Prepping flat for rental but got a couple of problems!

lynsayjane

Hi all,

I'm moving home in a few weeks and have a tenant lined up to move into my flat but have a couple of issues that I hope there are old style solutions to!

Firstly there was a spill of candle wax on a carpet (about the only thing I couldn't find a cleaning solution to in the index), I was advised to iron over baking paper but it appears to have made it worse. Is there any way to try and fix it or am I having to shell out for a new carpet? It's in quite a prominant place so can't even be hid

Secondly I have some high gloss units which have some scratches. Most are minor and I'm happy to leave as is but there is one that is more visible. My one thought to repair it would be something designed to hide scratches in cars (t cut type stuff) but thought I'd check before potentially making it worse!

All help gratefully received!
x

RAS

Keep on ironing and it will come out eventually.

You need an absorbent paper so baking paper may not be best - try kitchen towel.

-taff

not baking paper, that's not porous enough, brown paper is what you need, or newspaper, but that might transfer.

You won't be able to hide the scratch without compl;etely redoing the unit. Any repair you do will be visible. A professional might be able to hide it. Can you not replace the door?

lynsayjane

Thanks!

Will try to stop at the SM for brown paper and keep trying!

It's actually the top of a sideboard that has the scratch. From a distance it's not too obvious but because it's black it's a visible white scratch when you're close.

Butterfly_Brain

You could try rubbing half a walnut into the scratch, the oils from the walnut might help to blend it in

Gigervamp

You can buy special *crayon* type things for touching up scratches on furniture.

If you can't get the wax out of the carpet, could you hide it with a rug?

lynsayjane

Gigervamp wrote: »

If you can't get the wax out of the carpet, could you hide it with a rug?

That's how I'm hiding it just now but the couple moving in want it as 'unfurnished as possible'

RAS

lynsayjane wrote: »

That's how I'm hiding it just now but the couple moving in want it as 'unfurnished as possible'

Probably becasue they want to put their own rug down?

Make sure the inventory is correct in detailing the marks and stop worrying too much.

Gigervamp

Oh well, as others have said, just put it on the inventory. Very few rental properties are perfect!

We moved into one where the cellar (which we had hoped to use) was full of previous tenants rubbish, and the landlords refused to empty it!

lynsayjane

Thanks folks, will try to tidy it up as much as possible then make any decisions about new carpet/leaving it. As the property has been my home it's been decorated as such and feedback I've had is that it's in much better condition/presented than normal rental properties. Between that and the rent I was hoping to attract tenants who would be more likely to keep it to a good standard.

kboss2010

I wouldn't bother doing anything with it. If that's the worst thing wrong with the property, your tenants are lucky.

Every rented flat I've lived in has had subsiding floors/peeling paint/kitchens which fall apart/draughty window seals and, in Aberdeen, that's standard for a 2 bed rented property for less than £900 a month.

My current landlord hasn't done anything to maintain the property except replace the fridge freezer since he bought the place 10 years ago.