I am a landlord: i need to know if a cracked floorboard caused by my tennants usage is damage or wear/tear?

Question

I am currently renting out my property. I have wooden polished floorboards. One of the boards has been cracked open and split due to the wheels of the tennant's chair continuously rolling over it. They've lived there for 1.5 years. I have asked for a piece of plastic or a rug to be placed underneath the wheels of the chair but they have not done this.

I spoke to my property manager who has advised this is 'wear and tear' and not classed as 'damage'. I am not sure if her advice is correct.

If anyone is a landlord and can educate me on 'wear and tear' that would be great!

Answer 1

This link is your education:

http://rhol.org/rental/WEAR.HTM

Personally this is a gray area. Its may be damage but if they have been otherwise good tenant you may just want to let it go. You could however say that if it comes up again (ie if they aren't more careful with that chair or put something under it) you won't be so nice next time.

Answer 2

That can be a bit of a tough call, speaking as a landlord myself. If the lease or house rules required floor or carpet protectors under wheeled chairs then it's pretty clear that it's not wear and tear. Merely asking the tenant to do it that way probably won't qualify as "house rules" and certainly isn't part of the lease. At the very least, you should have notified the tenant in writing to use a proper floor protector under all wheeled chairs.

My leases always required "appropriate" carpet protectors under wheeled chairs used on carpeted surfaces but never on hard floors. I did have one tenant who disregarded that and did bill him for the replacement carpet.

A properly installed hardwood floor -- and you'd be surprised how many are NOT properly installed -- should not suffer significantly from that type of traffic. (My Dad had his office in the home and had 6 or 7 wheeled office chairs in use for over 20 years and never did any damage aside from the occasional scratch on the hardwood floors.) If it's not properly installed, of course your tenant isn't responsible either. Or if it's a cheap composite or laminate with a thin wear layer, again it's probably not the tenant's responsibility.

My best advice would be to have it checked by an experienced flooring installer and get his opinion. You're going to have to have a pro fix it anyway, so that's not any additional cost one way or another. If it's his opinion that a reasonable person would or should expect that sort of damage under those conditions, ask the tenant to pay or offer to split the cost. If not, then you'll have to eat the cost yourself. And maybe consider modifying your lease terms or publish appropriate "house rules" and give copies to your future tenants.

Answer 3

One question: Is this board pine? Many cheap flooring materials are not intended for direct traffic, people remove the carpets and polish boards that can't stand up to the direct pressure of the wheels of a chair for example. Also there may be rot or termite or borer damage weakening the boards, as a landlord I would get it repaired as soon as possible to establish the cause and maintain good will, which is worth more than a floor board.
As a legal point it sounds like your tenant is exacerbating the problem out of the mistaken belief you need to provide hard floors for their use however, so I would say any damage caused to sound boards subsequent to written advice to take steps to prevent it is the tenants responsibility should this issue go to tribunal, open and shut.

Answer 4

In the first place, if the floors were in good shape to start with, every day use of a chair would not cause that type of damage UNLESS there was some type of problem with the chair wheels. I originally was going to say it was 'wear and tear', but if the chair wheels actually were the cause of the damage, assuming the floor was in good shape, then your tenant is responsible for the damage. You had even ask them to provide protection and they ignored your request. If necessary, you may have to get a flooring person to look at it and give you a written 'cause of the damage' and an estimate of repair.
I hope you are holding a damage deposit.
You're right, if I understand the problem, the manager is wrong (watch that person).
.

Answer 5

I would chalk this one up to a lesson learned. My husband and I have been landlords for 10 years and we find this 'gray area' of wear and tear damage to be somewhat of a thorn in our side. As someone else pointed out, if your tenants are good tenants otherwise and currently have no intentions of moving out, I would let this go, but would fix it and supply some sort of runner to prevent further damage. Also, if you have not specified in your lease or house rules that you require mats or carpeting under wheeled chairs, then your are pretty much SOL. Chances are good that if they cracked that easily, the wood would have cracked sooner than later anyway. It sucks, but such is the life of a FAIR landlord. :)

Answer 6

I was a property manager for many years. This, to me, would not be considered general wear and tear. But, that depends on the condition of the property before the tenant started renting. Was there any previous condition with the floorboards? You have the right to take a portion of their security deposit when they move out because of this. All you need to do is to take pictures when they move out and mail them a letter with the rest of their deposit in a check stating why some of their deposit was used for home repairs.

Answer 7

landlord cracked floorboard caused tennants usage damage weartear

Answer 8

Sounds like normal wear and tear. If the damage happened during normal and expected use its not caused by tenants but to poor installation or maintenance. If you believed your floors would be damaged it was you duty as land lord to correct the problem. You can not demand your tenants use special products to protect your property. You should have provided something to protect the floor or properly maintained them! Hope your tenants don't sue you for it.

Answer 9

A chair rolling across the floor may cause scratches or indentations but a crack would be more likely caused by a defective board or improper installation of the floor.

Answer 10

Her advice is wrong. Would she say the same about carpeting if the wheels of the chair snagged the carpet and tore it into shreds ? Tenants are expected to use reasonable means of control to prevent this sort of damage. Bill them for the repairs.