Tenants burnt through verandah

Discussion in 'Repairs & Maintenance' started by Dogby, 5th Nov, 2020.

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  1. Antoni0

    Antoni0 Well-Known Member

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    I think his bank account might be ahye ?

    If tenants are going to destroy your IP they're going to do it regardless, they do have a responsibility to make sure things don't catch on fire.

    I had a tenant that couldn't turn the stove off and put a pan on the stove with no water in it and called the fire brigade, the fire station was actually 5mins down the road to their credit but they deemed it as non-urgent, by the time the fire truck turned up the collection of plastic bags they had tied to the oven ignited and burnt a fair part of the kitchen. Tenant had been in the house for about 20 years and I paid for the lot and still in there now.
     
  2. Stoffo

    Stoffo Well-Known Member

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    But they make a mess of the timber handrail/weatherboards, as they vent out the rear :eek:
    How do I know this, ummm :oops:
     
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  3. Antoni0

    Antoni0 Well-Known Member

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    They usually leave greasy marks on the ceiling from the fumes.
     
  4. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    Well, I have had mine under many decks and patios, not only that, but I prob bought it 20 years ago...or close too....

    I keep it away from the timber rails I have now, and to get grease on the roof timbers, well, I cook it, I do not burn off stuff with it.

    Point being, as per my first reply, I take reasonable care I guess, would I leave it for tenants to use, you can bet your rear the answer is NO :)
     
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  5. Dogby

    Dogby Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately yes. This property was self managed. I made some (naive) procedural mistakes setting up the lease. The tenants got legal advice and blackmailed me.

    The less bad option is to wear this loss and move on.

    Thankyou everybody for your advice. I will take it all on board
     
  6. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    But still no photo of the damage?
     
  7. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    And therein lies the problem. No PM!

    Self managing is a lot more than just collecting rent. So many things can go wrong when you do it yourself.
     
  8. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    So....other than providing them with a BBQ, what else did you do wrong with the lease?
     
  9. Dogby

    Dogby Well-Known Member

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    Image 949.png
     
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  10. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Could you "sister" that beam, run four new boards? Cheap and easy.
     
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  11. skater

    skater Well-Known Member

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    That won't take a lot to fix.
     
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  12. jared7825

    jared7825 Well-Known Member

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    This is ideal as a budget fix , depending on how the joists are connected and span over the bearer Could run a new joist out of 45 x140 and cut the four boards back to the prior joist would t even have to replace the full boards
     
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  13. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    And if you remove some boards and stagger the joins so that all four don't finish on the same bearer it would hardly be noticeable.
     
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  14. jared7825

    jared7825 Well-Known Member

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    You’d only notice it’s new until the boards weather in

    I would not call it “significant fire damage” as originally described I’ve seen accidental timber fires around decks and fences much worse
     
  15. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    Sister the joist. And cut the 4 damaged boards back to the first joist. You can then screw shorter boards into that joist as usual, ending at the sistered joist.

    Usually you would stagger a couple of boards back to the next joist(s). But for a rental, I wouldn’t bother - as having all 4 boards join on the same joist is structurally fine - just doesn’t look as good.

    The materials for this are not that expensive, given the small quantities needed.
     
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