The Tenantproof House

[Berlingogirl]

My T has recently left (at last!). The back bedroom stank of just about everything a room could stink off! Cannabis, wee-wee, lager, BO etc. I washed the ceiling and the windows with Cilit bang to get the smoke off. Stripped the wallpaper and then tackled the relatively new carpet.

It was brown stripes so didn't really show the colour of the stains. I cut it up and put it in binbags (double rubber gloves job!).

Then I examined the stained (and still wet) floorboards. And Yes, I sniffed the stains to see what it was and to decide what to clean it with. I scrubbed and cleaned it.

NOW - the tenantproof bit is..... To prevent further spillage of stuff onto the boards I am thinking of using underlay. It's a very cheap kind of underlay the name of which I have forgotten but it's black and like the stuff you put under laminate flooring. Plastic foam stuff. It needs to be sprayglued down, but I'm hoping to be able to wipe it clean after the next dirty b****rs mess it up.

Anyone tried this?

[JK0]

Your tenants seem to be rather delinquent with their carpets BG. Have you considered old fashioned lino?

[Berlingogirl]

Yes, jko, indeed I have. I might have used it but all the lino I've put in the kitchen has had holes put in it. If I put lino in the formerly 'minging' now clean and fresh bedroom the floorboards would soon show through. If I put the cheap black underlay under it then I envisage toys being trodden on and piercing the lino. And knowing my tenants, hotknifing and dropping the hot rocks on the floor and melting a hole. Grrrrrrrrrrr

So, I've decided to put the cheap underlay down and then £2.99 cord carpet. IF the Ts turn out to be nice and clean I can always upgrade the carpet in 18 months or so.

[JK0]

Is it possible you are confusing lino with vinyl? Lino is fantastic stuff. It doesn't melt or catch fire, and stains can be removed with wire wool or even sandpaper.

http://www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/For-...ucts/Linoleum/

[Bird]

Or know a little man, or that brown furniture costs almost nothing these days.

ML

What do you mean by brown furniture?

[Bird]

Sofas:

In terms of tenant proofness, what do you think about a leather sofa from Ikea? Or other cheap but good looking suggestions please. I need to get a new sofa.

Thanks

[Berlingogirl]

These days the terms 'lino' and 'vinyl' seem to be generally interchangeable. Actual real lino is, indeed, hardwearing stuff, but the PRICE! I'll look into it again though.

[Berlingogirl]

Leather is a good tenant proof material. I bought a leather settee when my children were little; it's easy to clean and hardwearing. If they spill stuff on it, it doesn't sink in (if you wipe it off quite quickly).

Have you looked in your local charity shops or ebay?

I remember when you could get fake leather but that doesn't seem to be around anymore. That was good stuff too.

Ikea do a wooden framed settee with removable cushions. I bought one of these and it was tenant proof for a year (then I washed the covers and my son has it in his shed). These Ts had two little children who only seemed to eat sweets. There were half eaten sweets stuck to the settee, not to mention all the floors in the house and there were some on the walls!

[Berlingogirl]

Back to my flooring in the stinky bedroom. It just occurred to me last night. The brown stains on the living room ceiling had been perplexing me. They were obviously caused by liquid and were, in parts causing the ceiling wallpaper to peel off a bit.

Yes , you've guessed it - the liquid spilt on the floor above had gone through the carpet, between the floorboards, soaked through the ceiling plaster and became visible on the ceiling.

Now I've got to wipe wee-wee and lager off the ceiling!