What's "wear & tear" and what's actual "damage"?

Scarlett.1974

Hi all, am hoping I can get some advice

We've lived in our rented property for just over 2 years now and are moving on in a few weeks. Obviously I want to do all I can to ensure we get our deposit back in full so have been cleaning like Kim & Aggie for the last week or so and will continue to do so until the whole place is gleaming

On the whole, I would say we've looked after the house extremely well...... however, 2 noticable areas of 'damage' are in the childrens' bedrooms. No 1 bedroom had some stickers on the walls (I know but I thought they were the sort to peel off - I was wrong), when we've removed them they've took little flecks of paint off with them No 2 bedroom has got marks on the walls from blu-tack (which, to be fair I haven't tried to clean off yet, they may well come off).

I think these class as damage and we'll need to re-paint both rooms. H thinks I'm worrying over nothing and that it won't be an issue.

Any opinions gratefully received

iamana1ias

Scarlett.1974 wrote: »

Hi all, am hoping I can get some advice

We've lived in our rented property for just over 2 years now and are moving on in a few weeks. Obviously I want to do all I can to ensure we get our deposit back in full so have been cleaning like Kim & Aggie for the last week or so and will continue to do so until the whole place is gleaming

On the whole, I would say we've looked after the house extremely well...... however, 2 noticable areas of 'damage' are in the childrens' bedrooms. No 1 bedroom had some stickers on the walls (I know but I thought they were the sort to peel off - I was wrong), when we've removed them they've took little flecks of paint off with them No 2 bedroom has got marks on the walls from blu-tack (which, to be fair I haven't tried to clean off yet, they may well come off).

I think these class as damage and we'll need to re-paint both rooms. H thinks I'm worrying over nothing and that it won't be an issue.

Any opinions gratefully received

What you've described is damage. Grubby walls are wear and tear, damaged walls are damage!

jamesb1239

After 2 years I wouldnt class a bit of missing paint damage. OP did YOU do the painting or the Landlord?

Scarlett.1974

iamana1ias wrote: »

What you've described is damage. Grubby walls are wear and tear, damaged walls are damage!

So, would you say the marks in bedroom 2 would be "grubby walls"?

Jamesb - no, we've not painted since we've been here. I should say (if it's relevant?) that a lot of the walls were scuffed/marked when we moved in, some quite badly....... luckily it's all noted on the inventory.

So....... worst case scenario - the LA comes to do the final inspection and says the walls are our responsibility - would they just deduct whatever they think from the deposit or would we be given a chance to fix them?

BitterAndTwisted

In your position, if it's at all possible, I would invite the landlord round a few days before final check-out, ask them to do an interim inspection and then you can discuss anything which the landlord would consider making a deduction for and then you have the opportunity to put them right.

If I were a landlord I would consider Blu-Tac marks to be damage. Your landlord might not.

Have you tried removing the Blu-Tac with some bread, or maybe Sugar-Soap? Blu-Tac has something oily in it so remove as for oil/grease

Scarlett.1974

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

In your position, if it's at all possible, I would invite the landlord round a few days before final check-out, ask them to do an interim inspection and then you can discuss anything which the landlord would consider making a deduction for and then you have the opportunity to put them right.

If I were a landlord I would consider Blu-Tac marks to be damage. Your landlord might not.

Have you tried removing the Blu-Tac with some bread, or maybe Sugar-Soap? Blu-Tac has something oily in it so remove as for oil/grease

Hi, thanks. My dad suggested sugar-soap too, so I'll definitely give that a go

Unfortunately the LL lives 300 miles away so it will be the LA doing the inspection. Would they give us the opportunity to put any 'damage' right, do you think?

BitterAndTwisted

I don't see why not, if someone from the office has time to come round. It's the landlord who has to make any payments in the short-term for putting anything right and the letting agents who will have the hassle of getting it done on their behalf , and more importantly the property would be ready to re-let immediately and every landlord loves that, so it could be seen as a win/win all round. Plus, you are giving every appearance of being a responsible tenant and every landlord and lettings agent love those too and more importantly it could save you a fortune in deductions from your deposit.

This advice has just cost you a fiver or 10% of any deductions which could have been made, whichever is the greater.;)

chappers

As a LL personally I wouldn't see blu-tack marks as too much of a problem, provided the paint is soundthen pick the worst off and the rest will come off with a gentl rub with the green back of a kitchen sponge dampened with warm water.
I would however see missing paint as damage,after 2 years, easily fixed with a coat of paint assuming you can match it or failing that charges by your LL should be minimal, assuming decoration to have a life of 5 years then a charge of 3/5 of the cost to repaint the relevant walls.

Scarlett.1974

Thanks again Am definitely going to have a go at the marked walls with the sugar soap and then it'll only be one wall that will be a (possible) problem. I think I'll wait and see what the LA says when they do the inspection and hope they'll give us the opportunity to fix it if they think it's a problem

Gingernutmeg

Blue tack sometimes come off easily if you rub it (carefully!) with a bit more blue tack. Do be careful though if the paint's a bit flaky already.

Just had another thought - those 'magic sponge' things are quite good too, if I've got a few spare minutes I'll go round my walls etc with one of those and it makes a huge difference to those little scuffs and stains. I *think* you can get them in the supermarket, I got mine form Tchibo when they were having a cleaning promo. Again though, do the whole 'test in an inconspicuous area' thing first

Jowo_2

What does your contract say about fixing things to walls - some have clauses that forbid the use of blutac because of the damage it causes, including leaving greasy marks that are hard to paint over.

Fair wear and tear is about natural deterioration under normal usage - for instance, fabrics fading through sunlight, carpets thinning through use around doorways. Anything to do with stains, marks, burns, dents and so forth are not fw&t.