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So I just moved into a house I'm renting with a couple friends of mine. It's an older house that was recently renovated. The inside looks great. It's a bungalow with an upstairs redone to add a couple bedrooms, big closets, extra bathroom, squared off the ceilings, new carpet, walls, tiling, new cabinets in the kitchen. It's almost like new construction. Just enough space for three people who lead different lives to be comfortable and not be in each other's hair. It's not the nicest city, but it's one block away from a much nicer area, I liked the proximity, and it was a lot of space for the price, plus all the reno work made it look like a steal. We had to fight off other renters to get it.
On Day 1 we realized what we hadn't on a quick walk through a couple weeks ago. The floors in the entire house are uneven. If you set a ball down at any point in the house it will roll in some crazy direction. It's noticeable on the first floor, but it's bizarre on the second, where friends who have come over have taken a missed step and fallen into the wall because there's a slope on the hallway. When I open my bedroom door, it's flush against the floor when closed, but when full opened it's about two inches off the ground because the floor slopes down. But we can live with renting a funhouse. It's just quirky.
Day 2 the electrician showed up to fix a closet light and install a closet light. It took him more than six hours. He said it was slowing him down because every time he found something that wasn't to code, he had to update it. Apparently much of the house was not to code, I feel like he rewired half the downstairs.
On Day 3 the locksmith arrived to fix a couple deadbolts which were misaligned where the bolt did not slot into the plate on the door jam.
Today, while the cable was being installed, which is another nightmare since apparently they walled off a huge tangle of phone and cable wires making them inaccessible, a guy knocked on my door, seemingly very concerned, to ask if I had gotten an estimate on my roof yet because it's seriously messed up and needs to be fixed. He said there's a good chance it might leak this winter.
What seemed like a good deal a week ago is starting to feel like a death trap. What's next?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
If you're renting,the landlord should be on the hook for repairs, right?
I'd take what the guy who knocked on your door said with a grain of salt. He obviously needs the business, so get a second opinion.
Posts: 572 | Registered: Jun 2013
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Well, the roof is noticeably bowing in the middle by the porch. My dad mentioned it on the first day. I can see it. Others have mentioned it. So I'll buy that for sure. But he also said that all the shingles appear to have been installed incorrectly.
I'm inclined to believe it only because so much of the recent renovation appears to have been shoddily installed as well.
I'll mention it to my property manager, but with the roof not actually leaking, I'm not sure how much power I have to insist upon a fix just because it's janky and in disrepair.
I guess there's a reason this city is nicknamed Hazeltucky.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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It just sucks that all these problems are cropping up because I was hoping to convince them to hook up a water line to the fridge to get the ice maker working, and get a garbage disposal installed. But if it requires a lot of work just to fix all this little stuff, I don't think that will be an option.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:I was hoping to convince them to hook up a water line to the fridge to get the ice maker working, and get a garbage disposal installed.
These two things are trivial, and you could easily do them yourself. Fixing the roof and any structural problems that are causing your sloping floors will be much harder.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I know they are trivial. They were small luxuries I was hoping they'd add for free but was willing to consider paying for out of pocket in the near future. I could probably install a disposal myself but I don't know about a water line.
I don't think the floor is something that will be fixed. We would have to move back out. So long as the house isn't about to collapse it's an eccentricity I can live with.
But the roof I'll follow up on.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I houseshared in a really messed up house once. The owner did none of the repairs she had promised us before we moved in because in the six months between when we signed the lease and when we moved she had secretly rented the place to a filthy cat owner (I like cats, but really...) She cried when we broke the lease after three days and left, telling us that she'd sue.
We said 'Sure sue us, we'll tell the court about the mice and the fleas.' No further action was taken. I had to fumigate all my belongings.
Sometimes you just have to cut and run.
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All the floors in houses in my town are crooked. That's what happens after 100+ years of house settling.
Posts: 7021 | Registered: Nov 1999
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It's been raining for the last 18 hours or so, and we've started to spot leaks in the ceiling. Thankfully it's in an area that's not a big problem at the moment. I'm less than pleased but unsurprised.
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