Wear and tear - getting full deposit back help!

gashead1985

Hi

We will hopefully be handing in our months leaving notice to our EA soon. I have been very concerned about if we will get our deposit back. We are renting a brand new flat so it obviously is not brand new any more since we have been living here a year and a half. We have however looked after it and at inspections EA has always said it is spotless.

But there are a few marks, scuffs on the walls. Which could be covered with paint - when we moved in our LL left us 2 pots of paint for any touch ups, which we have tried to use in a few places however this stands out on the wall - it seems that the builders probably didnt put enough coats of paint on the walls when they decorated and if you try to clean a mark on the wall lots of paint comes off! So we dont want to be covering marks with the touch paint if its going to look all patchy. Should we paint the whole room instead? could we tell LL that the touch up paint makes wall patchy and ask him if he would like us to paint all the room instead?

Also i am worried about the cooker hot - its an electric one and the hot plates have marked where hot water has burnt on them - i have tried cleaning this several times and no more marks will come off. Does this count as wear and tear?

Also the shower curtain needs replacing - it is acceptable to go out and buy another one even though it will be different? and the shower pole has gone rusty - not our fault as we open windows and use extractor fan - but should be replace this too? There is no mould is the bathroom its spotless apart from shower curtain and pole.

We obviously really need our deposit back! Any advice would be great.

Thank you!

tonymahoney

I think a lot of properties taht are let out are populated by poor quality stuff.

The effect this has is that they degrade quicker ... cheap stuff wears. rusts and falls apart quicker. Landlords then like to call this damage ... and take a chunk off your depsoit .... but its really almost impossible to avoid ... so things rusting when they were not mistreated shouldnt be your problem if its a crappy £4 shower pole.

Scuffs on walls is a bit tougher as it is through accident, mis-use, etc.

[Deleted User]

I'd advise you to get a couple of tins of paint as near to the original colour as u can and repaint the affected walls completely. Its better to pay out £30 for a couple of tins of paint than have to pay for paint and decorators if the LL says the place needs repainting. It honestly doesn't take long to paint walls. BUT make sure u use old sheets or whatever to cover the flooring and move furniture out of the way.., u don't want to splash paint on things and end up paying out more.

N79

gashead1985 wrote: »

Hi
But there are a few marks, scuffs on the walls. Which could be covered with paint - when we moved in our LL left us 2 pots of paint for any touch ups, which we have tried to use in a few places however this stands out on the wall - it seems that the builders probably didnt put enough coats of paint on the walls when they decorated and if you try to clean a mark on the wall lots of paint comes off! So we dont want to be covering marks with the touch paint if its going to look all patchy. Should we paint the whole room instead? could we tell LL that the touch up paint makes wall patchy and ask him if he would like us to paint all the room instead?

You don't say how long you have been in the property.

If is always difficult with small scuff marks - marks from furniture or high wear areas (such as the wall next to the stairs) should be fair wear and tear whereas large marks or marks caused by inappropriate use (eg from resting feet against the wall under a desk) are not. Have you tried sugar soap and gentle rubbing on the marks? Often they will come off.

If you believe that that marks are damage and want to paint the whole room then I suggest that you discuss it with your LL first. Clearly the room was professionally painted by the builders. Will you manage the same finish? Ie no paint on the skirting boards / carpet / ceiling etc. This is very hard to do well and you can end up causing more damage then you fix if you are not very good at painting! Before undertaking such drastic action it would be best to ask your LL what they expect as most decent LL's will accept a few small scuff marks as fair wear and tear whatever the "true" legal position. (Save crayons, pens, other drawing, dents, holes, scratches that penetrate the paint or large (greater than 5cm diameter) marks I pretty much ignore all other wall damage).

gashead1985 wrote: »

Also i am worried about the cooker hot - its an electric one and the hot plates have marked where hot water has burnt on them - i have tried cleaning this several times and no more marks will come off. Does this count as wear and tear?

No - I'm sorry but burn marks are not fair wear and tear - you will need to get them off or pay for professional cleaning.

gashead1985 wrote: »

Also the shower curtain needs replacing - it is acceptable to go out and buy another one even though it will be different?

