Rented property - deposit and kitchen worksurfaces

[Merlin40]

Wondered if any landlords/tenants had experience with deposits and judging where to withold it. What sort of wear and tear would you expect on a wooden worktop?

Would water marks/damage around the sink count as wear and tear or actual damage?

And as a LL would you/ how much would you withhold to fix it? Can wooden be sanded down?

I take the money is in a tenancy deposit scheme? They will have the final say if it is contested.

When you say water marks is there any swelling of the wood etc? If so it will definitely require replacement (the wood is usually cheap chipboard/msg type material covered with a veneer.

From memory I think an 8' length of worktop is about £250, that does not include a joiner to cut and fit it.

Re sanding, depends on the wood type, if solid wood I would say it is possible, but would be surprised if there is a solid wood worktop in a rented property

Thanks user. I'm 99% it is solid wood!

I think ifthe damage could have been avoided with reasonsble care you are in trouble.

We have a wooden worktop in a property we let. It is an utter pain and often ends up with water marks round the sink.

We class it as wear and tear, not the tenants fault, and routinely get a handyman to sand down. We do ask the tenants to oil the worktops which helps a bit.

What has actually happened and what is the actual damage?

A normal laminated worktop should not have any damage - one survived unscathed in my trashed rental.

I'm afraid that if you put a high maintenance wooden worktop in a rental, that is asking for trouble. Aggro for even the best tenant.

The landlord may be able to deduct something, at worse if the worktop was new when you moved in say 12 months ago £250. You will have the chance to say to the deposit scheme that you did x and y to take reasonable care, IME the full amount would not be awarded.

If the worktop is older, or if you have been there longer, maybe £100 deduction. Again you would have the right to your say.

As a busy working mum and a landlord looking at maybe getting £100 back from you, and filling in endless forms to the Deposit people, I would look at the worktop issue in the bigger picture. Had you been a good tenant, for how long, was this the only 'damage', did I have someone else moving straight in....