[Halifax] The Pearl (1903 Gottingen) | 28 m | 8 fl | Completed

[Jonovision]

20180526_204910 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[bagofpotatoes]

just signed up to provide an update on this building since I lived here for 4 years. I want to leave this here in case someone is considering long term tenancy here.

it does look pretty from outside, but there are a lot of construction problems;

- 5th and 7 floor units have water leak/damage due to windows and roof not being properly sealed.

- sound privacy issues. on the exterior each unit is separated by 2 inch thick aluminum frame, and sound travels extremely well through those. the frame almost amplifies the sound and you can hear everything like you are in your neighbours unit. not only from side to side but also can hear people from units below and above, through the windows. (no issues in other areas of the units).

- no negative air pressure. due to this, whatever people are doing in their units do not stay in their unit. I tried to block the gap under the door to avoid smells entering my unit, but it does help only to a certain point.

- windows are double paned, however they are not energy efficient. if you don't run the ac during summer time, temperature climbs to 28-29 on sunny days, even when the blinds are down. when you run the ac, it has trouble keeping up with the temperatures and keeps running non-stop. which eventually results in blowing the fuse.

- some other low quality construction issues, such as uneven flooring and poor drywall job.

[alps]

Sorry to hear about all the issues you are dealing with. Some developers clearly don't care much about soundproofing and I think there needs to be more regulation in that regard. I forget – who owns this building?

Originally Posted by bagofpotatoes

- no negative air pressure. due to this, whatever people are doing in their units do not stay in their unit. I tried to block the gap under the door to avoid smells entering my unit, but it does help only to a certain point.

Aside from smells being a nuisance, this is also really bad in the context of COVID-19 transmission.

[kijoma]

I went to see about renting a "1-bedroom" in March 2018. When I got there it was a ground-floor commercial space they were converting to an apartment, but with no actual bedroom, just a 6' partition that you could either put your bed on one side with the entryway or on the other side with the kitchen, lol. They wanted $1295, which was crazy at the time for a studio.

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by bagofpotatoes

just signed up to provide an update on this building since I lived here for 4 years. I want to leave this here in case someone is considering long term tenancy here.

it does look pretty from outside, but there are a lot of construction problems;

- 5th and 7 floor units have water leak/damage due to windows and roof not being properly sealed.

- sound privacy issues. on the exterior each unit is separated by 2 inch thick aluminum frame, and sound travels extremely well through those. the frame almost amplifies the sound and you can hear everything like you are in your neighbours unit. not only from side to side but also can hear people from units below and above, through the windows. (no issues in other areas of the units).

- no negative air pressure. due to this, whatever people are doing in their units do not stay in their unit. I tried to block the gap under the door to avoid smells entering my unit, but it does help only to a certain point.

- windows are double paned, however they are not energy efficient. if you don't run the ac during summer time, temperature climbs to 28-29 on sunny days, even when the blinds are down. when you run the ac, it has trouble keeping up with the temperatures and keeps running non-stop. which eventually results in blowing the fuse.

- some other low quality construction issues, such as uneven flooring and poor drywall job.

So sorry this is what it's "actually" like. Sounds frustrating for the costs for the units.

We always love new members, so please stick around and share opinions on new developments as well. Welcome to the Forum!

[bagofpotatoes]

Originally Posted by alps

Sorry to hear about all the issues you are dealing with. Some developers clearly don't care much about soundproofing and I think there needs to be more regulation in that regard. I forget – who owns this building?

grafton developments. this was their first building with curtain walls, and I think they didn't really know what they were doing. they have a new-er building, the jade, again with curtain walls, and they did a similar thing on the exterior where unit separation is not great.

[bagofpotatoes]

Originally Posted by kijoma

They wanted $1295, which was crazy at the time for a studio.

not too crazy not, considering the halifax market I rented a 1200-1300sqft 2 bedroom here and was paying $3100 by the time I moved out (parking included).