Is It Alright to Zero The Lawn and Do I Have To Pay For Maintenance Items On Rented Property?

LShopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 01:01
Last edited 14/09/2016 - 12:18 by 1 other user

I rented an old house which has a very spacious backyard with lawn/weed and useless giant trees and their debris all over the garden.
As it was a hectic job to do lawn mowing once in a month. So I was sprayed ZERO KILL everywhere and got rid of small plants and grass Is it alright to do so?

As the house is getting older, tiles were falling off in bathroom and kitchen, and some of the switches were not working.
Am I responsible for this?
Do I have to pay for them before vacating the house?

But rest of the house was maintained very well.

Initially I signed a bond for a year, and after that I am staying without any contract or bond, just by paying rent every month.

I am planning to vacate the house in a couple of months

Dear OzBargainers, anyone had gone through this kinda situation ?
Please suggest me what would be the best way to avoid expenses while vacating the house.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • oscargamer on 14/09/2016 - 07:35
    +2

    when the tiles started falling off, did you inform the agent?

    • Shopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 18:37

      yes, I did when the first felt an year ago

      • oscargamer on 14/09/2016 - 19:44
        +1

        you are fine then

        they chose to do nothing, which puts you in the clear

  • Geewhizz on 14/09/2016 - 07:42
    +7

    I was sprayed ZERO KILL everywhere and got rid of small plants and grass(IS IT ALRIGHT TO DO SO)?

    NO, it's not! If you get away with having done that consider yourself lucky.

    some o the switches were not working.

    You're supposed to report that to the agent when it happens. I'd also think you should have done the same thing with the tiles. If a wall in a wet area that is supposed to be covered isn't, damage can be done to the wall. Initially, tiles coming off the wall wouldn't have been your responsibility if you had notified them, but given that you didn't, if there is any resulting damage to the walls then yes, you could be held responsible.

    • Shopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 18:46

      I did sent an email to real estate agents when they started falling a year ago. But I haven't got any response.
      But I don't think it is due to the wet walls.

      • Geewhizz on 15/09/2016 - 05:37

        No, they don't usually come off because the walls are wet. There are various reasons they can come off, but once they do, if they're in a wet area, ie bathrooms, kitchens around sinks, laundries etc, water can get into the wall that they were covering.

  • ms_caz on 14/09/2016 - 07:45
    +14

    I'm a landlord - I'm not sure I would be happy if your idea of garden maintenance is to spray the whole lot with zero. Part of your lease agreement when you signed and which still applies although you are now a tenant on periodic payment would have been maintenance of the garden, and you would ( or should) have been aware of what this would entail before you signed the lease. Lawn mowing needs to be done more than once a month!

    In terms of the inside issues. If switches are not working you need to inform your agent in writing immediately as these could be an electrical hazard which may lead to fire. As for the tiles falling off… Well I've lived in some pretty old and run down homes and the only time tiles fell off was in a house which had serious rising damp. It would be fairly easy for you to buy some tile adhesive and reattach them BUT if it is due to rising damp then there is something wrong and just gluing them back is not fixing the problem. IMO the landlord will want to know so that the matter can be investigated. Tiles falling off +switches that don't work might equal damp or some other structural problem that could lead to fire risk and risk to not only their property but to you yourself.

    Be a responsible tenant and let the agent / landlord know what is happening. If you keep the place clean, tidy and well maintained then you will not be up for any costs upon vacating.

    • fruit on 14/09/2016 - 12:20
      -1

      Depends on lease, some have a gardener

      • pais on 14/09/2016 - 12:58
        +4

        We can probably assume this particular lease has no gardener, given OP is the one taking care of garden maintenance (such as it is). We can also assume that even if the lease had a gardener, it would still not be okay to kill every living plant on the property. This is just an irresponsible tenant.

        • Shopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 20:34

          Actually there was nothing useful in the garden. It was all weed and grass with pollen that was levelled to look better. Instead of relaxing in the garden I used to get sneezes and runny nose!!!
          Try to think from my perspective too :/

        • ms_caz on 15/09/2016 - 21:29

          @Shopaholicdesi:
          It's never going to look any better if you just go the hack once a month! There'll never be anything "useful" in it unless you plant things and tend to them. If you keep on top of things you will minimise the sneezes and runny noses. Gardens and yards need regular care and maintenance - as do the insides of houses. Let's hope you do a thorough clean inside before you move! Please pay particular attention to the rangehood and hotplate. If you only mow the lawn once a month, I worry that the kitchen only gets a going over at that interval as well - and probably only a quick swipe and flick at that!

    • Shopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 20:07

      Actually when I entered the house it was like very dusty and it has been vacant from a long time and used to smell bad. After signing the bond I paid around 350 dollars to the professional cleaners for cleaning the ceramic ware and steam cleaning.
      At the time when I inspected the house I liked it because it was spacious for parking our 3 cars inside and the real-estate agents said that cleaning will be done before I move in to the house. On the day I got the keys from them it was so stinky and I went to my mate's house to adjust for a couple of days until the cleaning is done.

