I'm also concerned that the smell of fresh paint will make the apartment unlivable for a few days.
Can the landlord insist on going through with painting the apartment? Thank you for any advice you are able to provide.
Regards,
A
When I moved in to my apartment, it wasn't freshly painted and I'm not contractually obligated to paint it at return. My landlord now wants to paint the apartment (at his expense). However, I don't want to let painters in while I'm still living here and with all my furniture and belongings in the apartment. I have no intention of terminating the contract nor does the landlord have any reason to want me out or think that I'm leaving. So, I'm not sure why he wants to paint it now that I've lived in the apartment for 2 and a half years...
Unless you're hiding a dead body in there, I'd just let them in and let them get on with it.
Almost all household paints are now water-based with minimal smell.
I'm sure you won't need to move out. People who own their own homes seem to manage fairly easily when they paint them every few years...
You're getting a freshly-painted place for free - and you're still complaining...
And on a more practical note, I believe the landlord is allowed to access his property (with notice) to enable maintenance of the fore-mentioned property.
Thanks Tom. Appreciate that feedback.
I agree. We moved into an apartment last March and it was painted just one or two days before we moved in, yet we smelled almost no paint fumes when we arrived.
Professional painters are usually very good about moving furniture and not getting paint where it doesn't belong.
You might be amazed at how much better your place looks with a fresh coat of paint.
Do you know when the apartment was last painted? If it wasn't on the landlord's mind 2 years ago when you moved in to paint, the question I have to ask is why now when you are living there?
Paint does have an odour, but it doesn't last long if the paint is water based and the apartment is aired. So why the landlord waited until the colder weather to think about painting is strange (unless you have been discussing this for months).
Do you know if the landlord was intending to have the ceilings painted or just the walls?
The landlord has the right to carry out maintenance and repairs. You cannot refuse him access for this. But painting during the term of the lease is not generally done and in your shoes I wouldn't be happy about it either. Is he painting another unit in your building? Could this be why the idea to paint your unit now has come up?
I completely understand your desire not to have painters in your apartment when you are not home. Also, it is also a lot of work for the painters to properly cover and protect everything. But it can be done. Using the right materials it is costly and time consuming.
If you do not want to battle with your landlord, agree to the painting subject to certain conditions such as it must be done on a Saturday (assuming this is day off for you so you do not need to take time off work).
Insist on new (unused) plastic sheets to protect everything but the floor. For the floors it does depend on what flooring material you have but most painters will use "floorliner" as well as brown paper which is supplied on rolls. The type of flooring you have will dictate just how well it needs to be protected. (imagine a paint spill). The painter should also tape brown paper (also supplied on rolls) to all baseboards.
If you have wardrobes or other large pieces of furniture against the walls, these could be very difficult to move. So I wonder who is supposed to empty these. Painters need room to work so really all furniture needs to be moved away from the walls.
A freshly painted apartment is nice but less than ideal to have the work done when you are living there. Most landlords wait until a tenant moves out to paint. If you have the same landlord as you did 2 years ago, and not a new owner, I would ask why he wants to paint now. Has your landlord visited your apartment to look at the walls recently?
Sorry for all the questions but it really is unusual to paint 2 years into a lease in an occupied apartment.
I wouldn't worry so much about this. Move or ask to have your furniture moved away from the walls and make sure the painters cover everything with protective foil. It'll all be over in one day and you'll have a freshly painted appt. Neat.
Thanks for the feedback. I've asked the same question and am awaiting a response. It's rather odd. The previous tenant lived here for 10 years. Not sure when it was last painted, but except for the kitchen (where there are some black soot-like marks around where paintings were hung by the previous tenant), the walls actually don't look like they need a paint job.
To answer your questions, I believe it is their intention to paint the ceilings as well.
At this point, I'm not aware of any other neighbors whose apartments are being painted (I checked with a few).
It is the same landlord as before. They did ask to visit the apartment recently with a painter and a dishwasher installation guy.
