I lock the door that opens on to my patio while I am at home. I used to lock it while I was away, but as the water meters and other required things for various service/maintenance people are up there, I’ve agreed to keep it open while I’m out.
Lately, my landlord has been asking me to not lock the door at any time. Despite having a doorbell, a land line and a cell phone, he feels it is very “ma-fan” to not be able to open the door whenever he wants to. Additionally, he says that it is public space and a “safety-area” and so I don’t really have any right to lock it.
Apparently, Taiwanese people like to run up to the roof in the event of fires. I tried explaining that as fire and smoke tend to rise, this is not advisable.
In any case, I’m at home whenever it is locked and will gladly let the occupants up to barbecue and asphyxiate themselves should a fire break out.
Do I have any legal right to lock my door, or does it all fall into that murky/grey rooftop area that is and is not part of the law in Taiwan?
I’m not planning on going that way, but I am curious to know what the law says.
I’m guessing that the landlord’s been getting complaints from the other people in the building, all of whom legally share the rooftop. However, the way it works is that the guy on the top floor “takes” the rooftop and builds a toufeng there. Probably has to pay hungbao’s to the others in the building to keep them sweet, as it only takes one phone call to complain about illegal structures and down the toufeng comes.
I’d say it would be prudent for you to allow access. You could always start walking around in the buff, though, and develop a high-pitched piercing scream that you can emit when someone disturbs you. I think they would soon stop bothering you if you did that.
I lived on “a rooftop” when I first came here. Sandman is right that the floor below usually believe they own the roof, but it should be shared access. Leave the door open if possible because people on lower floors sometimes need access to the water tanks, their water pumps, etc.
Not all rooftops are public space. It depends ont he size and age of the building I believe. Some rooftop aprtments are not illegal and the owner has exclusive rights.
But it sounds like yours is public space, if that’s what the landlord says. And considering maintenance and safety issues (if a stairwell was totally smoked out below, you would be safer going up), I’d leave it unlocked.
If you don’t feel safe with just the door to your apartment, ask the landlord to install a ‘tiemen’ metal door over it.
Sandman is right - everyone has legal access to the roof - If they ever really pushed the issue you’d be out of luck…
So I’d suggest doing your best to try and negotiate with your landlord…
And if you don’t feel safe - like brian said - get a steel door over your main door.
I posted the question after an hour and a half phone call with my landlord where he kept repeating himself over and over.
After having read your posts, I think I live in one of those buildings with an “all-access” roof.
Sadly, though I think I won a battle (he’s made no reference to the door again), his recent mutterings about being helfway to the end of a year- long contract make me think I’ve likely lost the war.
So, lesson to me is to not be too righteous before I have all the facts. I wonder if a bottle of plum wine and “bu-hao-ee-su” crow-eating session might help towards renewing a lease? Just a thought.
We will be moving into a rooftop apartment and would like to know if it is really hot during the summer? Our building is an old style four stories building and the landlord build an additional floor on it. So we will be renting the 4th and 5th floor.
For me, rooftop in summer was hell, but then again I was trying to save money and didn’t turn the aircon on too often.
Rooftops get really hot in summer and pretty cold in winter as they are much more exposed to the weather than a usual apartment. I always envy their terrace though
[quote=“mesheel”]For me, rooftop in summer was hell, but then again I was trying to save money and didn’t turn the aircon on too often.
Rooftops get really hot in summer and pretty cold in winter as they are much more exposed to the weather than a usual apartment. I always envy their terrace though [/quote]
I live in a old building where my gf parents own the apartment on the 4th floor(4 bring bad luck I know) The people on the 5th floor has some ulegal building on the top. I was hopeing I could use some corner up there for growing some north european vegetables durning the Taiwanese winter.
Would it be just as ilegal for me to grow something as for them to build something?
Should tell someone about there litle sturcture up there to have it removed if they where to refuse me to go up there whenever I like?
Why is it so bloody dificult to folow just a few laws that are there for making life bether for all of uss and not just the prick jumping the red light or the ass building himself a second floor. :raspberry:
[quote=“pubba”]Im having trouble understanding the concept of ‘rooftop apartments’…
Are they just like a shanty type building that someone has slapped together on top of their house, and rent out for some extra $$ ?
And what is a Toufeng? (sandman mentioned it on previous page)[/quote]
Yes, they often are. Some are nicer. Some are legal, some aren’t.
Mine is a falling-down, leaky concrete shed, but it has the greatest view in Taipei and it’s huge (Taipei huge) and had a front and back roof garden Also 20 mins walk from 101 and right near the MRT. I can’t afford a ‘proper’ flat this size in this area any other way.
I love it, but it’s scary in typhoons (Auntie Em? Auntie Em?) and I don’t want to be here when the next big earthquake hits.
I disagree with the notion that a rooftop is always shared access.
I’ve lived in a rooftop apartment where the landlord was not enforcing some kind of shared access for all in the building. It all depends on the circumstances. I paid rent to a relative of my landlord/landlady on the 3rd floor, while living on the 6th, the rooftop. The 5th floor and us shared water and electricity bills, and we had separate meters for both. They were renters too.