      Well, here comes the negative side of the locality and house:
      As I was a student at that time, many of my applications were declined for renting a house due to lack of enough payslips and rental history with other agents. This was the only one that I was accepted in as there was no competition to live in such a house located in so called Melbourne's crappy suburb with dodgy people around, staring and commenting the walkers in streets, stealing the council bins, smoking in our compound during nights when everyone is off to bed, ringing bells at 5am and demanding "Siggies", offering drugs to buy in the night times if I go outside and many many more…..
      When I moved in it was just weed and useless grass that was levelled/mowed to look better. after a month or so it was all messy with pollen where I suffered a lot with hay fever. That resulted in taking such a decision to kill everything with zero kill. However, the grass was coming again and again for every 3 to 6 months and I am repeating the same :P

      I did sent an email to agents regarding the tiles and switches in past.
      In two years the rental agents only came for once to inspect the house when I was at home. But they keep sending emails saying there was an inspection on so and so date, but they are not coming every time.

  • mooney on 14/09/2016 - 09:50
    +14

    "As it was a hectic job to do lawn mowing once in a month. So I was sprayed ZERO KILL everywhere and got rid of small plants and grass(IS IT ALRIGHT TO DO SO)?"

    Holy sh*t!

    • nocure on 14/09/2016 - 11:00
      +4

      Yep, his bond will be used to returf the yard.

      what would be the best way to avoid expenses while vacating the house….

      Leave the house in the same condition you found it. Tiles in old houses can fail at times so it would not be the responsibility of the tenant.

    • Adz81 on 14/09/2016 - 11:12
      +4

      *"As it was a hectic job to do lawn mowing once in a month. So I was sprayed ZERO KILL everywhere and got rid of small plants and grass(IS IT ALRIGHT TO DO SO)?"

      Holy sht!

      I'm laughing way too much at this :D

      • subywagon on 14/09/2016 - 12:17
        +2

        lol me too… haha

      • tomleonhart on 14/09/2016 - 13:59

        LMAO. I did too. too funny

    • Shopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 20:22

      haha I rephrased the sentence and forgot to erase "WAS" which changed the whole meaning.
      :D :D :D
      Gosh Thanks for giving me a chance to make someone laugh :P
      I am not gonna edit that now. let our ozbargainers LaughOutLoud for a while :P

      • Name on 15/09/2016 - 08:32
        +1

        I think they are laughing at the fact you zeroed the lawn to try and kill it because you were too lazy to mow and you were asking if it was ok to do it in a rental property. rather than the insertion of the "was".

        You should have hired someone to mow, it's going to work out a lot more expensive re-turfing the yard when you move out. Most people's whose lifestyles are too busy to look after their house hire people..

        If you are a student…your life is not hectic enough to not warrant mowing the lawn. You're just lazy. Actually I take that back.. Unless you're out of the country on business months on end. You're life isn't hectic enough to spare 1 hour a month (0.1% of the time during that month) to mow a lawn.

        (edit: just realised you said you needed parking for three cars.. So 3 adults.. That 0.1% becomes 0.04% of the collective time of the household. The three adults could have shared the rotation of lawn mowing so you only need to mow every 3 months.)

  • fruit on 14/09/2016 - 12:21

    Will the grass grow back?

    • SnoozeAndLose on 14/09/2016 - 12:38

      if it has been zeroed then it may grow back after years

    • Shopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 20:24

      yeah it will. takes around three to six months depending on the climate.

      • Name on 15/09/2016 - 08:28

        Bet it'll take longer. He keeps zeroing it. Meaning there'll be no seeds or any runners, depending on the type of grass, left alive. The only thing that yard is going to be covered in is weeds when stuff starts to grow back. I suspect the landlord will make him returf the yard if he finds out he did it on purpose.

  • airzone on 14/09/2016 - 13:56

    I was sprayed ZERO KILL everywhere and got rid of small plants and grass(IS IT ALRIGHT TO DO SO)?

    Only if you replace it with green painted concrete across the whole yard.

  • pinchies on 14/09/2016 - 14:31
    +1

    So I was sprayed ZERO KILL everywhere and got rid of small plants and grass Is it alright to do so?

    Sure, of course that's TOTALLY fine. Why do you even need to ask? Who needs grass anyway?

  • Savas on 14/09/2016 - 19:38
    +1

    Depends on how nice your landlord is

  • Name on 14/09/2016 - 20:29

    Why did you get a house if you're just going to kill the lawn? Should have gone an apartment.

    • Shopaholicdesi on 14/09/2016 - 20:39

      For Parking our 3 cars and our guest's :P
      It was all grass in the property that was vacant for many years. It was all trimmed down before I moved in.

      • fruit on 15/09/2016 - 10:56
        +1

        What is wrong with you?

  • kasumi on 18/09/2016 - 10:00
    +1

    If i were you, i'd get a few boxes of lawn seeds from Bunnings and start sowing them to see if they germinate by the time you move out. That's the cheapest option i see at the moment.

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