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Lack of and half-heart repairs

Posted by Jason H on 5/8/2009, 8:13 pm

I'm feeling frustrated and need to vent and could use some advice. I have a 1 year lease in a 2 bedroom townhouse with my partner. We're in month 7 and there's been very little done for all the repairs that this place needs. I've submitted repair lists in writing and verbally over this period, but I feel like nothing's ever getting done as most of the repairs are done quickly/cheaply and don't last. The laundry tub was cracked when we moved in, the landlord took a month to give us a replacement, we even had to install it ourselves (which took all of 15 minutes) Then the water line to the laundry tub/washer stopped working and he took another month to get a plumber to find that calcium clogged the line and to flush it out, which took all of 15 minutes. It took 4 months to have the walls around the bathtub fixed. First he used caulking to glue tiles that fell off the wall back onto the wall, when that didn't hold, he did it again with grout, when that didn't hold, he glued a vinyl insert over all the tiles and caluked the edges. The caulking is now cracked... The toilet tank leaked since we moved in, we discovered a crack when we put in a blue puck and blue water appeared on the floor.. He took 2 months to come and slather on silicone caulking over the crack, when that failed, he took a month to put a "new" toilet in. A new blue puck revealed the "new" toilet also has a crack on the bowl... Awaiting repair. The bathroom sink's wall mount was rusted and it was slowly sagging off the wall, it took a month for him to give us a kit with 2 legs to install ourselves... The trap now leaks from having being bent for so long. Peel and Stick tiles on the bathroom floor and kitchen floor come off like nothing from the simple act of washing the floor. The socket for the oven has exposed wiring with the insulation cut open. We tore out the old basement ceiling, with permission, to dispose of mouse droppings and dead mice which were making the basement reek... The furnace hasn't been inspected since 1982. We cannot spot any newer stickers or markings on it. Our landlord promised back in the fall to have the air ducts cleaned in the spring, nothing yet. He was surprised when we ask for more furnace filters as they keep coming out black every month. So.. now summer's here and we'd like to use the central air unit. "Oh by the way, it's broken and we need to replace it" was his line. He never told us it was broken when we moved in... Now it feels like this won't be fixed for 2-3 months, while we sit here and listen to the humming of our neighbors' central air units chilling their places... Given the track record of taking months to repair simple things, what can we do to force this repair to go faster? What are the guidelines for reasonable amount of time to do a repair? What are the guidelines for a reasonable quality of repair? I know we're likely being taken advantage of, but I also don't want to piss off the landlord or have bad relations.

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Message Thread: Lack of and half-heart repairs - Jason H 5/8/2009, 8:13 pm « Back to thread

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