I just started a new project for a friend of ours. He and his wife own a small convenience store and they have 4 houses abutting the store property and one of them needs some repairs after the last renters moved out. At first I thought it might be fairly easy because I had renovated the home almost 8 years ago and the house has only had 2 renters since. Man was I mistaken!!!! The last renters had dogs. Not just dogs but big dogs. 6 big dogs which they kept either in a kennel outside or on cold nights and days they kept them locked in the kitchen. I had to pull the cabinets out, rip the paneling and drywall out and am now getting ready to prep for new drywall and cabinets. The whole house is a wreck and I think what I am going to do is throw you guys a couple of pictures and then post a couple more as the renovation progresses. It's been my experience that some renters are not good people. The property doesn't belong to them and beyond their rent they have no other obligations to keep the place in order. I have seen places that look like someone took a sledge hammer to the toilets, ceramic tile floors and anything else that could be broken but this time is one of those times when I would like to find the renters and give them some 2x4 Justice. I've taken a shower and still cannot get the smell of urine and thousands of cockroaches out of my system. Here's a couple of pic's of the kitchen walls.
Oh dear! That's disgusting what people can do in such a short time! I hope your friend had a high enough security deposit collected to cover these damages. Plus it must have been real hard seeing the home you renovated yourself looking like this.
Bobby, what a disgusting mess those renters left. There is absolutely no excuse for abusing property that way. When I was young, I lived in a small house. We had six cats, a large furry dog, and, ultimately, a small child. When, after sixteen years, we moved, that house was immaculate. My landlord gave me a sterling reference. How disappointing for you and the owners to be faced with this situation.
For a while, I owned a house in Los Fresnos, Texas. It was only a few years old, and was in very good shape. During the five years that I lived there, I had very few problems and those that I had were minor. When I accepted a job with an ambulance company in McAllen, about eighty miles away or so, the job came with a full-sized house trailer, only one room of which I needed for a classroom, so rather than spending most of my time on the road every day, I stayed in McAllen except during weekends. I decided that I'd rent the house out, and let the rent make my mortgage payments for me. The people seemed like they'd be responsible, the man telling me that he could do most any repairs that might be necessary himself. There were the two adults and two children. Things went well for a few months, then I was told that the roof was leaking. The house was only a few years old, and the roof shouldn't have needed any work for many years, particularly since this was in Texas, where we don't have to deal with ice damming. The guy said he'd put the new roof on if he could take the cost of the materials out of his rent. I wasn't an expert on roofing materials but the cost seemed unusually high to me, and the new roof looked inferior to the one that had been there. I forget what came next, but there was a series of repairs that included the plumbing, a door that was broken, and so on. I ended it when, less than a year after he had supposedly put a new roof on, I was told that the roof was leaking again. I wasn't getting any rent from him and I felt that I was being cheated, not only in the cost of materials, but I didn't believe most of that stuff even needed to be done. Fortunately, they didn't give me any trouble about moving out. It was actually cheaper for me to leave it empty than to rent it out, and that turned out well anyhow because I took a job with the college, which was closer to home, so I move back in.
Security deposit? No, even if he had one it is of little use because he only charges 500 beans a month for rent. An equal amount would only cover 15% of the total cost to make things livable much less a really nice habitat. The bug guy alone is going to cost a couple of hundred and then I have to bleach everything down in order to get rid of the mold and smell. The norm would be some touch-up painting and a few scuff marks on the hard wood flooring. In this case, all of the flooring has to be sanded down, stained and then hard sealed with either poly or varnish. That's all of the bedrooms, the dining room and living (or French) room. Nearly all of the door casings need to be replaced and the bathroom ceramic tile has to be taken out and replaced. I'm going to the gym for a couple of hours and then it looks like it's going to be a rough 2 weeks after that. I'll have a couple more pictures tonight of the progress...........
What a shame. I can't imagine putting holes in walls, etc. It seems the bad tenants find good landlords, and then good tenants (like me) end up with slumlords. My parents never had any really abusive tenants (other than family, of course), but they did have a few weird ones. It seems there is always someone looking to get something for nothing, and many tenants don't care about the property, because they have no vested interest.
Good grief, what a mess, but with lots of dogs in the house I can imagine how they must have just let them run riot . I'd have someone arrested if they did that to one of my properties, that's complete wilful damage..
We have been both sorry for the dogs, and wondering why the animal control didn't pick them up a long time ago. The dogs are mostly pit bulls, and I think maybe a German Shepard. The yard is actually a large one ; so there was plenty of room for the dogs to run; but the owners kept them in a small pen, so that they didn't have to close the gate when they went in and out of the driveway. Every so often, the dogs escaped and ran through the neighborhood, attacking any other dogs they could get to as they ran. One night , they came right up the front ramp, and inside our door (which was open). Bobby grabbed a broom and chased them back outside and shut the door; but they were growling and snarling at him the whole time. Still, we felt bad for the dogs when they were left outside (barking) all night in bad weather. Apparently, they brought at least some of them inside and locked the dogs in the kitchen, which is why it was in such bad shape after they moved. We are certainly glad that they have moved out of the area, that is for sure !
As the saga continues, and it is what it is! When in a situation like having to tear down walls, it might be prudent to wear blinders for there just might be other problems that one does not want to see. I guess I could have left things alone but dern my perfectionist hide because I saw some problems that could have developed into worse problems soooooooooo, .............How about an outdoor kitchen???
Uh.......no, I don't think so. But, while I have the whole thing opened up I am considering talking to the owner about putting a sliding glass door or possibly a pass through type window opening into the back yard. Then, if possible and the finances are approved, I might eliminate the small doorway into the dining room and open up the entire thing so that the dining area and kitchen area are one. It's the trendy thing right now and the changes I would like to make would be worthy of a price increase in rent. Since the landlord owns the house outright it would be a small boon for him not only come tax time (deductions for renovation) but allow a little more coming in for his investment.
Okay @Bobby Cole. I think you'll get it this time. You'll have a hard time working upside down from the view of the picture.
Okay, I tried and still cannot understand. My wife looked at it and I looked at it again but nope, from our IPads the picture is right side up. The house across the way is right side up and the grass is on the ground soooooo..... Maybe your iPad is locked and you have your tablet upside down.
I'm on my PC. When I clicked on the image it shows everything upside down. I just clicked on image.jpeg (blue type) and it shows the picture correctly. I can't explain that. I was just trying to have a little fun with what was happening. I hope you are not upset with me @Bobby Cole.
I had exactly the same experience on all my PCs and gadgets Von, I also had a similar experience with @Chrissy Page and her refrigerator photo which appeared on it's side, a joke which didn't work because on Chrissy's iPad it was upright. Maybe iPads have a gravity feed that rotates photo's to the correct way up hopefully that joke works