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Just wondering how others handle painting in occupied units.
Back in the day, it was relatively simple... residents were glad to get new paint/flooring and were very accommodating.
My experience has seen a general trend where residents view anything that requires any participation on their part as a major inconvenience and often will not life a finger to help... even when they initiate the work order.
It is to the point where I dread doing any paint or flooring work in rented units... just too many issues like scheduling and safe guarding tenant's property.
Had one recently where the tenant was adamant about new paint for the child's room... it was last painted 9 years ago and I remember how that went.
Anyway... the painter arrives as scheduled and nothing had been done... all the boarders and sesame street characters were still on the walls and the closest had not been emptied.
The work had to be scheduled for Saturday because the resident will not permit anyone in the home unless she is present...
A two hour job took almost 5 and now there is a message that the latex paint fumes are too much to deal with... this is Zinser $28 a gallon paint...
I'm just about to the point of refusing to paint or do floor covering in any unit that is occupied...
I have really come to appreciate commercial triple net leases and have shifted away from any property with beds...
Some times a tenant can be there own worst enemy... at least this is what I am seeing.
A classic example of how no good deed goes unpunished! As leases have grown and grown to encompass every eventuality, maybe now we're looking at having "painting and floor refinishing" contracts becoming the norm. If either is agreed to between landlord and tenant at the tenant's request there'll be a whole list of contingencies the tenant has to agree to (including but not limited to everything you've pointed out in your post) and if the tenant baulks or renegs on even one then the entire cost of the job passes on to them!
I do think it's a reflection of what is showing signs of going down in history as, "The Age of Entitlement".
I have the same trepidation about this. I will have to face it soon with my one rent property, which we once lived in. We had new flooring and all the walls repainted while we lived there and it was a horrible experience, we even moved out for 5 days toward the end as it was just not tolerable. I can't imagine doing it with a tenant trying to live there.
I'm inclined to not do anything unless we terminate the lease so we can do it while the house is vacant.
Never thought about a written agreement that both parties have to sign-off on... good idea.
Residential Painting has become a potential minefield if it involves anything more then putting on a coat of paint... and even then... there is the possibility of allergies and sensitivity to paint... my painter moved a table lamp and now the lamp doesn't work... she said it was working before he move it and wants me to fix it.
I know many that left residential rentals about 7 years ago... and others that won't look at any residential property if it is more than 30 years old...
For my part... I have not added a single residential unit in 10 years...
This leaves entire older neighborhoods in a quandary because you are on the hook if you do and also if you don't. No such thing as a simple clean and paint anymore without Federal Regulation.
I take pride in the property I manage... and would be much more amiable if Landlord/Tenant would not have become almost adversarial.
The posts here on City-Data fall into several categories... two of them are either the owner does little or nothing or the owner is always around fixing and repairing...
One of my painter friends was painting at the local hospital... he often said if he was painting with clear water he would still get complaints...
One morning, he poured water into his bucket to prep the area for washing... it was only water and sure enough, an employee told her supervisor it was making her ill.
It is amazing how tenants these days really don't want to do a thing, let alone spend a cent on their apartment.....
Back in the olden days (while the dinasaurs roamed) when I rented I lived in the apartment for 5 years, I bought my own paint, painted it myself, bought carpeting, fancy shades, the whole 9 yards, neither I nor the LL ever had problems. This is just what you did.....
I moved, and cleaned the apartment, and I am aussming the LL had it re painted for the next tenants...
I don't know why anything to do with carpeting and painting in apartments becomes such a hell for the LL's and tenants, more so the LL's.....
I don't know why anything to do with carpeting and painting in apartments becomes such a hell for the LL's and tenants, more so the LL's.....
There's a lot of regs over the last few years that cover paint in rentals... especially older units.
Carpet is more of a liability thing... I have two great floor covering contractors... they both shy away from doing any work in tenant occupied units if the rooms are not clear..
One had a real nasty lawsuit over an antique china hutch... his installers went to move the hutch and as they lifted the top it fell apart...
They also have had issues with home electronics... entertainment centers and computers... kind of like you touch it... you own it.
I'm sure it is more complicated by the third party nature of the job... owner/manager, contractor, tenant.
i will pain a apt i live in buy shades(blinds) that is a giving why should ll give window covers. in buildings i maintain we have in the lease no sheets or blankets visible from street or neighbors prop on the windows(that is just low class). but carpet no way i always rent a place with tile or wood floors. in our apt we allow tenets to put a area rug but if it is nailed they pay for the whole floor be redone. i have seen tenets redo walls better than local painters and seen son do damage like spill pain and just wipe it and destroy a floor. or paint nice finished wood floor. so after a few of the later we no longer allow tenets to paint also stated in lease
Usually just do it between tenants. Although a contract seems pretty nice idea. Usually I tell the tenants if they want paint to handle it on their own. I know this might also bring up other liabilities but at least its on them not me.
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