WWYD - bad landlord

[lottaLove]

We live in a low rise apartment building. It is in a nice neighbourhood, near shopping centres, parks and schools. And the price we pay for rent can't be beat in this area...or anywhere else in the city for that matter.
The only problem is our landlord. He is cheap. There are many issues in our apartment that he told us he would be repairing when we moved in and signed the lease. He has 'repaired' them to a bare minimum standard.
For example, our floors are those laminate 'click' wood flooring. It wasn't installed properly, and the boards are coming apart at the ends, causing gaps in our floor of about one inch. His answer to this was to come into our apartment with a crowbar, stick the crowbar under the baseboards, and kind of jimmy the floorboards back together. This fixed the issue for about a week until just general walking over the floors spaced the boards apart again. We told him it needed to be fixed, back he came with his crowbar.
Also, our refrigerator is very old. There is something wrong with it, and it leaks water. It is leaking so badly that we have to keep a bucket in the back of the fridge to catch the leaking water (leaks from freezer area to fridge area). This doesn't catch all the water though, and the water leaks out the front of the fridge. This causes this rusty disgusting leaking water to pool on our kitchen floor. He has come in 3 times now to fix it. Each time, it is fixed for about a week, then it starts leaking again.
I don't know what to do. I tell him there is a problem, and he comes and fixes it, but his standard of fixing something is not the same as mine. For him, it is acceptable to have to come to our apartment a few times a month to fix our floorboards with his crowbar. I know he doesn't want to replace them because it is expensive....but c'mon.
What would you do if you were faced with a landlord like this? Our lease isn't up until next March, and because he 'technically' comes to fix things when we ask him, according to the rental board it would be hard to build a case for early termination of the lease.

[krbshappy71]

I would either keep calling him or get my own crow bar. Meanwhile be shopping for another place. What's it worth to you?

[The Muse]

I tell him there is a problem, and he comes and fixes it, but his standard of fixing something is not the same as mine.

Unfortunately, this is the plight of the renter. His property, his standard. This is why I can't and don't rent.

If buying a place that's up to your standard isn't an option, then your best option is to wait it out and move when the lease is up. Short of fixing it yourself, which doesn't make sense, you don't have many options.

[Nishu]

Is there an ice maker in your fridge? Can you just disconnect the water to it?

Not sure about the floorboards. I guess you know now why the rent is so cheap.

Sorry, I hope you get it straightened out.

[mommy4ever]

Couple options

1- move when you can.

OR

2. fix the flooring with a temp fix. Use the crowbar and put it where it needs to be and use some shims to keep it there.
3. look on freecycle, earthcycle, craigslist for some one giving away a fridge. Replace the fridge. Then you can simply have the landlord move it out to store it. Don't get rid of it, he needs to be the one.

Renting has it's perks, and it's cons...

[pollypurebred39]

*sigh* Yes, this is the renters plight. Other then fixing things yourself, and calling him out all the time, I'm not sure you can do anything other than that.

We lived in an apartment that was within our budget when we first were married. It looked fine going in, but we soon found out it wasn't. The first day there I was cleaning the windows and the window literally fell out. My DH told me to stop washing the windows because they all were like that. Once while cleaning the tub, I put my hand on the faucet and felt an electric current running through it. Called the landlord and it turned out that when the house was being split into apartments they redid the electric. The problem lied in that they did not pull all the old wires out and left live wires going to no where that ran under the tub. Those were just the highlights, but so many more stories.

We did eventually buy a home. Mortgage is less than rent out here, that is unless you live in a slum lord apartment like we did.

I wish you the best, I hope it all works out for you soon.

