The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: nereo on June 06, 2018, 05:47:46 AM
-
Bit of an odd question - I am renting a place which has a walk-in finished basement with new carpeting. Occasionally (~monthly) some workers need access through that area. My landlord laid down thick plastic over the carpet to protect it, but it won't hold up for long. Landlord was very specific that the carpet needs to stay 'protected" and this was her cheap-ass way of doing it.
So - I am looking for something I can put on top of the carpet to protect it instead of plastic sheeting. It needs to be both cheap and robust. I was thinking of some carpet rolls on top of carpet, but that's a bit pricier than I'd like and I'm looking for additional suggestions. I need to cover/protect about 150 sqft.
-
Why is this your responsibility? I assume the repair work is something the landlord is responsible for?
-
I think you would be going above and beyond to let her know when/if the plastic gets ratty.
-
I agree that it's up to the landlord, as normal wear and tear from your tenancy is to be expected. Extra wear from work she ordered isn't. But you can get rolls of clear plastic sheeting that's specifically to protect carpet at places like Joann's, Michael's, or Wal-Mart. They sell it by the yard on big rolls. It has spikes on the back to dig into the carpet and keep it in place, so it's safer than slippery plastic sheeting. You can use any number of coupons or cashback offers to keep the price down (the Joann's app, Wal-Mart Savings Catcher, Ibotta, topcashback).
Or you can put out a facebook/freecycle message that you need carpet scraps. Even discontinued samples from a carpet store would work.
I'd still speak to her about getting reimbursed for spending your own money to protect her carpet from her workers.
-
When workmen come into my house, they ALWAYS offer to take off their shoes, or else they have those little booties that go over their shoes.
-
This is a ridiculous request from your landlord. I could see if you were doing it to prevent yourself from causing high wear and tear. But the landlord can't force you to furnish the house a certain way if they don't provide it.
Good luck when you move out of that place. Your landlord is going to be a PITA.
-
Get some carpet remnants. They're leftover pieces of carpet that are too small for a room so they're cheap.
And ask the landlord to pay for them.
-
Whatever you do, don't pay for the landlord's preferences.
-
Thanks for the responses - to be clear i have no intention of paying for this, I just need to replace what is there.
I may look into bacchi's suggestion of carpet remnants. If not that maybe the clear plastic sheeting okcisok mentioned.
Thanks