How much "in house maintenance" do you as a LL expect or as a tenant give?

LEJC

This thread isn't meant in any way to have a go at either tenants or LL's and I would be grateful if we could refrain from apportioning too much blame either way when replying.

It comes on the back of an email I recently received from a set of tenants asking me to arrange a plumber to deal with a wobbly toilet seat.

The email came in during an evening and I decided it could wait till the morning to respond.
Come the next morning as I was composing an email back came the reply...not to worry as it was just a loose screw and had now been fixed.

Fair enough...but it got me thinking as to how much is too much to suggest the tenant first tries some simple fixes....

I appreciate that everyone has different thresholds of capability but tenants I'd like to hear about your experiences in a light hearted manner as well as how LL's have dealt with the "smaller " requests.

Is it a case that as a tenant you report everything first then consider your options or is it a case of if it needs any fix it's back to the LL for advice or guidance.

Or is it a case of LL's you would rather deal with everything however small to avoid the potential of things becoming worse.

Comms69

Surely a handyman would be more suited than a plumber?


That said the answer is - it depends.


Plenty of things that a tenant can fix on their own, but should they have to?


In my opinion if it's going to take longer than an hour or cost more than £10, i'll report it.

Mossfarr

I think it depends on the age and experience of the renters.
My first set of tenants were young and it was their first time away from home. They were a complete pain as they called us any time of night or day for the most minor things and expected an immediate response. Things like hanging pictures for them (?!!), changing the battery in the smoke alarm, new battery in doorbell and even changing lightbulbs. Jobs which I definitely expected them to sort themselves.
They even phoned us at 10.30pm on a freezing Boxing Day to say they had just got home and the boiler wasn't working, they expected my husband to go straight away! Apart from the fact that my husband was very much worse for wear by that time we had told them many many times that the fault was a frozen condensation pipe which they simply needed to pour a kettle of boiling water over to clear it.
Thankfully they left after a year and we now have older more experienced tenants who never bother us unless its a real emergency. We discuss and resolve any minor issues at the regular inspections.

aneary

I have an issue with the door handle on my bathroom it doesn't work on the inside, I also have an issue with the sliding wardrobe door it keeps coming off the rail, I was going to get my landlord to fix it but I then had a issue with a blocked toilet which was half my fault and the LL got a plumber out the same day and didn't have a go at me.

My dad is a carpenter and will be over at some point to put a bookcase up he will fix the door handle then, (there is only me so I rarely need to fully shut the door) and the wardrobe I can live with although my dad will be looking at that too.

It depends what it is and whether I can fix it or not (I tried to unblock the toilet before calling my LL). Also if it's electrics, or gas I won't even try as I could cause more damage.

LEJC

Comms69 wrote: »

Surely a handyman would be more suited than a plumber?


That said the answer is - it depends.


Plenty of things that a tenant can fix on their own, but should they have to?


In my opinion if it's going to take longer than an hour or cost more than £10, i'll report it.

That's quite a good yardstick to use....
and yes I agree it depends...I have several sets of tenants ranging from the quite adept who will pick up the instruction manual through the spectrum to "why should I deal with it...."

The interesting thing that came up when I spoke to someone else about it was the issue of lightbulbs....another area that could be classed tenant responsibility but also could need guidance.

....The plumber would have been my OH...not a professional handyman as such ...but useful with a screwdriver!

PasturesNew

Mossfarr wrote: »

Things like hanging pictures for them (?!!), changing the battery in the smoke alarm, new battery in doorbell and even changing lightbulbs. Jobs which I definitely expected them to sort themselves.

I am a home owner and struggle with that lot. To date:
- I have hung no pictures ... and left the "loose curtain rail" still loose as I've no idea how to fix that, what with or what tools I'd need.
- The smoke detector was beeping every minute for a week before I finally even dared to attempt it (hard wired in/petrified of electrical wires) ... and I eventually managed to get a neighbour in to do it for me (but he's moved now!).
- changing lightbulbs - I can do that, if I can find the right one... I've hardly any left here as I never seem to get round to getting them out and going out hunting for the right sort.
- battery in the doorbell, been here 3+ years and not got round to it yet. Not really sure how the front'd come off...and scared of breaking something if I try.

People who are landlords are, by nature of their interests, more likely to feel able to do these things - and more likely to have confidence and the right tools.

Some of us have major "what if" fears of touching things.... I'd rather sit with something not working than have a go at it and totally b4lls it up and create a more urgent/big problem.

NaughtiusMaximus

Comms69 wrote: »

In my opinion if it's going to take longer than an hour or cost more than £10, i'll report it.

Agree with the added caveat I would only tackle a job as a tenant if I was 100% sure I wouldn't screw it up. With my own property I would take a little more of a risk on that last point.

LEJC

Mossfar...I can sympathise with you over what you describe....I do think that perhaps its an experience thing and possibly if it's the first time away from home when something suddenly "breaks" it needs sorting straight away....these tenants have only been in a month so it's even too early to discuss inspections with them and in fairness I have always made it clear we are available for advice or whatever....

Mossfarr

Another incident I've just recalled about my young tenants... They complained that the cooker was giving of a really nasty smell each time they used it (which was a rare event as they usually went to her Mothers house to eat)!
When we went to investigate the smell was caused by the clumps of cat hair stuck in the grease in the very dirty oven. They used to let the cats sleep in the oven and didn't even wipe it out before they cooked their pizza's in it - YUK!!

NaughtiusMaximus

Mossfarr wrote: »

Another incident I've just recalled about my young tenants... They complained that the cooker was giving of a really nasty smell each time they used it (which was a rare event as they usually went to her Mothers house to eat)!
When we went to investigate the smell was caused by the clumps of cat hair stuck in the grease in the very dirty oven. They used to let the cats sleep in the oven and didn't even wipe it out before they cooked their pizza's in it - YUK!!

:rotfl::rotfl:

Sounds like you could write a sitcom about this pair.

aneary

Mossfarr wrote: »

Another incident I've just recalled about my young tenants... They complained that the cooker was giving of a really nasty smell each time they used it (which was a rare event as they usually went to her Mothers house to eat)!
When we went to investigate the smell was caused by the clumps of cat hair stuck in the grease in the very dirty oven. They used to let the cats sleep in the oven and didn't even wipe it out before they cooked their pizza's in it - YUK!!

That makes me want to vomit.