rental repairs beyond fair wear and tear....how to procede ???

[Deleted User]

rik111 said:

I presume you will be replacing the carpets very soon and keeping with all other maintenance issues. If I was you tenant and you came whining about paint flaking off the radiators and not to dry my clothes on them after paying you 5 years worth of rent. I would be rather unhelpful in future and any small maintenance issue I would be straight onto your case. It works both ways.... 

Why would the OP be replacing carpets soon? Who even said there were carpets in the property? 

You might be straight on to your landlord with every small maintenance case but it doesn’t sound like the OP’s tenants can be bothered reporting any maintenance which is why rental inspections are important, to identify maintenance and repair issues before they become serious. 

[Deleted User]

Splatfoot said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Splatfoot said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Splatfoot said:

Who doesn't dry their clothes on radiators?🙃 Outside is not always practical. I can't see how drying clothes on decent radiators would ruin them in a few years?

I don’t. When I have to dry clothes indoors I put them on a clothes horse, not over the radiator. Allowing air to circulate around the wet/damp clothing helps them to dry. All drying your clothes over a radiator achieves is an increased gas bill and encourages mould. 

Not ruined radiators though...? I don't now because I have a tumble drier but have done loads of times in the past! 

I wouldn't know because I've never been daft enough to do it in the first place.

I think you're a bit ott.... 

You say OTT, I say I understand how convection radiators work and know how to dry clothes efficiently. Plus I’ve never had rusting radiators or paint flaking off radiators. Go me.  

[Deleted User]

I did move into a place a couple of times with rusting radiators.., but they were 30 years old.  If the paint is sound, they won't rust even if wet clothes are placed on them, end of.  The whole system was replaced and the place got warmer quicker, better and cost me a lot less in fuel bills.  But a LL won't be interested in that, of course!

While a LL tends to blame damp on tenant lifestyle.., I've never really gone along with the idea that this is always true.  There could be other causes of damp related to the building.  I had very bad damp in bathroom and bedroom in my present building, vents were replaced, it was cleaned up and never returned (but the wallpaper and plaster was ruined once I cleaned the mould up using cillit bang mould remover which just dissolved it.  I had another problem with mould, exterior walls in the room were much colder than other walls in the building, put insulating wallpaper up, mould didn't return and room felt instantly warmer, as did the previously cold walls. I still lived the same way with my infernal breathing out of moisture laded air..

Splatfoot

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Splatfoot said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Splatfoot said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Splatfoot said:

Who doesn't dry their clothes on radiators?🙃 Outside is not always practical. I can't see how drying clothes on decent radiators would ruin them in a few years?

I don’t. When I have to dry clothes indoors I put them on a clothes horse, not over the radiator. Allowing air to circulate around the wet/damp clothing helps them to dry. All drying your clothes over a radiator achieves is an increased gas bill and encourages mould. 

Not ruined radiators though...? I don't now because I have a tumble drier but have done loads of times in the past! 

I wouldn't know because I've never been daft enough to do it in the first place.

I think you're a bit ott.... 

You say OTT, I say I understand how convection radiators work and know how to dry clothes efficiently. Plus I’ve never had rusting radiators or paint flaking off radiators. Go me.  

Ahh. I tend not to hang them on convector rads but single panel or double older style flat types, definitely. 

macman

Rusting rads? So, rub them down and repaint as part of the general revamp that you are doing anyway. Replacing them because of surface rust is completely absurd, unless the rust is so deep that they're near to perforating.

Hannimal

9oaks said:

we consider ourselves good landlords and only want to be fair to the tenants and ourselves, and stay withing the guidance.
our rent is much lower than should be for the property, but unfortunately this will now need to go up inline to what it should be.

Said every landlord always. They are just the good samaritans aren't they. Always charging rent that is too low and being ever so fair to their tenants. They just absolutely must increase the rent because they have been so, so generous. Aww bless them.