Deposit and redecorating/cleaning

DaftyDuck

I normally post long-winded answers. This time, I am just lost for words.

Thank you for not being my tenant!

Guest101

Eejay wrote: »

I haven't taken many photos, but I've got a few of the wallpaper.

The wallpaper in the living room was damaged around the window so we took off the affected strips and replaced them. Underneath the wallpaper was a second layer of backing paper where they obviously hadn't bothered to remove the old wallpaper properly, but it was not lined up with the new wallpaper which made it difficult to remove neatly. Therefore down the joins it is a little bit bumpy, but not much at all. It dried out a bit too at the edges so it's not stuck down quite perfectly, but painting over it with the same paint would help with that. It was my first attempt at wallpapering so I'm pretty pleased with it. I would say it's as good as their 'complicated' bits (there's a bit at one side of the room where it's all bunched up as it goes around an awkward corner, and that's what the 'professional' did before... haven't got a pic unfortunately though). The man who did the check out said "you can see the joins" but he seemed to lack the ability to understand anything I said to him - I explained that it still needed painting.








The hallway was pretty much like these pictures - a bit bumpy in places but the plaster was coming away in places and it had never been sealed, so it was difficult to work with. There were two other bits that were bad - a 10cm (approx.) strip between two doors was yellow whilst the rest was white (I can't understand why - someone else might know) and there was a wonky join down the side of the front door. Most issues would be solved with a coat of paint, but the bit by the front door might be better off being replaced - I have matching wallpaper which I'm happy to provide if they'd like to replace that bit. I think stripping the entire hallway is ridiculous when, apart from it not being painted, it is the same standard as the paper that was in. The old paper also had a border stuck over the top which was hanging off at the edges because you're not supposed to put a flat border over Anaglypta - it certainly wasn't a 'perfect' room.





As for the bedrooms, they needed a second coat of paint which I'm happy to pay for too. In daylight, leaving the one wall pink-ish looked worse than it had at night with the lights on so I could understand wanting to paint the whole lot. The 'professional' they used last time painted the walls, polystyrene coving and ceiling all in one go so this is why I don't think it'd take long - apart from the skirting boards and door frames, there weren't really any edges to do neatly. Just slap paint everywhere like they did last time.

When it comes to cleaning, we got rid of the worst marks. There was cat fluff on one curtain which was quite bad, but I couldn't wipe it down with wet kitchen roll because I'd painted the walls by then and didn't want to get paint all over the curtains by straightening them out. There may have been small amounts on other curtains but they certainly weren't caked in fluff. The floors had been vacuumed but the vacuum wasn't picking up very well, so whilst the worst bits were up, the smaller bits remained. There was also dust around the place from where furniture had been moved, but again it wasn't thick with dust - any 'dust bunnies' had been vacuumed or swept. Inside cupboards and drawers were fairly clean as we'd had stuff inside them, so any dust would more likely be on our belongings. The kitchen will have been the worst - the hob and sink were thoroughly cleaned, the floor was cleaned to some extent but we were in and out so it couldn't be done fully. Any marks/splashes on the wall were cleaned off and the worktops wiped down. Inside the drawers had little bits in them as we hadn't cleaned them out, but no more than you would expect after you'd just emptied them of food. That's the condition they were in when we got there. The only bit of rubbish we left was a tiny bit of foil in one drawer that I noticed when he was checking through them.

I do think people are being a bit dramatic - we knew it was going to need a clean, but I think 6 hours is OTT. Three bedrooms, a bathroom, a cupboard, kitchen and living room... I suspect the LA has encouraged them to take as long as they like. At £27 an hour. If we'd managed to organise it sooner we could have had the cleaning and carpets done for only a few pounds more than this place is charging just for the cleaning!

ETA: Because we don't drive, it would have taken us about an hour and a half on two buses to get to Homebase and the same to get back, so that's why we didn't get the light. If I knew anyone locally who could have taken us across in a car then I would have gone (it's only 3 miles away), but unfortunately there isn't anyone I could ask

U can walk 3 miles in an hour... So not sure why you'd spend 50% longer on a bus.

Anyway presumebly it's the LLs fault ( or maybe it's my fault ) you don't have a car

This thread is the perfect example of self entitled, expect everything on a plate Britain.

Eejay

I don't know where you got this 'self entitled' nonsense from. I didn't say everything was other people's fault, except the wallpaper in the hallway which I did not do (I couldn't exactly tell him to stop part way through - he'd have probably killed me). I don't think I've blamed the LL for anything either. I can't drive, so even if I had a car I wouldn't be able to get there. Regardless, the light broke at about 01:00, and checkout was at 10:30 so I would not have had time to get there and back and get everything else done.

The carpets do not need cleaning and it is not written in the contract that they need to be cleaned either, so why would I want to spend £100 doing this? They aren't even worth £100. I would be prepared to contribute an amount towards them getting cleaned at the end of the next tenant living there since she has cats also and I can't see the point in paying 2 x £100 to get carpets cleaned twice that aren't in very good condition anyway (and are not unclean). It's the LA saying they need to be cleaned - if they wanted to make this the 'rule' they should have actually written it in the contract rather than just telling us it's there when it isn't.

