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The 2-Year Apartment Rule

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Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#51

Post by CarRamrod »

sigmoid10 wrote: post #36
CarRamrod wrote: post #26

The best thing I've found after dealing with mold is a simple 3% hydrogen peroxide solution that is sold in any drugstore. Put it in a spray bottle and soak the area deeply enough and it should kill it down to the roots. And a plus is that when it breaks down the only fumes it gives off is pure oxygen, unlike other cleaners like bleach. It did such a good job that I use peroxide as a general purpose cleaner now. I wi…

You should note that while a single use (like to kill mould) may be fine, regular use on stone, metal or wood (i.e. most stuff in a bathroom) is not recommended because it is a powerful oxidizer that will considerably damage these surfaces if used regularly. That's because it releases hydroxyl radicals that destroy not only molecular bonds in stains and microorganism cell walls, but also attacks treated surfaces and…

Duly noted.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#52

Post by phendrenad2 »

I feel like there's a skill in preserving a living space. You have to meet the space half-way. If you live in India, you probably have a bathroom covered in waterproof tiles of concrete, with a floor that slopes towards a drain, and you can (and should) go wild and spray water everywhere. In the US, where everything is cheapo drywall with a thin layer of cheap paint (except the floor, which just exists to hold water until it can soak into the wall), you have to be extremely careful of water accumulating in one place regularly.

The vent stops working in the bathroom, as the author states? Get maintenance to fix it ASAP.

Roaches in the kitchen? Exterminator.

Leak in the living room? Maintenance. More than once? Get a lawyer ready.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#53

Post by esperent »

HPsquared wrote: post #43
esperent wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've unfortunately lived in too many houses where mold becomes a problem. It's never my fault, it's always been because the house is old/doesn't have proper damp proofing/cheap paint was used, or no damp proofing applied on exterior walls. I clean it, of course, so I'm not literally living in a house with moldy walls, and I keep the house as dry and ventilated as possible. But in certain climates it's nearly inevitab…

There is specific kitchen / bathroom paint that is smoother and has some anti-mold ingredients. Makes a huge difference to use the correct paint in a damp environment. Condensation itself is a function of the air conditions (temperature and relative humidity ie dew point) and surface temperatures. All surfaces should be comfortably above the dew point to prevent mold. You can use a hygrometer to measure the air, and…

Absolutely but one thing about living in rented accommodation - you rarely get to choose the paint.

I agree that a dehumidifier helps but you basically need one in every room. Where I live you can easily take out 10 liters a day from every room during the humid season (which is the maximum capacity of the machine I rented).

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#54

Post by sn »

tasuki wrote: post #9

> Things start off fine, but then mold starts growing in the bathroom, and a recurring leak springs up in the living room, and then roaches start appearing in the kitchen. When I started reading the article, I thought the whole point was gonna be that the author doesn't take care of the apartment. The recurring leak might not be the author's fault, but the mold in the bathroom and roaches in the kitchen definitely ar…

There's a relatively easy technological solution to mold: buy a dehumidifier.

We bought two after moving to Ireland. Both have drainage hoses. One has a pump and empties into the kitchen sink, the other has no pump and the drainage hose empties into the shower. No more mold problems.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#55

Post by arethuza »

freefaler wrote: post #47
c0l0 wrote: post #27

Living in a city in Europe in a very decent apartment in a building that was erected in the 1880s (sic), this article made me chuckle - but also feel bad about how the throwaway society of the 21st century has extended even to things that are supposed to last.

I live in a house that is at least 110 years old, built around the time Australia became a federation. The house has been repainted and extended several times, but it still has 3.5-meter-high ceilings, ventilation holes with intricate metal bars, and a lot of original details. Even though the house is really old, it has been taken care of. There is no mold, the doors are still the same original ones, the fireplaces w…

"Even though the house is really old"

Apart from a brief spell when I was very young and my family lived in a 1950s council house I've never lived in a building as new as that... and I'm 60 and have lived in 11 different properties. But that's the UK and Edinburgh for you...

Edit: Never had any mould problems but then again most of the places I lived had draughty sash windows...

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#57

Post by close04 »

cryptonym wrote: post #46
itake wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> roaches in the kitchen roaches need to come from somewhere. Even if your apartment is spotless, someone else in the building might not be...

If you see more and more of them in your kitchen, you most likely are not cleaning it properly after every meal. Sure, if your kitchen was on the moon, you wouldn't have a bug issue. That would still be dirty.

I had neighbors with filthy apartments who thought the solution is routine spraying. Every time, the roaches would take shelter in mine through unknown passages.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#58

Post by a_t48 »

ElProlactin wrote: post #50
W3zzy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But is it the landlord's issue?

Most leases have clauses stating something to the effect that tenants are responsible for keeping their units reasonably clean and sanitary. If tenants start complaining about roaches, a good landlord will do a bit of investigation and remind tenants of the importance of cleanliness, proper disposal of trash, etc.

At least in Oakland, it's the landlord's responsibility to manage pest control. It needs to be done at a building level, or else the roaches will just get shuffled around.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#59

Post by TrackerFF »

We rented a couple of apartments for years, our longest tenant lived with us for 12 years.

It should be mentioned that this was a rental out in rural nowhere, so no dramatic price hikes. The house was also paid off years before it became a rental.

Our family did janitorial services, which usually came to fixing some smaller things once or twice a year. Nothing extreme.

For us, it was smooth sailing. I really think the key was rent stability.

From previous personal experience as a renter in a high cost of living area, though, it seemed like landlords were extremely focused on raising rent. If they felt that they couldn't raise rent enough (where I live there are regulations), they'd try every trick in the book to cancel your tenancy contract/agreement, because then they could set a new rent for the next one.

Some such units were more or less revolving doors with new tenants every 1-2-3 years.

Only as a student did I see slummy apartments rented out by actual slumlords. Those were professional landlords that owned tens to hundreds of rentals, aimed at students, and seemed to follow a strict maximize rent/minimize upkeep philosophy.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#60

Post by collabs »

sn wrote: post #54
tasuki wrote: post #9

> Things start off fine, but then mold starts growing in the bathroom, and a recurring leak springs up in the living room, and then roaches start appearing in the kitchen. When I started reading the article, I thought the whole point was gonna be that the author doesn't take care of the apartment. The recurring leak might not be the author's fault, but the mold in the bathroom and roaches in the kitchen definitely ar…

There's a relatively easy technological solution to mold: buy a dehumidifier. We bought two after moving to Ireland. Both have drainage hoses. One has a pump and empties into the kitchen sink, the other has no pump and the drainage hose empties into the shower. No more mold problems.

Thank you for sharing. Do your dehumidifiers run all the time? Do they have some kind of auto on / auto off feature? Do you run them on some schedule? As necessary? I am thinking it would be very easy for me to forget unless it is a set it and forget it kind of thing.
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