[lottaLove]

We have some carpenters glue, I was considering trying to glue the boards together. I don't know if I'm allowed to do this, or if it would even work at all. Last time he came to fix it, he told us they come apart so much because we use too much water when we mop. I think he is getting fed up with coming to fix things as well.
I think I will start looking on freecycle for a fridge. I don't know why that never occurred to me. There is no ice maker, the place where it is leaking is supposed to trap condensation from the freezer, bring it down through a tube to the motor area where it is hot enough for that to evaporate, which isn't happening, so the water overflows and pools on the inside of the fridge.

[pollypurebred39]

Too much water when you mop! Oy Vey!

[Greebo]

We have some carpenters glue, I was considering trying to glue the boards together. I don't know if I'm allowed to do this, or if it would even work at all. Last time he came to fix it, he told us they come apart so much because we use too much water when we mop. I think he is getting fed up with coming to fix things as well.

When you say they come apart you mean that you have laminate flooring, which is installed in strips like so:
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ANd you're seeing gaps like this:
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right?

They are separating because laminate flooring is *supposed* to interlock but this was broken/damaged at installation so it's not locked together.

You *could* glue the separating ends together, but if you do that, put parchment paper under the floor beneath the crack, then put JUST ENOUGH glue on one end, shove together and wipe up excess glue. The parchment paper will keep the floor from sticking to the sub floor and creating a worse problem.

I think I will start looking on freecycle for a fridge. I don't know why that never occurred to me.

He owns the fridge - so if you put your own in and throw his out he'll claim the new one as his. Get his OK in writing to replace the fridge.

Basically there isn't much more you can do - none of the issues you give are either major or health hazards.

[lottaLove]

That is exactly how they are coming apart.
I'll ask him if we are allowed to just get our own appliances and have him take the fridge he owns and put it into the building's storage or something. He has a lot of spare appliances under the stairwells, so maybe we are not the only ones who have had this idea. The worse that can happen is he will say no.

[bumplett]

I'm with Greebo.

Nothing you've described is a hazard, just a PITA.

Let it go, and remember how great it is to save the money that you would otherwise be spending on more expensive rent!!!

I would ask about replacing the fridge.

[Spirit Deer]

I wouldn't glue the laminate together. Floating floors have to be able to expand and contract. If they're fixed in place, they can't and it could ruin the flooring.

I would do as suggested and shim the ends. Just be sure to leave about a quarter inch next to the wall, so there is an expansion gap.

I would also replace the fridge. Even if you have to get a new one, it sounds like the low rent there would soon pay for the fridge vs. moving to a more expensive place. And that way you'd have a nice fridge with the options you wanted.

[MissSeetonFan]

At the same time, document everything. If it ever comes down to it, you will have a history of calls, responses and how long things lasted. If you MUST leave before the contract is up or he tries to get you by not returning the deposit at the end because of "damages", you will have a record showing what happened when, what you did to remedy it and what he did.

Take pictures. Take notes of all conversations and calls and try to put every maintenance request in writing and keep a copy so that you can back up your side.

[mndtrp]

[ame="http://www.google.com/search?q=quebec+renters+rights&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a"]quebec renters rights (google search)[/ame]


Maybe something will apply to your situation.

[Greebo]

I wouldn't glue the laminate together. Floating floors have to be able to expand and contract. If they're fixed in place, they can't and it could ruin the flooring.

I am not sure that you understood my suggestion. Floating floors do need to expand and contract but gluing the ends - just the ends - of two boards together is not going to interfere with expansion and contraction, esp. not with parchment paper underneath that will keep the wood from sticking to the subfloor.

I would do as suggested and shim the ends. Just be sure to leave about a quarter inch next to the wall, so there is an expansion gap.

Lets say there's a 1" gap between the end of the board and the wall. How are you going to shim the end to keep the boards from separating while leaving a 1/4" gap at the end?

When you install floating floors, you use spacers around the edges to protect the gap but then when the floor is down you remove the spacers.

With two boards not being locked together, normal walking around on the floor will make them separate. If you shim the end while leaving a gap at the end they'll still separate and if you shim the end w/ no gap, then you really will have a problem with expansion.