level of noise now coming from their upstairs neighbours the strata ordered the couple to carpet their unit.

However, they refused and instead took Strata KAS196 to the online tribunal.

The Ducks argued the current flooring meets or exceeds the noise reduction capabilities of the previous carpeting and they are being unfairly treated by the strata.

The strata at the 24 Avenue condo complex argued the lack of carpet breaches its bylaws and that they asked for access to the Ducks unit to investigate the noise but were refused. The Strata asked that the Tribunal order the couple to carpet their unit.

There's some dispute about whether the couple knew the vinyl flooring hadn't been approved by the strata. The Tribunal rejected, as hearsay, an email from the couple's realtor saying the previous owner said the strata knew about it and said the couple had to do their due diligence before purchasing, including, reviewing the strata’s bylaws and its meeting minutes.

The decision said the couple bought the condo in October 2022 and rented it to a family member. Not long afterwards complaints began.

"Since the new flooring, I hear everything," the downstairs tenant told the strata. "Previous to the renos done last fall, I would hear very little from the former tenants."

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The downstairs neighbours made multiple complaints to the strata which then sent bylaw infraction letters to the Ducks.

One letter said they needed to do something about the flooring and when they didn't, the strata demanded they replace the flooring with the "equivalent sound deadening capability of the original carpet and underlay" within 60 days.

The Ducks didn't agree and said that the flooring "exceeded the recommendation of the flooring supplier."

The couple provided a letter from a flooring contractor and photos of flooring and underlay and signed off their letter with this matter "can now be considered closed."

The strata didn't agree.

The couple moved south for the winter and had a tenant rent the condo.

The downstairs neighbour continued to hear noise and complained.

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As the issue continued, the couple got professional opinions about the flooring but the Tribunal ruled the opinions didn't definitively say the vinyl plank is better than carpet.

One company said, "carpet flooring typically has a higher [noise reduction coefficient]," than vinyl plank flooring.

"Ultimately, I find it unproven that the vinyl plank flooring is at least as good as carpeting at reducing noise transfer," the Tribunal ruled.

In their argument against carpet, the couple submitted evidence from a respirologist about the adverse effects of carpeting in a strata lot.

However, the Tribunal ruled as they didn't live there it was immaterial.

The Ducks also said the downstairs neighbour was "unusually sensitive to sound."

The Tribunal ruled the strata had not been unfair to the couple, and pointed out it had never fined them, which it had the right to do.

Ultimately, the Tribunal ordered the couple to carpet the condo within 60 days and then allow the strata access to inspect the work.

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