My apartment kitchen is awful and I want to change things...

nakirush

Long story short, I've been living in my apartment for a year and the kitchen has been driving me nuts just as long. It is funtional, but ugly; crooked molding, ugly cabinetry, just shoddy craftsmanship in general. Now, I have a few years construction and woodworking under my belt, so the project itself is not a concern to me. I'm more interested in how much trouble I can get in if I decide to do a minor revamp of the kitchen. Nothing major, just restaining the cabinetry, changing out the doorknobs, straightening up the molding, etc. Nothing extreme and, IMHO, a better result than what's there. It would all be very conservative. Obviously, most of the changes will be irreversible... Can they do anything beyond keeping the security despot if/when I decide to leave?

Raneados

1) check your lease

2) report back

edit: they can absolutely charge you "damages" for what you do when you move out, even if it's an improvement in your eyes

edit edit: whatever happens, if it says it or not in your lease, I suggest specifically asking your landlord if you can do work on it and GET IT IN WRITING if they agree

Mojo_Jojo

Just directly ask your landlord. Make the case that it needs redoing and you may even be able to persuade him to knock a chunk out of your next rent payment.

ihmmy

in my past places, whenever I've offered to try and improve the place I was renting (i.e. put up back splashing, fix loose tiles myself, etc.) the landlord has offered to reimburse cost of expenses/supplies. Then again, I've only had really good landlords in the places I felt like trying to fix up a little, so your results may vary

bowen

Parroting the ask your landlord directly advice. Let them know you want to do it.

spool32

Raneados wrote:

1) check your lease

2) report back

edit: they can absolutely charge you "damages" for what you do when you move out, even if it's an improvement in your eyes

edit edit: whatever happens, if it says it or not in your lease, I suggest specifically asking your landlord if you can do work on it and GET IT IN WRITING if they agree

GET IT IN WRITING
GET IT IN WRITING
GET IT IN WRITING

Seriously, if it's not written down and signed, they will take your deposit and charge you damages anyway, and the landlord will say you're a madman for even suggesting you had a conversation with him about it.

If it's not written down, it did. not. happen.

Dr. Frenchenstein

yeah even if it's an improvement, the landlord can charge you to put it back the way it was. I wouldn't even bother checking the lease, as it will say you're responsible for the house being in the same condition as it was when you moved in.

Ask the landlord, get it in writing, etc etc.

MushroomStick

My dad did this years ago. Had the landlord's blessing and everything. The landlord came in to see it when it was done, told him it looked great, and then thanked him by raising his rent.

bowen

Hopefully done at renewal of the lease, or else lawlsuit.

Druhim

bowen wrote: »

Hopefully done at renewal of the lease, or else lawlsuit.

Extending the lease is not necessary depending on where you live. I know in Washington state, the only requirement is that the landlord gives you sufficient notice that the rent is being raised. Other than that, they can raise the rent as much as they want in Washington as long as they give you advance notice.

bowen

So the landlord could effectively raise your rent $1000 per notification period?

Druhim

Sure. You can also move out. You'd have 60 days notice.

SilverEternity

MushroomStick wrote:

My dad did this years ago. Had the landlord's blessing and everything. The landlord came in to see it when it was done, told him it looked great, and then thanked him by raising his rent.

This also happened to a friend I knew.

I personally had a situation where my roommate and I asked our landlord (rental company) about painting our cabinets and putting on new knobs in the kitchen. They agreed, we completed the project and we received our full security deposit when we moved out.

Bottom line, ask your landlord (as everyone else has said).

eponagirl

arguably, and to your advantage, you need to have a conversation about your intentions in the kitchen with your landlord. in all honesty, it is he/she who is benefiting, given that you are performing a ">50% of viewer approval" upgrade. if you don't talk to you landlord and you do this, he/she might consider your upgrade a benefit, but he might also fail to tell you this. that is why it's important to tell him how you feel and to offer a proposal.

you should be prepared for the questions he might ask. do your homework. determine what you want to do, and if you're in contracting, no doubt you'll know, but he will probably ask for estimates (costs). if he's a reasonable (and good) landlord he would opt to make these kind of improvements on his own dime; however, if you are personalizing it, with star-wars wallpaper (i.e., reference to a friend, not you), then that is different. you want to present your ideas as a matter of investment to your landlord. you should not be charged A DIME for these improvements if they are considered, somewhat universally, as "improvements".

establish, however, whether the "improvements" are necessary, fashion-forward, or personal. if they are more personal, than anything, you should still propose this to your landlord. for example, if the l.l. just redid the place, in a clean manner, ashley grey walls, new carpets, etc., it can be argued that he just did his job re: improvements. and if you wanted to change it all to red walls, red carpets, etc., he might consider this imposing and not an improvement. weigh the costs and benefits in terms of a general public or his future clients and you might just be able to propose a good improvement if it dually benefits the latter. best wishes.

Dr. Frenchenstein

MushroomStick wrote:

My dad did this years ago. Had the landlord's blessing and everything. The landlord came in to see it when it was done, told him it looked great, and then thanked him by raising his rent.

This is why it's stupid to put your own money into an apartment. unless you don't care you may not see the benefit of your work for long.

illig

i've always done minor stuff myself... if it's adding a shelf or fixing up a minor thing, i just do it and not worry about it

for major stuff, i've always involved the landlord prior to doing any work - recently, i had him install a dishwasher b/c i was sick and tired of hand washing dishes

YMMV of course

nakirush

Thanks for the advice, all! I'll be shooting the landlord a letter soon.