What constitutes reasonable wear and tear?

Jo_R_2

Hi all

I'm currently in a rented house, been here for going on two years. In the next year or so I'm planning on giving notice as I need somewhere bigger; however having had a good relationship with my landlord and landlady, who have left me to it basically but have always sorted any problems out asap, I wanted to make sure I left it in a decent state for them.

I'm thinking ahead because it'll probably be just me sorting out anything that needs doing. So what constitutes 'reasonable' wear and tear?

For example. My oldest took to my bedroom's magnolia walls with a black biro when I was doing housework and I have now have a lovely (!) biro mural over two walls. I was just going to repaint that myself as I feel it would be a bit out of order to leave it. Here and there through the house there's odd bits of biro and felt tip on the walls.

Carpets throughout are beige and so show up lots of marks (imagine two kids running round with blackcurrant cordial and you get the picture!) I'm happy to vax them all but I have found that even doing that doesn't get some of the stubborn marks out. Would this warrant a professional clean?

The ex put up a set of coat hooks in the hall, but didn't use the correct rawlplugs and it started to come out, bringing the plasterboard with it. Fortunately my father fixed the problem but it has meant there will be four holes left there, two of which look a bit messy where the panel for the coat hooks started to come out of the wall.

There's nothing major, it's just that it looked so pristine when we moved in (the landlord had just bought it and put in the new carpets) and I really want to get all of my deposit back when I do move out.

Any tips on what I've mentioned or general pointers are good. I've rented before so know roughly what is expected, but any advice would be good!

Sue-UU

Hi Jo_R.

If the couple who have been letting you the house have been so very good to you, I think (and I think you do too) that it's only fair that you go through the house and make good all that needs it. Imagine if it were you letting a property out ....always put yourself in the other person's place.

The magnolia walls with black biro on sound quite bad and definately need repainting, as do all walls that have felt tip/biro marks on them. It won't cost you much to do and you'll feel far better for having done it.

The carpets will definately need vaxing with 1001 carpet cleaner, but before you do that get the stains out by using 1001 straight on to each stain. In all honesty they are the sort of things that you'd normally do as soon as a kiddie's spilt drinks etc; it's far better for you to keep it clean that way. A really stubborn shoe polish stain that our teenage son managed to tread (!!!) all over the carpet was removable with "Vanish" the soap bar type ....and he cleaned every bit of it! That's by boy! He never did it again either!

One tip to help now and in the future with the littlies - always make them their drinks and ensure they ONLY drink in the kitchen. Also a stern "NO! You never do that!" is needed whenever they write on walls or anything similar. They'll soon learn what gets praise and what is NOT allowed! They love to know where they stand.

Any holes in walls can quite easily be filled/repaired withe "Polyfilla" and smoothed over so that they don't show. Then paint/paper over them for a perfect finish and peace of mind on your part. They treated you with kindness and will be so pleased you bothered repaying them with yours. All the best, but be careful not to move too quickly with the current finance situation as it is ...and as it will become!

Sue

Gangstabird

I do not think that your landlord will expect pristine carpets in the house but, as a previous poster said, the walls should be in good condition. No biro to start with and as for the holes, you should fill and paint.

If they put cream carpets in and rented to a person with kids, I don't suppose they will expect them to still be cream.

Gangstabird

Sue-UU wrote: »

Hi Jo_R.

If the couple who have been letting you the house have been so very good to you, I think (and I think you do too) that it's only fair that you go through the house and make good all that needs it. Imagine if it were you letting a property out ....always put yourself in the other person's place.

The magnolia walls with black biro on sound quite bad and definately need repainting, as do all walls that have felt tip/biro marks on them. It won't cost you much to do and you'll feel far better for having done it.

The carpets will definately need vaxing with 1001 carpet cleaner, but before you do that get the stains out by using 1001 straight on to each stain. In all honesty they are the sort of things that you'd normally do as soon as a kiddie's spilt drinks etc; it's far better for you to keep it clean that way. A really stubborn shoe polish stain that our teenage son managed to tread (!!!) all over the carpet was removable with "Vanish" the soap bar type ....and he cleaned every bit of it! That's by boy! He never did it again either!

One tip to help now and in the future with the littlies - always make them their drinks and ensure they ONLY drink in the kitchen. Also a stern "NO! You never do that!" is needed whenever they write on walls or anything similar. They'll soon learn what gets praise and what is NOT allowed! They love to know where they stand.

Any holes in walls can quite easily be filled/repaired withe "Polyfilla" and smoothed over so that they don't show. Then paint/paper over them for a perfect finish and peace of mind on your part. They treated you with kindness and will be so pleased you bothered repaying them with yours. All the best, but be careful not to move too quickly with the current finance situation as it is ...and as it will become!

Sue

Don't want to be rude, but I don't think that the OP was asking for advice for how to parent, your post is helpful but a little condescending, sorry. I had to add this.

neverdespairgirl

Sue-UU wrote: »

One tip to help now and in the future with the littlies - always make them their drinks and ensure they ONLY drink in the kitchen.

