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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think this is a bit much from my tenants?

142 replies

KittyCrackers · 06/02/2019 14:59

I'm an accidental landlord with a flat I just can't sell, so we've put some absolutely lovely tenants in for a couple of years until the market picks up. They've been brilliant - perfect tenants!

Apart from...

They keep breaking the toilet seats. They've been there 10 months and we've had to put five new seats in already. Apparently one of the couple likes to do a "courtesy flush" while sitting on the loo and this twisting motion is snapping the seats at the screws and down the middle. We've asked them not to do this but I've just had another call that it's broken again - how many broken seats is too many? Do we start charging them for the callouts / seats (we're currently covering this as well as the new seats every time)

I don't want to make them mad as they really are lovely but it's getting a bit much now... or do we just suck it up as an expense of letting the property?

Thanks...

OP posts:

Dotty1970 · 06/02/2019 16:24

Any.... Sent too soon and cheapest now not note..

DarlingNikita · 06/02/2019 16:25

This isn't really the point, but why do you have to twist at all to do a courtesy flush? Are they so stiff that they can't reach an arm behind without moving their arse? (sorry for the image).

Also, anyone else cringing and simultaneously dying laughing at the idea of a tenant and landlady/-lord having a discussion and explanation about a courtesy flush in the first place?

Babyboysarenowbig · 06/02/2019 16:27

I’ve always been a tenant, and have gone through a few toilet seats in 20 odd years. I’ve NEVER asked my landlord to replace one. We just buy one and replace ourselves. Is this wrong? Should we have always asked our landlord?

GabsAlot · 06/02/2019 16:28

er no thats not normal wear and tear thats them damaging something stop buying them

IndianaMoleWoman · 06/02/2019 16:28

My first thought was squatting on the seats as well. It’s the norm in huge swathes of the globe, I worked in a very multicultural school and they had to put signs up to stop parents from doing it in the loos at reception when dropping off/picking up their kids. Same toilet seats throughout the school, reception ones has broken seats on a sweetly basis.

bagpiss · 06/02/2019 16:29

These are very pricey but please buy one. Just for The look on their face!

www.school-toilets.co.uk/stainless-steel-toilets

AIBU to think this is a bit much from my tenants?

DoneLikeAKipper · 06/02/2019 16:29

@KittyCrackers

Are you replacing them yourselves? Do you see what condition the seat is in? Only we thought we were ‘careless’ when we broke three toilet seats in as many months (all replaced ourselves by the way), transpired there was a silent damp problem that was causing the joints to rust through at epic speed. Became a much bigger problem as landlord refused to fix the issue causing the damp, ended up spending a fortune in toilet seats/towels/shower curtains....

IndianaMoleWoman · 06/02/2019 16:30

*weekly basis!

Woohoo1 · 06/02/2019 16:30

In social housing tenants are responsible for replacing their own toilet seats!

ForgivenessIsDivine · 06/02/2019 16:31

Check your contract. . Ensure they are responsible for all damage and breakages. Don't leave yourself open to repairing all damages.

Last2Know · 06/02/2019 16:31

Maybe drop some VIPoo off with the last toilet seat

theyellowjumper · 06/02/2019 16:35

Not sure. Some toilet seats are rubbish, but should still last a year or so. I'm a landlord, but have never had a tenant break a loo seat. I think I'd probably have replaced the first two then would write a polite letter saying something along the lines of "As a gesture of goodwill I am replacing this 3rd broken toilet seat since [date]. As previously mentioned I have asked that you refrain from the 'courtesy flush' that seems to be damaging the seats. With normal use a toilet seat will last at least 2(?) years, so I expect you to replace the seats in future if they are damaged before then". I'd talk this over with the tenants first though and then tell them I was going to put it in writing.

Dodie66 · 06/02/2019 16:35

Yes get a good solid pine one. We have a plastic soft close inthe loo and the screws don’t stay in place. In the bathroom we have a pine one that has been there for years no problem

Mossyhill · 06/02/2019 16:35

Yanbu. I’d suggest they stand up for their courtesy flush. No twist, no broken toilet seat.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 06/02/2019 16:39

Another one here whose first thought was "squatting on the seat"

What always beats me, though, is how folk get up there. It's not as if there are handles, so what do they do - climb up facing the cistern they turn round, with the risk of falling?

I've never dared asked anyone in RL ...

ciderhouserules · 06/02/2019 17:00

Just out of interest,when you say when the market picks up do you mean more buyers,or higher prices. - and what's that got to do with anything? What business is it of yours?

DartmoorDoughnut · 06/02/2019 17:04

I wouldn’t replace another one, CFers!

llangennith · 06/02/2019 17:04

Toilet seats break if you put weight on them and twist unless they're screwed on impossibly tightly.
Buy the cheapest you can get and tell them why.

MorningsEleven · 06/02/2019 17:08

My flabber is truely gasted! I can't imagine managing to balance on the loo like that!

My 8 year old does this, drives me insane.

Juells · 06/02/2019 17:09

I've seen (photos of) those signs in loos showing things not to do, including the squatting on top. I thought it was a joke - or at least, aimed at people who'd come down from the mountains somewhere where they had a hole dug out the back in lieu of a toilet 😧 Not that it was 'a thing'. Who does this?

SaveKevin · 06/02/2019 17:10

Someone I knew had to replace the loo seat when he moved. The landlord had a fancy one, that broke and he replaced it with a generic one (kept broken one to show them)
Deposit arbitration made him replace like for like

ChristmasFluff · 06/02/2019 17:11

Just as a hint, we do the turning thing on our toilet as we are tight in to a wall and so the only place for the toilet roll is on the back of the toilet. I've tried loads of loo seats, as they always loosen really quickly. I can recommend Lidl toilet seats - they don't do them all the time, but if you see them, snap them up - great quality, cheap, and excellent fittings that stay firm despite the twisting.

WorryingLadyBits · 06/02/2019 17:21

I'm a tenant and never thought to ask my landlord to pay for a loo seat- I've had one break and also like to change them often for hygiene....always bought and installed them myself?!

Puzzledandpissedoff · 06/02/2019 17:29

Juells IME squat toilets are mainly an eastern thing, seen from the middle east right over to China and Japan (though France still has a few as well)

It's actually supposed to be a healthier method, in that squatting means the colon doesn't get "kinked". Thing is, though, the traditional type is just a pan in the floor whereas squatting on a western-type loo means climbing onto the seat - hence the possible damage

EmeraldShamrock · 06/02/2019 17:31

I am a tenant and would never ask my landlord to replace the toilet seat, but we are that family for some reason. I have replaced the toilet seat 4 times, I bought a good sturdy one from Aldi and that is now sitting off centre.
I am sure it is DD she is a skinny rasher but also has ADD DCD bad co ordination and can't sit still, or DP he is a a big guy 6.2 and 17 stone, or me as I hide in the loo on the kids, I sit on the closed seat on go on MN. Who knows.
Tell them it is not your responsibility to repair again, it can't be a fault, they like us are a family of twisters.

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