Carpets in a rental property

nikki_angel

Hi all,

I was hoping for some opinions from LLs for my query.

We moved in Feb '10 and apparently the 2 bedrooms had new carpet fitted the Sept/Oct before (so 2009). The carpet is still shedding now and it is extremely irritating. My daughter, who still has a tendancy to crawl at times, always has handfuls of fluff and her toes are covered too. As she also tends to eat whatever is in her hands this is a bit of a problem!

Now, I vacuum as much as I can and have even left vacuuming to see if that was what was making it worse but to be honest, either way there is ALWAYS shedding.

I brought this to the attention of the EA just in case there was a fault with this carpet and they have said they will notify the landlady as apparently she is very particular and would want it sorted if she thinks it is a problem.

As LL, what would you do? Would you get it investigated or do you think it is still early days in the new carpet? Would you even care one way or the other?

It's a minor irritation compared to some, I know, but it is rather annoying to have your clean outfit covered in fluff 5 minutes after putting it on!

Any opinions thankfully received.

tyllwyd

The first carpet we ever bought shed an incredible number of fibres, but as I remember it had calmed down after a month or two. Since then, all the carpets we've had have been fine after a couple of times vacuuming them. So if it is still shedding an annoying number of fibres after a year, I think there is definitely something strange going on, and I think you should raise this with the landlord. If nothing else, I'd have thought they might be starting to look a bit threadbare soon!

nikki_angel

Thanks Tyllwyd. I was hoping it would have calmed down too but it just hasn't. As for threadbare, I think we have a way to go yet.

tbs624

Did you put your comments to the LL/LA in writing?

You are entitled to have a name and address for your LL btw, LA has 21 days to provide yo with the info if you make a request for it, in writing

Mum_of_3_3

Make sure you notify them by letter rather than verbally. Also, refer to the previous conversation you had about the problem. That way you have some back up for yourself should any problems arise.

nikki_angel

Hi tbs624 and mum_of_3. Actually, no I didn't put it in writing as I thought I'd call on the off chance to see if I was worrying about nothing IYKWIM. I didn't know for sure when the carpets were put in, hence the call to the LA and have no knowledge of carpets and shedding so didn't think to put it officially. I do have the LL address but I didn't know if I should be bothering her direct. We love it here so much that we really don't want to rock the boat.

BitterAndTwisted

I don't see that a friendly enquiry to your landlady in writing should be seen as rocking the boat. You're concerned about the condition of her own investment, after all. Then, should an issue arise later about the condition, you'll have a copy of your original letter as backup.

nikki_angel

I know what you mean B&T, I just don't want to be seen as problem tenants. They have already had the contract amended once due to a request from us to see if it was ok for us to put pressure mounted stairgates in. I didn't think there was a need to amend the contract as there wouldn't be any damage to the walls but they paid £70 odd to have an adendum put in.

BitterAndTwisted

It depends entirely on how such a letter might be worded. Something like "We're not sure whether this might be a concern to you or not, but what appears to be very new carpets in x rooms are still shedding quite a lot. We're not clear ourselves on what might be expected in the circumstances and would be quite happy for you to pop round to inspect them should you feel it necessary, Blah, blah, blah"

I can't see that the tone of such an observation could be misinterpreted, but it's up to you, obviously.

nikki_angel

Brill, thanks so much for that. I shall put pen to paper and get it done this weekend.