If you have a big enough kitchen, that is! Our kitchen's cooking-room-only, and we eat at the table in the living room. Bit harsh to ban drinks in there, though.

Sue-UU

Gangstabird wrote: »

Don't want to be rude, but I don't think that the OP was asking for advice for how to parent, your post is helpful but a little condescending, sorry. I had to add this.

Fine by me, though I certainly wasn't meaning to be condescending at all. Simply trying to help her as she's by herself with the kiddies and has enough to do as it is. Also, it could save her having any more stains to clean up as she prepares to put things right.

Sue

lynzpower

Jo

I dont tihnk any of the stuff you have stated is "fair wear & Tear" stains and drawing on walls isnt wear ( ie from using the property normally) but damage.

FWIW we werent allowed blackcurant as kids at all apart from outside! it is a nightmare to get out of carpets!

Gingernutmeg

The 'rugdoctor' carpet cleaners are fantastic for cleaning carpets, and you can buy all sorts of extra odour destroyers and high-traffic cleaners for it. Not particularly MSE but really good at getting stains out. If you've got grotty carpets I'd really recommend hiring one for a weekend and going through the house, we did this when we moved into our current place because the carpets were vile and it made a massive difference.

Living in rented houses I never buy blackcurrant anything either lol

MERFE

have you tried wd40 on the biro marks, worked wonders on the red crayon ds had scribbled all over the wall under the table ( I thought he was being quiet), nothing else would get it off. I've been wondering about this too we have been here 3 years now and the lounge and hallway carpets are both looking more like they need replacing rather than cleaning after very heavy use but they were not new when we moved in.We have just had a hole appear in a wall upstairs which I suppose we have to fill in even though we believe it was caused by next door slamming a door too hard (they argue sometimes with their 30yr old son who still lives at home). I think you just do what you can when you move out and clean and tidy everything up as best you can, fill in any holes etc I've always had a the whole deposit back before but have never stayed anywhere this long or with children before and they certainly do cause more wear and tear.

Oh and somehow mine never spill their juice only their milk, maybe we should just send them outside to drink till they learn - whatever the weather!

barnaby-bear

Jo_R wrote: »

Hi all

I'm currently in a rented house, been here for going on two years. In the next year or so I'm planning on giving notice as I need somewhere bigger; however having had a good relationship with my landlord and landlady, who have left me to it basically but have always sorted any problems out asap, I wanted to make sure I left it in a decent state for them.

I'm thinking ahead because it'll probably be just me sorting out anything that needs doing. So what constitutes 'reasonable' wear and tear?

For example. My oldest took to my bedroom's magnolia walls with a black biro when I was doing housework and I have now have a lovely (!) biro mural over two walls. I was just going to repaint that myself as I feel it would be a bit out of order to leave it. Here and there through the house there's odd bits of biro and felt tip on the walls.

Carpets throughout are beige and so show up lots of marks (imagine two kids running round with blackcurrant cordial and you get the picture!) I'm happy to vax them all but I have found that even doing that doesn't get some of the stubborn marks out. Would this warrant a professional clean?

The ex put up a set of coat hooks in the hall, but didn't use the correct rawlplugs and it started to come out, bringing the plasterboard with it. Fortunately my father fixed the problem but it has meant there will be four holes left there, two of which look a bit messy where the panel for the coat hooks started to come out of the wall.

There's nothing major, it's just that it looked so pristine when we moved in (the landlord had just bought it and put in the new carpets) and I really want to get all of my deposit back when I do move out.

Any tips on what I've mentioned or general pointers are good. I've rented before so know roughly what is expected, but any advice would be good!

Wear and tear isn't dirt.

It's worn flattened piles on carpets, indents from furniture, scuffing or ageing of paintwork. Stuff that means it doesn't look like new but isn't damaged, vandalised, stained or dirty.

Biro on walls is vandalism, scribbling on walls is not normal wear and tear it's why we prosecute grafetti 'artists'. Making holes in walls through cr*p DiY is damage. Spilling drinks on carpets and not clearing them up so they leave marks is staining / dirt. All those I think you should put right.

HxBro

I'm going to get a professional company in to clean our carpets, stains and the like are not wear and tear. Our letting agent always gets some anal woman to come round and check things - she will always say the carpets need professionally cleaning, so this time I'm getting it done before so I can show her the receipt. A vax just won't do the job properly for her.

For the walls, if you are lucky, I've removed some of the marking in my flat by gently scrubbing with a scouring pad, this probably works for me due to the paint, it's becomes wet again allowing me to fix some of the marking, without any hassle. I'd imagine the biro has gone quite deep so it probably won't work in this case.

I'm considering a getting a decorator in to colour match the walls and fix anything that's too marked. We do have a dog, so we have 1 door that needs more work but the rest of the marking is fine.