03 August, 2009

Think Happy Thoughts

Well, at least one nice thing came out of the tenants trashing the condo: they left behind a couple of nifty planters. I plucked them from the pile of outgoing garbage, cleaned and sterilized them, and transplanted two brugmansia plants that were a gift from a client.

We're heading back over to the condo this afternoon to get an estimate on floor repairs. Let's hope it's not too outrageous. There is a propensity among Chicago contractors to charge more for work done at condos than for the equivalent work done on a single family home or two flat. One couple we know paid the same amount for sanding and refinishing just the living room of their condo as we did for one entire unit of our two flat. We'll see how it goes.

8 comments:

Tonia said...

Can you get the same folks who redid the floors of the Box House?

I'm still just sick over the condition the tenants left your place in. You just gotta believe that karma will bite them in the ass somewhere down the road. Poor dogs - not their fault they have such a lout of an owner. I pity their lives.

Joanne said...

We were at the condo again today, and now that the shock of the urine soaked floors has diminished somewhat, I was able to take a closer look at things.

I closed the door to the "dog room" while I was in it, and noticed for the first time that the dogs had tried to get out at some point, clawing through the paint all the way to the plaster walls. The door is gouged, the walls on either side are scratched, etc. Some people definitely should not have dogs. Poor things. This woman is also a mother of a young child.

We had three people come out today, each tsk tsking the damage. We should get the estimates back by tonight.

I love dogs, and this is not their fault.

Jen (former BH tenant) :) said...

Hi! Thought I would check-in! on the blog! Wanted to read fellow homeowner stories, but--OH MY LORD. This post made me incredibly nauseated, especially knowing how great you guys were as our landlords. I will have to get your floor-refinisher's number-- the Box House floors were immaculately refinished...and "this old house" has some floors that could use some love.

hi to all!

Joanne said...

Jen! So good to hear from you! I'll e-mail you the info for the company we used here at the BH.

Karen Anne said...

How are things going?

Jennifer said...

Such a shame! Some people...
I have to say I left EVERY rental I was in better than when I found it. I painted, scrubbed, replaced, etc. My sister even reglazed the windows at her rental last fall... talk about being a good renter! (They did reimburse her for the putty... but STILL!). Plus, rent was in on the 1st regardless.. first thing that went out.

I hope you find renters as good as I was...

Joanne said...

Jennifer, you would be the perfect renter, if you didn't already have that house of yours and live three states over!

Sandwich Recipes said...

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