Wooden kitchen bench top covered in mould

[rubeexcube]

We own a house that is currently rented out (we rent ourselves in another part of the country). It has a wooden kitchen counter with a belfast sink. You have to keep it dry or it will go mouldy.

Basically the current tenants have not kept it dry and it is covered in black mould around the taps. Why the letting agent let it get to that stage I don't know. My question is, should they pay for the damage? I realise it isn't easy to maintain but previous tenants, we and previous ownder all managed it. Grateful for viewpoints.

Under what grounds would you be making them pay? Does anything specifically say in the contract about keeping the surface dry to avoid damage?
Maintenance is your responsibility. If they leave/have left and DPS gets involved you won't get it replaced.

Can't it be sanded back?

I've had wood worktops and they didn't go mouldy near the sink, because the wood had been treated to make it waterproof.

Our wooden worktop went black around the sink. We didn't neglect it, but it still went mouldy.

I would never have a wooden worktop again.

It's almost certainly not mould, but poorly treated wood which has reacted with water (oak can be particularly prone to this).

Whilst I have and love my own oak worktops, I don't think wooden worktops are a particularly good choice for a tenanted property unless they are heavily sealed (in which case you might as well have laminate!).

So I'd let it go.

I can’t recall specifics but it does have an obligation in it to look after the place and not leave damp etc

Thanks yes possibly.

I agree. It was our family home - we may have to replace with something else but not sure what. We will sell eventually

Think I’d have more sympathy if various people hadn’t lived there and kept it dry
i agree wood is a nightmare though!

The tenants shouldn't be expected to pay for replacing your wooden worktops with something easier to maintain, no.

Over time, things deteriorate and need to be replaced and this is one of them. You would never be able to prove the tenants didn't keep the area as dry as they were able to, considering it is near the sink. I would just replace it with something hygienic and water resistant.

Could the tap be leaking?

I think the discolouration would be regarded as normal wear and tear, unless you have a rental clause specifically about keeping the wood dry.

This is fair wear and tear unless you specifically informed them in the contract that the wood was not well sealed and would need extra care.

As usual on MN, tenant fails to take reasonable care of property and it's the landlord's fault.

@rubeexcube The same thing happened with my kitchen worktops. No problems with it until shitty tenants from hell moved in. The whole flat was left in the must disgusting state including the kitchen worktops which were black and mouldy. How anyone could have prepared food in there I don't know.

I hired a firm who usually work on wooden floors. Worktops sanded down, stained a dark colour and re-sealed with Ozmo wax. Cost more than £400. I managed to keep about half their deposit but was still more than half short for the refurb costs.

@DrySherry With fair wear and tear the clue is in the phrase. It has to be considered to be fair. Leaving wood wet, allowing black mould to grow and not informing the landlord before it got out of hand is not fair.

@redboxer321 thank you! I’m an experienced tenant as well as a homeowner and I know what fair wear and tear is and this ain’t it!

The beauty of wood is that it can be sanded back and it looks like new. Get it done and then buy a sink surround to protect it from splashes.

It sounds like it's a combination of the wrong type of wood and/or a lack of surface preparation. Some woods cope better with moisture, and if the counter was correctly treated and sealed it should not be a problem.

I think this one's on you as the landlord, and you need to get a professional in to properly finish and seal the counter top. Expecting tenants to keep the area around a Belfast sink bone dry at all times is not reasonable.

When was it last oiled?

Google suggests it should be done from twice a year - if you haven’t been regularly maintaining the oiling the tenants could blame you for the poor condition.

I have oak worktops and an undermounted butler sink and no mould despite us all being a bit messy! The reason there’s no mould is because it’s been osmo’d regularly which comes under maintenance, which is your responsibility as a landlord. When was the last time you did it? It doesn’t last forever.

Water round a sink is normal.

So has old is the kitchen work surface and when did you last oil it?