Replacing cheap door but landlord charging too much

saajan_12

Sibz wrote: »

I wouldn't be paying that. - correct, it would most likely be a deposit deduction. But you certainly WOULD end up losing it, like it or not.
Of course the LL can choose his own contractor and his own door - it's his house. He could hire a team of 50 carpenters and a solid gold jewel encrusted door with diamond hinges - it doesn't mean you should pay for it. - correct, you should pay the reasonable cost of reinstating the door prior to the damage. You should pay for a 2 year old cardboard door - Its not a cardboard door, its a wooden door with chipboard centre. Very different to cardboard. [\COLOR] (2 year old NOT NEW) - Yes it should be a 2 year old door, but an interior door (so not open to the elements) should reasonably last 50-100 years if not as long as the house so the LL has had 2/50 = 4% of the useful life. You would be paying for 96% of the cost of a NEW door, so your point isn't as groundbreaking as you think it is. and chip in for the fitting as a gesture of goodwill if you feel so inclined. - FALSE. The LL had a fitted 2 year old door, so to make good you would have to pay for 96% of the cost of materials and labour (so the door, hinges, handles, carpenter's fuel and carpenter's time to measure, source door, travel, remove old door, fit new door, clean mess.
That is the tenant's responsibility to pay and can be forcibly deducted from a deposit or successfully sued for in court, not just "goodwill".

Bare in mind this could also potentially be the agents doing. Who did your invoice come from? If it's all via the agents might be worth contacting the LL directly. Otherwise this could affect an otherwise perfectly good LL-tenant arrangement.

OP, the £200 seems reasonable just pay it. Just because you found one £25 doesn't mean that'll be the exact size that will fit or match the other doors, which the LL is entitled to. Reasonable costs would be:
- £60 door
- £10 hinges, handle, screw (may not be feasible / cost more in labour to source these from the old door)
- £15 fuel / van wear & tear (50p/ mile, 30 miles to shop & rental & back)
- £100 per hour x 3 hours to buy and fit door, dispose of the old one
- £15 disposal fees for old door

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All in £400 so you're not doing badly.

lookstraightahead

Terrible! You've been taken advantage of.

wesleyad

FreeBear wrote: »

Are you sure you were looking at a like for like door ?
It is quite possible that the door you damaged (and its replacement) is a fire door.

Unlikely to be a fire door if a bike falling over has gone through it.

That said, I agree the door may be different and different contractors will have different sources. Its not reasonable to expect a contractor to shop around for the best door deal.

OP, just let it get queried by the deposit arbiture, offer something reasonable like £125 as you have said, and let them decide. They either agree or they dont, not much else you can do.

Davesnave

For those querying the construction, the OP is probably correct in their description, and it almost certainly isn't any kind of fire door if it was penetrated by a falling bike.


I have burned enough sapele-grained, cheap doors from my house and the local school to know that the interior has a cardboard type of matrix inside and the thickness of the panelling is about 6mm. A large proportion of those I disposed of were holed, probably by small accidents, like the OP describes.

need_an_answer

Cakeguts wrote: »

You aren't just paying for the door though if it is fitted by a contactor. You are paying for his time to get the door, his van to put it in. ( How were you going to get it back to the flat from B & Q do you own a van?) then you are paying for his time to fit it and to make sure that it is the right size to fit the hole it goes into.

In total agreement with cakeguts

The contractor also needs to refit any handles,hinges or locks back on the door and maybe paint it

Whilst I concede that the bill does seem at the top end of what you should have expected to pay its worth pointing out that it costs the same to hang a cheap door as it does an expensive door,the fact that the door was cheap isn't the issue its the cost to hang it using a contractor and make good what you have damaged

Hasbeen

£200 is at the upper end, Reasonable door B&Q £33, Hinges £3, Handles £8. Fitting approx. £100. Total £144 If carpenter had to collect and dispose extra. If registered carpenter sign written van then councils charge disposal?

Could have saved if original hinges handles used but perhaps not if they had to be taken off one door and installed on an other.

But probably estimate at £160 to £170ish

lookstraightahead

Isn't it funny that everything is so expensive when the tenant has to pay for it, yet when (some) landlords have to pay themselves they find cheap labour and cheap materials.

Our fence panel broke and our landlord replaced it no problem. He used a mate to do it.

Would any landlord pay £300 to have a £30 door replaced in their own home? Never.

need_an_answer

lookstraightahead wrote: »

Would any landlord pay £300 to have a £30 door replaced in their own home? Never.

if that was the going rate then yes I would, I nor my OH have the expertise to fit a door so would have to pay it if that were the rate to get it done properly.

I've got standard £30 doors in my own property but one of my rentals has handmade bespoke doors that were very expensive when made and fitted because each door frame was a non standard size and it fell out of the remit of what was adjustable with off the shelf purchased doors.

so in answer to your question I paid £385 a door fully fitted,not in my own home but my rental...and yes should a tenant damage one then I would quite happily charge it back to them...although in fairness I would also expect that the doors would withstand a severe knocking before they became damaged.(in the case the OP makes if the bike had fallen on one of my doors I'm guessing the bike may have come off worse)

ANGLICANPAT

The advice Ive consistently picked up on here by seasoned landlords to new landlords , seems to be you dont EVER allow your tenant to do repairs,decorating etc - on the grounds they may well muck it up bigtime. Yet , here , landlords are saying the tenant should have just got on and done it .Door hanging and painting aren't necessary jobs for the unskilled though?

BarleyGB

I'm a landlord, coincidentally a couple of flats in MK. I'm continually replacing worn out items, from toilet seats to re-grouting the bathroom. Repainting etc as want to maintain the properties in good condition and be a good landlord.

Having said that id be reluctant to let any tenant carry out repairs, what if the door falls off in a weeks time and injures a child. Or in the process of fitting the laminate floor/door frame is damaged.

£200 for a door to be replaced sounds as expensive but not when you factor in all the associated costs. Compare it to a £20 bottle of wine from a pub to the same bottle in Tesco.