They did offer to paint the apartment on a Saturday or any other day that's convenient for me. I do appreciate that I'm getting the apartment painted for free, but it's the nuisance aspect of it that made me wonder if the landlord is allowed to do this. From all the responses above, it looks like he does and I'll to put up with it anyway.
Cheers,
A
-- And thanks Glinaa!
If the previous tenant lived there for 10 years, if the apartment was not painted during their tenancy, then it was due for a paint job before you moved in because the lifespan of the paint was over. Under those circumstances you should have insisted on it then. I am very surprised it was not a topic of discussion at the handover, particularly the black marks on the kitchen walls. You should have asked at the handover when the apartment was last painted.
It is less than ideal to paint when you are there and painting ceilings creates more mess than walls.
If you get a fresh paint job now, will it be your responsibility to return it in the same state? Before it was painted, you could have returned it without having to bother about it. It could create extra hassle from that point of view.
Either he wants to try to sell the apartment or he will demand you to repaint it once you move out, as there was "fresh" paint while you were a tenant.
Nope. Water-soluble paint is amortized over 8 years (acrylic 15 years), and ordinary wear is included in the rent, so condition after 8 years is irrelevant. If the OP were to move out in 2 years and left a few marks that would probably be ok too (and could be painted over by him/her easily anyway).
Acrylic paint is water-soluble.
Perhaps he's looking to reduce his taxable rental income with some timely renovation expenses.
Either way, can't really deny him, though understand nuisance concerns.
As others have mentioned/alluded to, I would get a signed letter confirming your obligations in light of maintaining the flat to the newly renovated state and that there will be no rental increase. Though I am not sure that the rent can be adjusted without a new contract.
This is an interesting topic.
We moved in to our 3 bedroom appartment one month ago and the concierge already mentioned verbally that the landlord intends to place new parquet (wooden flooring) in the entire apparment somewhere next year.
The flat is only 7 years old and the parquet looks just fine with the ordinary "wear & tear" from having someone living in there for 7 years. There are no real damages.
I am just wondering how this will practically be organised. We are living in the flat with 2 small kids and I just do not see how they will do it while we are living there and being quite stuffed with furnishment.
I just hope they decide to postpone the works with like another 10 years or so
lucky you! ours just tells us to paint it ourselves
Interesting, and thanks for the info.
Do you know if this is true everywhere or is it cantonal?
I've been in my appartment for 10 years and have caused some stains here and there that I am worried about.
the problem is that although the appartment was not repainted as a whole, there was a painter in about three years ago to touch up the paint after the electrician caused some damage. And some of the worst damage is actually to the new bits. So I'm sort of hoping that touched up doesn't count as new paint.
I think that the landlords are obliged to paint once every 5 years and so you can always agree with the land lord to postpone until you leave the apartment.
Utter rubbish, read post N° 11
I've painted nearly every room of the last two homes we've owned and painting while occupied is a major job. Emptying and moving furniture take a good day of prep and taping off edges another half a day. What the hell? I'd be asking that landlord why it needs to be done right now? That's a lot of work on your part and his part too! Why, why why? And really put up a fight about that. There is no reason he need to paint that place while you're in it. He should give you a couple of days of free rent for all of the work you'll have to do to take it apart and put it back together again not to mention, he's doing the ceiling? WTF? That's just wrong. Fight it.
Let me know how it goes.
My bad. The Mietververband distinguishes between Dispersion etc and Acryl/Kunstharz. Depreciaton table by the Mieterverein (swiss tenants association) (I linked the page for the Abschreibungen, allow popups if asked when selecting a room type).
Mietrecht is swiss law, it's part of the Obligationenrecht (articles 253-273).
New paint:
Not sure. On the one hand the new paint is relatively new(duh). On the other hand, an electrians work will require only small-ish parts of a wall repainted, meaning the new paint will be painted over just like the old when the wall/room is repainted, from this angle its age is virtually irrelevant.
So I guess the question is, how much of the wall had to be repainted. Typically the new paint probably doesnt' influence the age of the whole paint.