Stuck with Blu Tack - help please

specialk1972

Hi,

We have just completed 18 months in a rental property and in my son's bedroom there are some marks left on the walls from Blu-Tac

There is a clause in our contract which we didn't realise included blu-tac:
Not to fix or hang any posters, pictures, photographs or ornaments to the walls, ceilings
or woodwork with nails, glue, sticky tape, blue-tac or similar adhesive fixings other than
solely with a reasonable number of commercially made picture hooks appropriate for
the purpose and to make good at the end of the tenancy, or be liable for the fair costs
of making good any unreasonable damage, marks or holes caused by such fixings or their
removal.

However, we went round to the house to discuss some other items that we knew were incorrect and when looking at what was my son's bedroom found that holes that were in the room from wires and a TV wall mount stand when we moved in have been filled in and plastered over by the landlord in the last couple of days since we moved out. There are more than half a dozen of them, some of them quite big and they are going to have to redecorate to cover these up.

However, the LL has said they are going to have to re-decorate because of the blu-tac marks and we will have to pay. We aren't trying to get away with not paying for damage we caused but if they have now filled in and plastered these holes we mentioned (which aren't on the same wall as the blu-tac marks) they are going to have to decorate anyway so should we be paying for all or some of it?

Can anyone please advise where we stand on this? Our deposit is with the TDS and I know they can discuss on our behalf but would prefer to sort this out as quickly and as amicably as possible.

Oh, just one other thing to note the new tenants move in on Tuesday, so the work is going ahead regardless.

Thanks
Specialk

missile

You caused damage pay up.

specialk1972

As per my post I'm not saying we didn't cause any damage and not adverse to paying for it but now they have also filled large holes in the walls should we be paying for the whole room to be decorated?

zappahey

More helpfully, if the paintwork wasn't brand new when you moved in, then you should only be paying a proportion of the cost based on the age of the paintwork versus the expected lifespan of it.

So, as an example, if the paintwork is two years old, and expected to last four years, you would pay half.

Also, if the paint is a standard colour (magnolia, say), I would only expect you to pay for the wall you marked.

chris_m

Were the pre-exisiting holes detailed on your checkin inventory or did you bring them to your landlord's attention (in writing, so you have evidence that you did) when you moved in?

If so then you have good grounds for negotiating a split of the redecorating costs - obviously, you should pay for the damage that you definitely caused but not that which you didn't. If not then it's worth a try but you may well not win.

specialk1972

Thanks zappahey

The walls hadn't been painted before we moved in, they were done when the LL bought the house (4 years before we moved in), unfortunately it wasn't magnolia but a grey Laura Ashley paint

Will try and calculate cost based on that.

specialk1972

chris_m, the holes were there when we moved in and all noted on the check in inventory.

They seem to be doing a lot of work for the new tenants that wasn't done when we moved in, by their own admission because they weren't intending to rent and they were out of the country and it was a quick decision so things were left as they had had them.

Now they are going to rent out again they have removed the cables that came through the holes we are talking about, also the TV mount and quite a few other things around the house.

Thanks

chris_m

specialk1972 wrote: »

chris_m, the holes were there when we moved in and all noted on the check in inventory.

Great, that should help you to negotiate a fair split of the redecorating cost - especially when you take into account that redecorating costs, other than to repair damage, should normally be borne by the landlord, not the tenant.

tbs624

As above, you should negotiate on the redecoration costs as the LL can't use your deposit for betterment, *but* it is not just a case of slapping new emulsion over blu/white tac marks.

If the marks cannot be cleanly eradicated by some form of solvent then a stain block primer will need to be applied prior to re-emulsioning, usually to the whole wall as otherwise patching "flashes" through.

IHateDida

I would just pay £14 for a tin of emulsion and paint over the blu-tac marks - it will only take you a couple of hours max if you get the same colour (prob an hour if the room isn't very large). This will save your deposit - simple!