Personally, I wouldn’t have lived there if others had 24/7 access to the rooftop. In our case, it was clearly our space from the stairwell metal door to the roof. I can’t speak for yours, but you could try to hunker down and slowly enforce a kind of take-over. You don’t want lurkers.
My SO say we have no landlord and that we bought the apartment and she think everybody has equal right to use faciletys.
I gues I have to talk with her or the sister when they get home from japan and ask them to tell the people up there to let us up.
If this don’t work, what should I do? Get some oficials to come and tear down there crap? Witch is what I moustly want to do to dishonest lawbrakers. Get papers that show our right? or in a simple polite way tell them to shear it or fight for it witch I’m prepared to do.
Befour I consider making truble I want to know if it’s worth it. Am I aloved to grow vegetables up there or would that be concidered in the same league as a structure?
Now I grow something I think is called sweedich turnip in english on the balkony, but the sun and space is limited.
Usually I find that if a foreigner is living on the rooftop then everyone wants access. Otherwise nobody gives a shit. I overlooked about 50 rooftops when I was in Yong He and never saw a soul on any of them nor any evidence anyone had ever been up there. And I was overlooking quite a bit of the time as I had to smoke outside due to not being allowed to smoke in my own bloody house.
Yes will be roasting. Roof will have been painted black, just to help matters. Unless you are planning to drown in your own sweat I would budget around 10k for the summer bill, and 8k for the ones either side, if you have sufficient airconditioning to do it. Otherwise you may find a/c completely pointless. I had 35k BTUs for 20 pings upstairs and it just about managed to keep the place down to 27 Celcius in the summer.
Then of course your heating bill in the winter is hilarious as all the heat just goes straight out the walls and roof.
We have double glazing in China. And cavity walls. In China, fercrisskes. Double glazing is really cheap. Heh. Outside it’s boiling and inside, well the glass isn’t even warm. Heh. Everything else sucks though. Hmmm. Humph.
[quote=“Lord Lucan”]Usually I find that if a foreigner is living on the rooftop then everyone wants access. Otherwise nobody gives a shit. I overlooked about 50 rooftops when I was in Yonghe and never saw a soul on any of them nor any evidence anyone had ever been up there. And I was overlooking quite a bit of the time as I had to smoke outside due to not being allowed to smoke in my own bloody house.
Yes will be roasting. Roof will have been painted black, just to help matters. Unless you are planning to drown in your own sweat I would budget around 10k for the summer bill, and 8k for the ones either side, if you have sufficient airconditioning to do it. Otherwise you may find a/c completely pointless. I had 35k BTUs for 20 pings upstairs and it just about managed to keep the place down to 27 Celcius in the summer.
Then of course your heating bill in the winter is hilarious as all the heat just goes straight out the walls and roof.
We have double glazing in China. And cavity walls. In China, fercrisskes. Double glazing is really cheap. Heh. Outside it’s boiling and inside, well the glass isn’t even warm. Heh. Everything else sucks though. Hmmm. Humph.[/quote]
My Lord, I regretfully have to call BULLSHIT on your statement above. Please forgive me for I am but one of you humble minions.
Rooftop apartments can be the best places to live…by far. I will say this: it all depends on where you are located and if the draft is in your favour. Sure, they can be hot or cold. But by and large they are some of the most spacious and can offer alot of room for improvement if you’re into self renovations. Some of the most beautiful places I’ve visited are situated on rooftops. Awesome scenary and low rent. With some creativity and patience and provided that you’re in Taiwan for a long term, then I would suggest a rooftop as a place to live. Think gardens. Think BBQ. Think outdoor comfort while lookin down on the mess below. Hell, you don’t even have to look at shit. Your view will be of sky and nothing else. At night the view can be amazing. Especially in Taipei where the rolling mountains and skyline can be fantastic. KHH can be good as well if you’re located by the ocean. Think about it.
Heat and cold can be overcome as long as you aren’t a whiney bastard and don’t mind becoming accustomed to the weather. The benefits of living on a rooftop far outweigh the negatives. Unless you’re a poof like the umentionable poster above who prefers his drinks to have a cherry and a cute lil’ umbrella stuck in it.
Again, like I had mentioned before: Awesome space. Great view depending (be picky). Depending on how high the building is; you won’t have the complaints if you decided to throw a party. Low rent. How the hell can you beat that?
One of the reasons that many fooftop appartments such as our own are so damn hot in the summer and so damn cold in the winter is the excessive number of windows all around on almost every wall. This is because of the legality issue of a rooftop dwelling. It is not supposed to be a dwelling as such and to get around this issue it slips through a loophole which limits the surrounding rooftop concrete or stone wall to about three feet high. With obviously not enough height to put a roof on, the walls are then built upon with windows and then higher with “temporary” wood or plaster board, sheet metal etc. The tin roof is finally placed on top of simple metal support pillars and there it stands illegaly or legally as it may be. The tin roof and windows soak up the sun in the summer and let all the heat out in the winter, causing us an average 20,000nt electric bill every two months.
