Empty walls = suck. Tricking landlord = fun. :)

[DesignDawg]

Hey all,

12 days and counting 'till the moving day. OH GOD. ONLY 12 DAYS. Anyway... I was going to do research for a graduate class this weekend, but all the libraries closed for the holiday. So, I decided to take the time to do other things, starting with repairing this apartment in order to get the maximum deposit refund when we move out. Well, I've lived here for 4 years, and my wife and I have a LOT of framed stuff... Pictures, framed prints, original art (form my BFA days), and my framed movie poster collection. --And we have a Subway sign screwed in the wall above the kitchen (long story) Anyway. It says in the lease you aren't to put any holes in the walls. Of course, you get charged PER HOLE. Well, I forgot to mention we had a dart board on one of our doors. WHY CAN'T PEOPLE HIT THE DAMN BOARD? I think there are 100+ holes in the door from darts.
Also, I drilled a hole from one room to the other to run CAT5. Well, this weekend is the one. I got started. It's AMAZING how freakish and empty the place looks without stuff on the walls. It really makes all the difference. It's gonna suck living with these empty walls for 2 weeks, but I won't be here much (VERY VERY busy until the 24th, and then all my time is devoted to packing, preparing for graduate review, and moving). Cool things is, though.... When they come in to inspect the apartment, they're gonna be looking all over the walls and doors for holes. BUT THERE WILL BE NONE. I got a can of paint, some spackle, and a putty knife, along with about 7 years of construction/painting/carpentry. They're gonna come in and find the most PRISTINE WALLS they have ever seen. I wish I could see the look on their faces when they can't find any holes, knowing how much stuff we had hung.

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[blurredvision]

That sounds like what I'm gonna have to do whenever I end up moving out of my apartment. We have bunches of stuff hanging up, but it doesn't sound half as bad as yours was. Glad to see you'll be getting back a little bit more than before.

 

[JimmyEatWorld]

Good Luck with the move DesignDawg!!!!

What are you using to patch the holes, or do they even allow you to do that?

 

[DesignDawg]

<< What are you using to patch the holes, or do they even allow you to do that? >>




<< I got a can of paint, some spackle, and a putty knife, along with about 7 years of construction/painting/carpentry. >>

(from my first post.)

And, no, you're not SUPPOSED to patch your own holes, but if you do a good job, it saves them work in the end. You're really not supposed to do any kind of alteration to the apartment, but I put in ceiling fans in all the rooms, got cable installed in the two bedrooms (it's only in the living room in these apartments), and now I'm gonna repair their walls. I'm doing nothing but saving them time, money, and making their apartment more valuable. This is the only one in the complex with ceiling fans and cable in all the rooms. They can rent it out for more than the others as a kind of &quot;deluxe&quot; suite.

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[JimmyEatWorld]

hehe

I should read more carefully shouldn't I lol ....sorry bout that
I was skimming and its almost 4 A.M.

I do the same thing in my house that we rent, my landlady pays for materials, and we supply the labor, and then when we leave this house should be much better.

So far we have installed hardwood flooring in the entire house, painted everyroom, installed ceiling fans in every room, wired it with Cat 5, including a server compartment in the utility room, redid one of the showers, and replaced the blinds Its gettin to be pretty neato

 

[DesignDawg]

<< Its gettin to be pretty neato >>

Sounds like it. The way I see it, if you know what you are doing, and you are doing nothing but raising the value of the house, the landlord has no reason to stop you.

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[Ulfwald]

The last apartment I rented as a student was the pits, we had to patch holes and paint the place just to move in. Luckily we took pictures of it and made the landlord sign that he acknowledged the condition of the place before we took possesion. After moving out 2 years later, the place had a fresh coat of paint, all the holes patched, carpets were steam cleaned, and new lighting fixtures were installed.

he then tried to keep our deposit, so we took him to small claims court with all the evidence, including pictures of the place as we left it. We got back our deposit, as well as some &quot;labor charges&quot; for all the work we did. Plus, he had to pay our court costs.

 

[JimmyEatWorld]

Impressive Ulfwald....way to stick it to the man

 

[DesignDawg]

I'll say! Hot damn! I think I'm gonna take pictures of the empty place whenever I move into new places (assuming I rent anymore)

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[Ulfwald]

Sometimes it helps being a Cop wannabe, evidence is the key to any case.

 

[ElPool]

hmmmm... ive contemplated putting a huge hole throught the wall that seperates my dorm room and my friends dorm room. would that be considered adding value to the room? maybe i could spackle it up ath the end of the year.

 

[DesignDawg]

WHY would you put a &quot;huge hole&quot; between your and your friend's dorm room? And is the wall not concrete?

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[yiwonder]

ElPool - Just put a door in. It will look nicer than the huge hole. Though the huge hole idea does draw a funny picture.

 

[Dedpuhl]

In my apartment, I never hung up any pictures.

 

[xraymongral]

DesignDawg- Take pics even if you but a house. A friend bought a house that looked good when he moved in, then the drywall seams started cracking. He tried to get money for the repairs from the home warrenty, and had no proof that the cracks were not there when he moved in.

 

[beat mania]

we put a hole in the wall between our apartment and our friend's apartment next door, just so we can have 8 people on dsl

And then when we moved out we just stuff toilet paper into the hole and plastered some toothpaste and white out on it

 

[DesignDawg]

<< we just stuff toilet paper into the hole and plastered some toothpaste and white out on it >>

DAMN, dude. That's just trashy. You couldn't have spent $1.00 on a can of putty?

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[AndrewR]

Yep, spackle is a tenant's best friend.

I threw a big magazine onto my bed years ago, and it skidded off a put a LARGE hole in the wall (it was Computer Shopper -- a monster). The hole was probably about 1.5-2 inches around. Well, a good portion of spackle, and a little paint, and I wasn't charged a dime.

 

[AndrewR]

Oh, and on the legal aspects, always have pictures (especially on move out!) and DEFINITELY at least have a very complete and detailed move-in inspection form. I spend about two hours filling one of those out with every dent, nick, discoloration, and chip noted on there. Landlords tend to look at me strangely when I turn them in.

Landlords generally suck.