Rental - fixing a loose tile

Liceball on 10/05/2017 - 15:56

As a landlord, I recently received the rental inspection report with many photos taken from the property. One photo show there is "one" loose tile in the bathroom.

Usually I don't mind paying for repairs. The agent advised she wants to send a tradesman just to glue up one tile.

I emailed to my agent to say that I would be happy to fix this with any future maintenance tasks.

She wrote back to say there are several tiles which need attention with no further photo and insisting I need to send a tradesman (of course one of their ones).

In the past, they do not let me to do any minor repairs. Being a Ozbargain hunter, I don't want to spend $100 just to send a tradesman to glue up one (potentially 2-3) tiles.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • JetLi on 10/05/2017 - 16:07
    +9

    The agent works for you, you call the shots…any repair work should get your approval before being carried out. Just buy a $3 tube of liquid nails and you are good to go.

    • altomic on 10/05/2017 - 16:27
      +5

      Dear agent, thank you for your report. My instructions to you are that I will be undertaking the repair myself. Regards

      PS, you make reference to "other loose tiles" in your latter correspondence. Can you explain Why these are not mentioned in the rental property report you undertook as the property manager?

  • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 16:22
    +1

    The only thing I can think of is any sort of liability insurance in case the repair goes wrong. I would be ringing up the agent and telling them you want to arrange the tradesman to fix the issues so you need to do an inspection to see for yourself.

    • mskeggs on 10/05/2017 - 16:51
      +2

      It's the owner's own liability.
      My agent has never objected for us to do any minor things as long as we aren't inconveniencing the tenant unnecessarily.
      And we have asked tenants if they can help from time to time.
      One example was a broken dishwasher.
      I offered to get one delivered right away if the tenant could hook it up themselves (screw on a hose and plug in the power) or arrange the plumber to come install it in a week.
      The tenant, of course, said they were fine to hook it up, saving me $80 and getting them the machine quicker.

      • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 16:57
        +3

        The subtext of what I was writing was do the inspection and see if you can fix it yourself :)

        However, I'm always a bit paranoid about how insurance companies view something. If the dishwasher goes nuts and sprays water everywhere, are they going to disown you because it wasn't installed properly. If the tiles fall off and injure someone are you going to be liable. It might just be paranoia but insurance companies have been known to be bastards when it comes to paying out the money.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 17:12
          +1

          If the dishwasher goes nuts and sprays water everywhere, are they going to disown you because it wasn't installed properly.

          What if you have the dishwasher professionally installed and it develops a mind of it's own and takes over the world … insurance wont be the only thing you're worrying about.

        • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 17:15

          @sp00ker: I've certainly heard of badly installed dishwashers where water poured everywhere. However, if you have advanced knowledge that our appliance overlords are on the way then I can stop worrying about the Zombie apocalypse and start worshipping the fridge.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 17:19
          +1

          @try2bhelpful:

          I've certainly heard of badly installed dishwashers where water poured everywhere.

          How? Someone forgot to connect a drain hose? I can't imagine someone not tightening the inlet hose properly and not realizing it, before they walked away from the job.

        • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 17:29

          @sp00ker: Maybe not screwed on properly and falls off under pressure over time. Particularly if they start the washer with a timer over night. Just saying, I wouldn't trust the tenant I would do it myself.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 17:37
          +1

          @try2bhelpful: \

          Maybe not screwed on properly and falls off under pressure over time.

          Wtf - threaded taps don't become loose under pressure. You'll either see a leak at the time of install or wont.

          Even if the hose requires a spanner to tighten it, but the installer (professional vs amateur) just uses their hand it'll be fine for the life of the hose, as long as there's no leak when you switch the water on.

          Just saying, I wouldn't trust the tenant I would do it myself.

          But you trust the tenant to screw in a washing machine? Same physics there…

        • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 17:38

          @sp00ker: The dishwasher is a fitting with the house, the washing machine is something the tenant provides - unless you provide the washing machine yourself?

        • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 17:52
          +1

          @try2bhelpful:

          Your concern is that the tenant can't be trusted to screw in a dishwasher hose … in which case, you shouldn't trust them to screw in a washing machine hose either.

        • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 17:54

          @sp00ker: I'm just raising an issue that might arise with insurance and you have a different view. Very happy for you to do what you want in your own house, I would just approach it differently.

        • altomic on 10/05/2017 - 17:55
          +3

          @try2bhelpful: why do you think all those samsung washers burnt up? they developed consciousness and realised the futility of life and committed suicide.

        • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 17:56
          +2

          @altomic: Obviously the Samsung Note phones had been talking to the washing machines. Either that or they were the vanguard sent to start the revolution - they have been thwarted for now but, who knows, where the next front will open up.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 17:58
          +1

          @try2bhelpful:

          I'm just raising an issue that might arise with insurance

          The scenario you're describing is nonsensical.

          Can you describe, again, exactly how the self-installed dishwasher resulted in water spraying everywhere? Where did you 'hear' about it? The onion?

  • iceball on 10/05/2017 - 17:13
    +2

    I have no trouble with other agents doing repair myself for other properties. This particular one doesn't like me to be in contact with the tenant. They won't even give me their phone number and said it is for the privacy of the tenant.

    Exactly, I could glue the tiles up with liquid nails within 5 minutes.

    With gluing up a few tiles the risk is quite low. I'm not sure how the insurance company going to proof that I glued this particular tile and not a licence tradesman did it (I'm not going to take a photo and share it with them). Anyway, I'm not sure if all handyman carries a license. If someone is injured within the house, doesn't that covered by the tenant's home contents insurance?

    • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 17:17
      +3

      They won't even give me their phone number and said it is for the privacy of the tenant.

      WTF - it's time to fire the agent. They should've had all of these details on the application form and given you contact details for the references they checked.

      • iceball on 10/05/2017 - 17:19
        +1

        I'm taking this property back to live in at the end of September, so too much work to engage another agent.

        I'm not sure if it listed the contact number in the lease, but sure does have the applicant's name. I might have to check.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 17:21
          +4

          I'm taking this property back to live in at the end of September, so too much work to engage another agent.

          Fire the agent now and manage the property yourself until September.

    • try2bhelpful on 10/05/2017 - 17:21
      +1

      I think you should seriously consider going to talk to a bunch of new agents and see if you can find one that doesn't seem to have so much to hide; particularly if they are insisting on their own repair people. I would think that any injury in the house caused by tiling would be covered by the house insurance liability; not the contents insurance.

    • Ken1977 on 11/05/2017 - 14:46

      Tradesmen can be licensed, not necessary for most work, they also have liability insurance in case of any problems in the future.

  • bobbified on 10/05/2017 - 18:49
    +6

    I've been told by real estate agents that some get kickbacks from the tradies.

    • [Deactivated] on 10/05/2017 - 20:39
      +2

      real-estate agents and strata managers

    • Seraphin7 on 11/05/2017 - 10:21
      +1

      This is true. So far as the agents and tradies are concerned it's a win-win. The poor old paying customer comes a distant third.

    • Ken1977 on 11/05/2017 - 14:42

      That's an insult to property managers and tradesmen. I know several people in property maintenance and I also work in property maintenance. I would never offer a kickback and I don't know any property manager who would think it's ok to receive one. Besides real estate agents have nothing to do with property management so how would they even know.

  • jjjaar on 11/05/2017 - 08:33

    You own the property. You decide how issues get dealt with. Simple.

  • ramshead on 11/05/2017 - 09:09

    We had a dishwasher at our workplace. It was installed by one of the secretaries. I came back to the office late one day and there were 3 people from the floor below banging on the office door. They said water was dripping from their ceiling. When I entered the office there was water 50cm deep on the carpet.
    I went to the kitchen and fortunately the tap to isolate the water supply to the dishwasher was easily accessible.
    When the secretary installed it, she cross threaded the supply connection. No leaks , but a disaster waiting for the future.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/05/2017 - 11:10

    Wow this went from loose tile's to a dishwasher in one foul swoop??

  • Ken1977 on 11/05/2017 - 14:02

    If you think just gluing a tile back on or using liquid nails is acceptable then you have rocks in your head. I actually work in property maintenance and I see landlords baulk at quotes for similar work, I would also be quoting for a re-routing of one full tiled wall. Why because if water gets in behind the tile it can cause significant water damage to the wall behind the tiles.

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