We were let out of our tenancy early if we paid the relisting fees. We were not told that we'd owe until today, so we were going to move out at the start of the month but when we discovered we'd still be paying for an additional week we said we'd stay a bit longer. I'm not sure if that was the end of the month or whether we were actually going to have to pay up until the next tenant moved in regardless. Whenever my husband has had new tenants move in, we've left a week or two between the end of one and the start of the next for cleaning and decorating - not just a day and a half. And his flat has often been left in the condition we left ours in - at least we had the decency to say we'd pay for a cleaner. After all, we could have denied it since they didn't do an inventory.

I know we haven't done a great job these last few days, but it's because we ran out of time, not because we're intentionally horrible people. It's the LA who has annoyed me more than anything because of their attitude - for example when I told the man at check-out that the hinge on the bedside cabinet had broken, we'd repaired it but not tightened the screws that connect the two parts of the hinges because the glue we'd had to use to fill the holes that were too large for the screws was still setting, he wrote down that the cabinet was broken. It wasn't broken - it was fixed and just needed two screws tightening like I'd told him. The LA later told me it wasn't broken because the LL had been and it just needed tightening... funny that.

Anyway, I knew posting on here would open me up to a whole load of abuse (just like every other time I've posted anything!) but I feel better for having ranted about it all so it was worth it

cavework

'I do think people are being a bit dramatic - we knew it was going to need a clean, but I think 6 hours is OTT. Three bedrooms, a bathroom, a cupboard, kitchen and living room... I suspect the LA has encouraged them to take as long as they like. At £27 an hour. If we'd managed to organise it sooner we could have had the cleaning and carpets done for only a few pounds more than this place is charging just for the cleaning!'


But you didn't and TBH no matter what you think they need to clean, they are a business that does this for a living and will have to re-clean the whole property to a decent standard for re-let.
Also they have their travelling time to include and their supplies.
Their price is about right
As for the carpets?
You would be amazed at how many times people think their carpets are clean until they see what actually is extracted by a professional deep clean carpet cleaning machine.(not a steam cleaner)
By having them cleaned properly the carpets will last a lot longer.

notanewuser

Eejay wrote: »

I know we haven't done a great job these last few days, but it's because we ran out of time, not because we're intentionally horrible people.

Have you never seen the speed/cost/quality equation?

If you want a job done quickly and well it will not be cheap.
If you want a job done quickly and cheaply it will not be done well.
If you want a job done well and cheaply it will not be quick.

Looks like you attempted quick and cheap and ended up with not done well. Time to chuck some money at it - a decent amount.

Eejay

The carpets have just about had it and are muck coloured anyway.

The £110 was also expensive but I can't understand why they need the extra two hours. I'd have been prepared to pay the £110 with no question at all. How can it take 6 hours when there's no furniture there?

notanewuser

Eejay wrote: »

The carpets have just about had it and are muck coloured anyway.

The £110 was also expensive but I can't understand why they need the extra two hours. I'd have been prepared to pay the £110 with no question at all. How can it take 6 hours when there's no furniture there?

I don't think that sounds unreasonable.

ANGLICANPAT

This thread is just too funny , best Ive read in ages ! Really looked forward to reading the unfolding saga . Not even April any time soon either!

Stevlar

Wow. Just, wow.

I've moved several times, once while 8 months pregnant and with a 16 month old, then again 6 months later with a newborn and a toddler. I know exactly how hard it is to juggle childcare and moving.

But every time we've moved I've paid for a carpet cleaner, spent hours cleaning the kitchen (including scrubbing inside cupboards and thoroughly cleaning the oven). I've scrubbed or repainted marked walls, paid a window cleaner and made sure the gardens were mown and weed free.

Never, never have I left a place in a state that I wouldn't be happy to move into, even if the place was in less than brilliant condition when we moved in. I've also been willing to pay for damages when appropriate.

I truly don't understand why you think the state you've left for your landlord to deal with is acceptable. As the person who signed the tenancy agreement any damage or substandard work is entirely your responsibility, stop blaming your poor father in law for doing you a favour.

I would love to wish you luck in your new place, but I think the luck would be better placed with your landlord.

Eejay

I don't think that we've left it in good condition, and we said we'd get the light replaced, a cleaner, and agreed we'd pay for a decorator to finish off painting. The hallway is not bad enough to require fully redecorating though - that's just ridiculous. It's not perfect but it's not terrible either. It's no worse than what was up apart from the fact it's not painted, so why would I want to pay someone to redo it entirely? I'll pay for someone to paint it.

We didn't organise our time very well and I have admitted that.

And yes, I can blame my FIL for not doing a great job of the papering - you don't agree to do something if you're not very good at it

ETA: Also, I do feel bad that the LL has been left with all this hassle because he's been really good, but the LAs attitude has been bad lately (and yes, I know someone will say our attitude has been bad too but we've messed up and ran out of time and didn't intentionally mess everything up). In fact we've been quite good tenants until this last week, when suddenly everything was on top of us and we clearly couldn't cope with it.