Renting House - what am I liable to pay landlord

macapaca

Hi, we are currently renting a house. We have a couple of young children. Before we moved in a year ago, the landlord painted the place up.

One of the children is a little artistic lets say & has had lots of fun in scribbling on the paintwork throughout the house.

We are moving onwards shortly. Are we supposed to have the whole place painted up again? Is that the expectation?

thanks
macapaca

miju

not sure on this but AFAIK most landlords expect to repaint a property when tenants move out as that would be seen as normal wear and tear on a property

Morbid.Angel

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The_Conductor

Yes- repainting after a year would be excessive. Every 3-4 years might be the norm. I wouldn't be surprised if you found the cost of repainting being deducted from the deposit. As Morbid.Angel suggests- its expensive to get someone in to do it- you really have two options- do it yourself or accept that your deposit is going to go on painting. Also- if you are doing it yourself- do not just paint over the scribbles etc on the wall- it would have to be a reasonable job, with matching paint, most probably the whole walls. It might be easier to simply accept that you're going to have to take a hit on the deposit?

sparkyjo

surely you can't expect to be able to let your children draw on someone elses walls and not loose your deposit unless you landlord is a bit harmless this shouldn't really be a question


don't mean to be harse

BoozyBabe

Yes, as a landlady, I'd be V p!ssed off to find you let your child scribble all over my newly painted walls & then expect ME to be out of pocket for it.

It's not general wear & tear. Some splashes from cooking / spilt drink, few chips out of the paint, dirt around wall sockets etc:- that's wear & tear!! Picasso junior using by walls as a blank canvas is NOT.

You making no attempt to fix the problem would also rub salt into the wounds, so yes, I'd take it from your deposit.

No offence, but it's because of renters attitudes like yours is why I try my best to stick with professional couples with no children.

Though, at least you're asking the question.

The_Conductor

Also- to be quite honest- its entirely possible that your deposit may not cover the cost of repainting- you could be further out of pocket than you imagine.

S.

kmick

Buy a few pots of cheap paint and do it yourself. How many rooms/walls do you need to do?

The_Conductor

kmick wrote:

Buy a few pots of cheap paint and do it yourself. How many rooms/walls do you need to do?

If the landlord is not entirely happy with the job- he/she is liable to get the whole place redone at your expense.

Lesson learnt- buy your child a colouring book next time.......

eth0_

Could you not have disciplined your child when he started drawing on walls so that you wouldn't be in this situation now?

The landlord is going to want to see the house before he gives you your deposit back and you should either paint the walls yourself or tell him in advance and ask him to give you an estimate of the costs of re-painting.

How Strange

OP, ask your landlord for the colour codes of the paint he/she used and start repainting the walls yourself. If you use the exact same paint you probably won't have to repaint from floor to ceiling.

FYI, it is not acceptable to indulge your little protege by allowing him to scribble all over someones property and then feck off and leave someone else to clean it up.

Would you allow him to do this in your friends houses when you visit? I'd say you'd be alot more fussy if you owned the property yourself.

BoozyBabe

How Strange wrote:

OP, ask your landlord for the colour codes of the paint he/she used and start repainting the walls yourself. If you use the exact same paint you probably won't have to repaint from floor to ceiling.

This doesn't work!!!
I tried.
Paint fades over time. The new patches will look more vibrant than the old.

Any extra coat in places will look more deep than in the places you haven't touched up.

Batches of paint can be different. Slightly different shade, slightly different sheen.

All in all, just touching up here & there could end up looking worse than the actual scribbles on the wall.

Buy the paint, paint it yourself, but paint it as if you were painting your own home, & don't damage flooring, skirting etc in the process.

Do a proper job & there shouldn't be an issue with the landlord.

How Strange

OP, it looks like you will have to do what BoozyBabe says and paint the whole place at your own expense.

macapaca

Believe e - we do not tolerate what the little one has done.

However, prior to us moving in, the landlord stated that he was going to paint the place - on more than 1 occassion, I advised him not to as we have small kids & as I said, 'you don;t now what they would get up to on walls' - he went ahead & painted it anyway.

BoozyBabe

macapaca wrote:

However, prior to us moving in, the landlord stated that he was going to paint the place - on more than 1 occassion, I advised him not to as we have small kids & as I said, 'you don;t now what they would get up to on walls' - he went ahead & painted it anyway.

:eek: And??? What difference does that make?
You may not have pride in his place, but he does.
As does a lot of good landlords.
You should be grateful, not complaining that he painted the place.

End of the day:- you are responsible for your children.
They have vandalised his property so you either do a good job in fixing it yourself, or you pay him what he's owed to do it.

macapaca

BoozyBabe wrote:

:eek: And??? What difference does that make?
You may not have pride in his place, but he does.
As does a lot of good landlords.
You should be grateful, not complaining that he painted the place.

End of the day:- you are responsible for your children.
They have vandalised his property so you either do a good job in fixing it yourself, or you pay him what he's owed to do it.

"You should be grateful, not complaining that he painted the place." eeeh... read again..... I did not 'complain' that he painted the place.

"I'm responsible or my children"..... where the hell do you actually get off in dishing out that crap!

BoozyBabe

macapaca wrote:

"I'm responsible or my children"..... where the hell do you actually get off in dishing out that crap!

Are you not?

Sorry if I took you up wrong, but you last post seemed to suggest that it was the landlords fault that he'll have to repaint again so soon cos you told him not to paint last time.

It's not. It's your familes fault that the property has to be repainted.

You seem to be on here looking for someone to say you've perfect right to walk away & leave him with the mess.
No one in the right mind is going to say that.

YOU didn't cause the mess. Your children did, so really they should redecorate, but I doubt they're physically able to, so as their mother, you are responsible to sort it out.

Do you not think?

the_syco

You mention writing on the walls all over the house. So it'll cost the landlord a week or two of rent, and the cost of getting someone in to paint it. Also, how are the carpets like? I ask, cos if the walls are ruined, there's a chance some of the carpets may have gotten damaged.

macapaca

..its just the walls...everwhere else is kept in good shape

the_syco

macapaca wrote:

..its just the walls...everwhere else is kept in good shape

Also, are we talking about paints, pencil, biro, engraved?

Morbid.Angel

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macapaca

Ok - just to be clear - we did not let the child paint all over the walls etc etc.

The child likes colouring with colouring pencils etc on coloring books etc however - walk out of the room for a minute & the walls get targeted. The house is full of colouring pencils, biros etc. The older one has loads of them - but does not colour the walls.

We stop the small child when this happens - so please don;'t get the wrong idea here that we sit back & encourage this activity.

macapaca

Victor

Some paint finishes are washable - have you tried using a damp cloth on them? Try an inconspicuous spot first as some paints are water soluble and will come off with water.

Domestos wipes are good for grime around light switches, but again try an inconspicuous spot first.

macapaca

..... not the washable type of paint unfortunately - tried that... will try the domestos wipes - ya never know!

Victor

Oh, given that you have been there a year, agree 20-25% off the price for repainting.