Tenant/Landlord disagreement, spilt paint

LFowler

Hi,

Hopefully somebody will be able to clear this up for me.

Basically some varnish has been spilt in the cupboard underneath the stairs and has left a mark on the floor (only in the cupboard). My landlord wants us to replace the lino, which I know won't cost much but he's been very petty about it.

I swear I read somewhere that landlords are not suppose to leave paint lying around, after all if he hadn't left it in there it wouldn't have been spilt.

Should we have to pay for the replacement flooring?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks

go_cat

How did it spill was the lid not on , sorry i am a bit confused

SternMusik

How old is the lino?

LFowler

I assume the lid wasn't on properly as it was only on the floor in there, wasn't like it fell from a great height.

The lino, I think he said he put it in there last year but whether that's true or not. It's only an off cut I imagine he had nothing special.

Thanks for replying so quickly by the way

LFowler

oh yeah forgot to say, we keep loads of crap under the stairs, ironing board, hoover other bits in pieces someone probably just shoved something in there and that's how it spilt.

go_cat

Then i think you should do the right thing and replace it - its not worth aggrevating the landlord for damage you did

McKneff

Just go to a carpet warehouse, shouldnt cost you more than a tenner for an offcut.

Presumably somebody knocked it off a shelf getting the ironing board or something out.

paddyrg

LFowler wrote: »

...some varnish has been spilt...

Quite a passive tense - are you saying you spilt the varnish, or the landlord/agent did? If it was you, put down some fresh, if him, don't.

pmlindyloo

Measure the area and put a request on Freecycle - lots of peole have odd bits of lino lying around.

If you haven't used Freecycle before you may need to offer something on there - can be anything you no longer need - people offer all sorts of wierd and wondeful things!

Not sure if you have to offer something first but seems only polite to do so.

LFowler

Thanks for your messages guess I'll have to replace it.

tbs624

LFowler wrote: »

Basically some varnish has been spilt in the cupboard underneath the stairs and has left a mark on the floor (only in the cupboard). My landlord wants us to replace the lino, which I know won't cost much but he's been very petty about it.

As you/your fellow Ts caused the varnish to spill then you should put it right. You are aware it won't cost much to sort it out and then label your LL as petty for asking you to replace the lino?

LFowler wrote: »

I swear I read somewhere that landlords are not suppose to leave paint lying around, after all if he hadn't left it in there it wouldn't have been spilt.

That is child like reasoning IMO. You knew it was there and you could have asked the LL to store it elsewhere if you felt it was an issue. A tin of paint is an inaminate object - it does not leap around of its own accord.

LFowler wrote: »

Should we have to pay for the replacement flooring?

Yes, but to push it with you the LL would need to have a jointly signed inventory completed at the start of the tenancy which details this bit of floor covering, and there should be an allowance made for fair wear and tear.

If he hasn't covered his back with an inventory then its up to you whether you act in an adult fashion. Balance the small costs ( or none if you are succesfully able to use freecycle as suggested) against the likelihood of having to move on at the earliest possible opportunity.