I overheated a pyrex dish on the burner by accident. Chris, my husband ran to lift it off and it shattered in his hands. No one was terribly hurt. The pieces shattered onto the linoleum and carpet, melting it at touch. Now I have a dozen melted burn marks on my linoleum and 5 bare spots where we pried the glass off the carpet. about a quarter sized too. We were planning on staying in our apartment another year, but high speed internet isn’t going to be avaiable within the year for us.
We have found a really nice apartment, with more room and the internet we want. it also is newer and well maintained. They aren’t making us put down a large deposit and we get a woods view.
I’m afraid the apartment complex we are in are going to charge us more that our 500 buck deposit for the carpet and linoleum though. Are there any suggestions on how to fix it. Or any estimates on the damage we’ve done?
p.s. we have a large red cool aid stain under our couch too. Compliments of Chris.
Oh man, a girl after my own heart! Good school system, low taxes, nice neighbors…who the hell cares, I need a cable modem!!
Seriously, I doubt you will get charged more than the deposit, you’re definately not getting any back, though. I think most apt. complexes expect to repaint and recarpet anyway. Don’t sweat it.
Really depends on if your apartment managers are fascist bastards or not. If they’re replacing the carpet, you probably won’t get charged if they’re not fascist bastards. It’s unusual for them to replace linoleum, so you might get charged for that.
There’s a few things you could do. I’m sure they can be found in greater detail elsewhere, but here’s the gist:
For the carpet, get a razor and scrape it along the carpet over and over. Do this until you have a big ball of fuzz. Glue fuzz to bare spots.
Linoleum: Get a candle that matches the floor color. Melt wax into holes and sand/rub it even with the floor. Wax floor after that with actual floor wax to seal. It won’t last more than a few times of someone stepping on it, so do this during your last day or two there, before the inspection.
I’ve NEVER lost an apartment deposit before.
i had a similar carpet problem in a leased house, and discovered that replacing small patches of carpet is not that expensive. carpet fixer dudes can weave carpet portions together, so they look like one continuous piece. you might want to compare the prices. just a thought- i have no idea about the lino.
peace
When we moved into our apartment last fall, we got about $50 a month off the rent because of a wine stain the size of a basketball in diameter. So, they didn’t replace the carpeting, but I’m sure they kept the deposit of the people that moved out.
Personally, I think that they would’ve saved money in the long run replacing the carpet rather than knocking money off the rent. But I think it just depends on the landlord and what he thinks is cost effective.
I don’t know about the linoleum, though. I have no experience with that.
I like Democritus’ idea on the carpet! If it will save you some money or grief from the landlord, it can’t hurt to try it.
Steps to successfully avoid paying for any damage whatsoever to a rented apartment:
If you own a camcorder, skip to step 4.
Go to library, steal a copy of the local paper from the day after you signed your move-in condition report, or if those aren’t used in your locale, the day after you signed the lease.
Get a camera.
Use your camera or camcorder to show the newspaper clearly next to the damaged items. If your device has a date stamp of any kind, be sure to set it to the appropriate date (duh). If you’re using a camcorder, be sure to say things like “I can’t believe we didn’t see this sooner … I told you we shouldn’t have been drunk when we signed the lease …” and so on.
Write a letter to your landlord describing the damage with wording to the effect that they do not need to bother getting in touch with you if it is no problem and that you have photos and a video if they would like to have them. Remember to date the letter appropriately.
Photocopy the letter.
Destroy the original (fire recommended, followed by flushing the ashes).
Story the photocopy, the film or tape, and the newspaper safely.
When you move out, if any mention is made whatsoever, produce this evidence that it was like that when you moved in.
Be prepared to commit perjury if you have to take this issue to court, but given the problems most landlords have, it’ll never go that far.
Step 4 was supposed to say that you should just use the camcorder with its date stamp feature. If you have that, the newspaper is usually redundant. Feel free to use it if you like, though.
Oh, and make sure it doesn’t have any “Property of the Oz Library” stamps or anything on it.
After being screwed out of hundreds of dollars in damage fees after previous moves, I now do the following whenever I move. I’ve never had a penny taken out of the deposit since.
I have movers come in and move the stuff. You stay sane and get to keep your friends. When you add it all up, it costs about the same as a do-it-yourself deal.
I get my parents handy-person, or someone recommended by someone else, to come in and fix the things I know I’ll get charged for. They cost less than what the building owners will charge. It usually takes less than an hour or two, so, about $50-75.
Hire a maid service for a one time visit. This has to be my best advice. They come in with a team of cleaners and go to town. They do a better job in a faster time than I ever could. Again, around a hundred or so bucks, but damn it’s worth it!
Do a walkthrough with the person who will inspect the apartment for damages. Never leave or drop off the keys until they do. Never! Walk through with the person and explain what was broken before and whatnot. They usually say ‘looks good, I think you get your deposit back’. Make them sign the move out papers on the spot with their note that there are no chargable damages and ask when the check will be mailed and/or made available.
Like I said earlier, I’ve lost a ton of money when moving. I think the building owners see a $1,000.00 deposit and try everything in their power to widdle away at it with frivilous charges. Do what I do and your almost guarenteed to get the full amount back. It’s always worked for me.
It most certainly does. The ironic part about when I used it was, the floor was fine until I started cleaning for the move-out. I pulled the refridgerator out to clean under and behind, but it was missing a rubber foot and tore a gash ion the lineoleum! This was back in my poor military days, so I needed that deposit back.
Crap. I was also going to say, KneadToKnow, your plan would be great if it weren’t for move-in checklists. I believe everyone uses them now, and that’s the only legal basis for pre-existing damages.
