Landlord charging $2000 to replace floor due to incense smell

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by clongirl

There is no way that incense is creating an uninhabitable situation for the next tenants.

Unless you've smelled the apartment, clon girl, you have no idea whether it is uninhabitable. I once rejected an apartment because it reeked of some sickeningly sweet perfumey stuff. The landlady said, "Oh, that's from the last tenant." Well, I sure wasn't going to be the apartment's next tenant.

Another thing: just because you can't smell something doesn't mean everyone can't smell it. When you use these things that smell (incense, candles, Glade, Febreze), you become accustomed to them. They become the smell of "normal" to you.

I back the landlord 100%, regardless of the tenant's religious -- or any other -- excuse for burning incense. It must have reeked to holy hell for him to charge the OP for this, given which fact her incense may even have been going into the apartments, and therefore the breathing space, of her neighbors.

[JustAPerson]

By now I'm sure this situation has been resolved. I do want to share our experience, that our heavy incense-using tenant moved out and we cannot get the incense smell out of the place, especially the one room she burned the incense in. We've repainted walls, trim, ceiling, replaced carpets and carpet pads (after using Kilz on concrete subfloor), thoroughly cleaned light fixtures, windows and metal mini blinds. No duct cleaning bc there aren't any. I'm out of my mind and out of money bc the security deposit doesn't cover the cost of all that work. It would not surprise me if the incense smell absorbed into the wood floors.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by JustAPerson

By now I'm sure this situation has been resolved. I do want to share our experience, that our heavy incense-using tenant moved out and we cannot get the incense smell out of the place, especially the one room she burned the incense in. We've repainted walls, trim, ceiling, replaced carpets and carpet pads (after using Kilz on concrete subfloor), thoroughly cleaned light fixtures, windows and metal mini blinds. No duct cleaning bc there aren't any. I'm out of my mind and out of money bc the security deposit doesn't cover the cost of all that work. It would not surprise me if the incense smell absorbed into the wood floors.

I know a lot of people said the landlord was out to rip people off, but I'll bet none of them have been landlords and owned property that has been damaged. They'd probably speak differently once they saw it coming out of their pockets for a property they sacrificed to buy. I too had a duplex where I couldn't get the smell out and did everything you did and then some. The hardwood floors were toast and I even tried using lye to get the smell out. 6 months later and thousands of $$ later in the end I hired a smoke and water damage company who brought in big air deionizers which ultimately did the trick.
The tenant thought me keeping her $695 deposit was unfair even though it took 6 month of work and 1,000's of dollars to remedy.
Years later that same tenant asked me for a good tenant referral for another place she wanted to rent.

[2sleepy]

If I had a rental and someone stunk it up with perfume or incense I would go ballistic. I loaned my car to someone who apparently decided to soak the interior with some horrible perfume (to be honest I think they smoked in my car, knew I would freak out and tried to disguise that stink with perfume). It was absolutely horrible and took me months to get the stink out. I scrubbed every hard surface multiple times, steam cleaned the interior used Ozium repeatedly. When I was about to give up an auto detailer told me to spray Ozium in all of the air vents, he said the stink gets stuck in them and will persist until it's neutralized. He was right, when I tried that the smell went away.

[MaryleeII]

As a landlord, you do NOT have to rent to anyone. What's illegal is to declare that you do not rent to---Asians, Christians, Blacks, handicapped, etc. If your are fool enough to come out and say so, then, you take the legal consequences.

But all you really have to do is just don't respond. Just say the apt/unit/house is not currently available, you will take their application and contact them when something comes up. And before anyone starts flaming me, I've been discriminated against in housing due to being disabled. Apparently landlords are skeptical handicapped people can earn a living, take care of maintenance, etc. OTH, I own rental property, and I scrutinize/screen my tenants carefully---ie--discriminate. Look, I'm not running a charity or a shelter, its purely a business matter!

I would be furious if a tenant "stunk up" one of my rentals with incense, perfume, cigarettes, whatever. Its permanent damage, rendering the dwelling inhabitable, and decreasing the market value considerably.

[Monopolis]

Originally Posted by JustAPerson

By now I'm sure this situation has been resolved. I do want to share our experience, that our heavy incense-using tenant moved out and we cannot get the incense smell out of the place, especially the one room she burned the incense in. We've repainted walls, trim, ceiling, replaced carpets and carpet pads (after using Kilz on concrete subfloor), thoroughly cleaned light fixtures, windows and metal mini blinds. No duct cleaning bc there aren't any. I'm out of my mind and out of money bc the security deposit doesn't cover the cost of all that work. It would not surprise me if the incense smell absorbed into the wood floors.

Have you tried an Ozone generator like this one:

Amazon.com - Sylvan Ozone Generator 3500mg/hr Ozone Output - Air Purifiers

Or this one:


Amazon.com - Commercial Ozone Generator 3500mg Industrial O3 Air Purifier Black Deodorizer Sterilizer -

I'm not recommending either one (they just came up in a search). These units can knock out embedded smells.