Why does it need replacing? If it has faded through many washes then that is fair wear and tear. If it has gone moldy because you never soaked and then put it in the washing machine then you will need to replace it.

gashead1985 wrote: »

and the shower pole has gone rusty - not our fault as we open windows and use extractor fan - but should be replace this too?

The rust is fair wear and tear - the mould is not.

ema_o

I would tell the LL that the touch up paint makes the wall look patchy and offer to repaint instead. Depends how many marks there are on the wall and things like that.
I would ask on the old style forum about cleaning the hob. Am not really sure what you mean but someone may have a suggestion.

WHen I moved out of a flat before I asked the agency what they look for on inspection. One thing they said people forget was kitchen cupboard doors, another was cobwebs/ dust on light fittings.

kmmr

There are special cleaners for Ceramic stovetops that work perfectly for burnt on stains that won't come off otherwise.

Google shows me this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cerapol%2fCeraseal-Ceramic-Cooktop-Cleaner-%20-FREE-SCRAPER_W0QQitemZ170420088791QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=e256c91911c0a0e201e7aa07ffd9ea1d
but it should be available in your supermarket too. Just look for ceramic cooktop cleaner. You will also need a small blade which you use after you apply the cleaner.

I left a bottle with my tenants, to make it clear to them what type of cleaning is required from time to time.

gashead1985

Thank you for all your helpful replies! Sorry we have been living in the flat for a year and a half now.

Unforutunaly the shower curtain is hand wash only! I have scrubbed it many times which does improve it but theres no way of making the seam bit any cleaner! So i think we will ring up EA and tell them we willbe happy to buy a new one. Its such a nice bathroom and in my OH i think they should of put a glass screen up would of been easier!

The wall marks are from furniture touching the wall and in the hall and stairs.

N79

gashead1985 wrote: »

Thank you for all your helpful replies! Sorry we have been living in the flat for a year and a half now.

Unforutunaly the shower curtain is hand wash only! I have scrubbed it many times which does improve it but theres no way of making the seam bit any cleaner! So i think we will ring up EA and tell them we willbe happy to buy a new one. Its such a nice bathroom and in my OH i think they should of put a glass screen up would of been easier!

The wall marks are from furniture touching the wall and in the hall and stairs.

What idiot buys a hand wash only shower curtain! Even worse, what idiot makes hand wash only shower curtains. The mind boggles. If you feel that you are going to have to replace it anyway then I would risk it in the washing machine on its own on a cool wash - after all you have nothing to lose! I would discuss with your LL before you offer to buy a new one - they may well not be worried about a few minor marks if thats all it is.

Those wall marks, provided they are minor, are fair wear and tear if they have been caused by furniture during normal usage in the same way that flattened carpet where the sofa feet rest is fair wear and tear (ie not moving furniture around or when you accidentally knocked the cupboard over).

In all honesty, beyond cleaning the oven (which is your responsibility) and removing this mould it sounds like most of these marks are fair wear and tear.

carla40

if you have a ceramic hob then get a product called 'hob bright' its brilliant on mine, if you have solid hotplates then i think either kleeneeze or betterware do a certain product to blacken any marks, hope this helps

missdee85

I have an induction hob which is a nightmare to get burnt things off of which usually happens in the split second when i amn't actually looking.

For cleaning mines i use the Mr muscle oven foam cleaner leave it on for a good 20 mins then scrub - not sure whether it will work or be safe on ceramic so i would check on the back of any packaging before attempting so you dont need to pay out for a new hob.

Good luck
xx

Fire_Fox

You need a specialist cleaning product for the hob, you can also buy blacking stuff for electric hob plates. Water doesn't burn on it evaporates, so there must have been something in the water. For the walls the only product that will remove scuffs and finger marks is sugar soap applied with a soft damp cloth - if they are more scratches then you may need to paint the whole wall. If you wash the wall with sugar soap this may even out the wall enough to patch paint; it will also help you get a more even finish than painting over muck.

MissDee: I have an induction hob as do my parents and we have no problem keeping it clean, are you sure you don't have a halogen hob? My parents used to cover their old one with newspaper to make it easier to clean. : An induction hob should not get hot enough for anything to burn on.