Italuminium

Next month I'm pulling the stakes and move out of my appartment, and really, the place looks just like a crack house for bike nuts. Tire rub, saddle and bar tape rub all over the whitewashed walls. Lot's of ugly black streaks. That's what you get from keeping the stable in the living room/hallway. Any tips how to get rid of the traces of my bicycle addiction so the place looks presentable to the next renters?

cyclotoine

scrub it. use a soft sponge. Simple green works but takes off the paint too. The reality is you're probably going to loose your deposit and the landlord will have to paint.

likebike23

Clean it up with a magic eraser. If that's not sufficient it might be worth your while to repaint the walls yourself. A gallon or two of white paint is only ~$40 and a few hours will save you hundreds.

pastorbobnlnh 

Buy a big box of Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser if you can find this in Holland. IIRC, I read where this is a European product originally, and was re-branded here by Mr. Clean. It should really do the trick in removing all the "bike" evidence (except for stray pieces of cable, cable ends, and rack and fender washers that got away from you ;p )! I'm guessing the land lord does not re-paint after each tenant?

shoota 

Magic Eraser.

auchencrow

Erase the trace?

Why, they ought'a thank their lucky stars that they'll get to live in a joint where your C&V bikes once lived!

SJX426 

TSP at Home depot. i use it prior to painting to get rid of all the crap on the paint. Very effective without paint loss.

oddjob2

+1 TSP on painted or wood surfaces

Goof Off has it's uses for adhesive/grease based marks.

Greased Lightning as well or some similar degreaser.

michael k

Magic eraser and scratch-X....

j/k

10 Wheels

Kilz

https://www.coxhardware.com/p-3814-ki...FaHm7AodQ2IADg

3speedslow

Congrats on the move ! I hope it is a case of upward "mobility "

miamijim

gaucho777 

^ +1. I know landlords often prefer to handle repainting themselves, but this may be the simplest and most efficient way to cover your tracks.

If you go this route (TSP), make sure you wear gloves! I learned the hard way.

rootboy 

I'm not usually one to recommend a re-paint, but in this case I think it is warranted.

repechage

During my apartment renting days, I always ended up painting when I moved it, and touched up when I departed, always made the return of my deposit easier...
Save the $15. I was charged by one landlord to sanitize the refrigerator... I highly doubt they did considering the condition I moved it to verses how I left it, but it was not worth the small claims effort.
And they knew that too.

My suggestion which I did make to a couple who rented a house nearby me recently is have the landlord review the place with you BEFORE you leave, and ask point blank is there anything they see that would put your deposit at risk...
If not get them to sign that so far, so good. (good luck, but worth a try)
Also, Dunn-Edwards has a paint used in hospitals that does not smell, makes the fresh look not smell like fresh paint.

Lascauxcaveman 

My previous life as a renter has shown me that landlords will be very reluctant to return any of the cleaning deposit. The very first place I rented, for example, my roommates and I got together before moving out and got the place into much better shape than it was when we moved in - and got exactly zero of our $200 deposit back. After that, I considered each cleaning deposit to be a sunk cost, and when it was time to move; I simply moved.

I know you're a decent guy, and want to leave the place looking nice, but you may want to balance that against the likelihood of a decent return on your cleanup efforts.

SJX426 

Circumstances will dictate cleaning deposit returns. I have had both experiences so repechage has a good suggestion. Why invest time and money with no return? I personally would try to at least leave it in a condition equivalent to what it was when I occupied it. If I put holes in the wall, it patched them, if I marked the wall I cleaned or repair them. If I borrow tools, I clean them before returning them. Don't want to burn any bridges.

Italuminium

thanks guys, I knew you would come through with good tips and a few jokes. I'll try those bars before committing to a repaint.

LOL, not really... partially moving back to (at least the bulk of my stuff and all the bikes) home square to get through the first months of grad school... graduating in the NINJA-generation isn't that much fun, especially in one of the areas of the world with the worst housing inflation. It has it's perks, though. Two big sheds for more bikes!

dddd

My recent apartment departure (after 14yrs and like 200 bikes) did produce a large dent in my security deposit, but I spent many hours examining their arguments over many day's time, and when I returned to present my case I ended up with almost all of my deposit back, short a $100 cleaning fee for some windows and light fixtures, etc, left uncleaned.

I was initially billed for repainting outside closet doors (where the water heaters reside), but that bill was for an 8-unit apt and I got the painting bill pro-rated and apportioned down to only $35.
Lastly, they tried to ding me for not maintaining AC filters, which was stated by them inaccurately, and they wanted another $188 for coil cleaning and filter repl.
I told them bluntly that it didn't fly, that the furnace/AC unit hadn'tbeen serviced in 20 years! I also reminded them that I had diagnosed and replaced two ignitors during my 14yrs (they had payed for the $~30. part both times), and that I had used my 8ft ladder to assist elderly tenants replace their filters. The year I left (2013), I had a bad wrist break and hadn't been able to replace my filter safely. So they completely wiped off the AC/furnace charges, but not after trying to send me on a goose-chase writing a letter to the bldg. owner (as if I had contracted with him) which I didn't fall for and told them as much.

The Magic Eraser is magic, and btw, They moved in a new tenant only 2 days after I departed! That was the nicest apt I ever rented, large with a real garage and luxury features by my standards at least.

Here's the outside closet doors before they repainted them, but honestly, most of the interior was almost pristine when I left (but for the worn-out, 20-yr-old carpet and linoleum, neither of which the landlord replaced before putting a new tenant in there).

Some landlords are greedy and cunning, so be prepared to do your very best lawyerly haggling after actually re-writing their written report-of-conditions. The more you can put on paper, the more likely they will not find it to be worth the risk that you'll go to court, but don't mention that possibility and instead give them an "out" to save their face and reputation. It does help that you've been there longer, if that's the case, as they have made bank on your long-term, uninterrupted tenancy.

Pistard

+1

repechage

I assumed they are greedy and cunning unless convinced otherwise.

At one place I rented for only a few months, I did get all my full deposit back. It was a larger building with an onsite manager, he did sign off that all was well upon my departure.
A month passed, no money back. I got the owner on the phone, they stated, "you were only there for a short time" Yes, I was and wanted a lease but was only offered month to month.
Then, "We never give back deposits" In this case I think you will, I have a signed acknowledgement from your building manager that the place had no problems...
I left a copy with him, do you wish to go to court on this? Three days later the full deposit arrived in the mail. When one is young and money is dear one has to be resourceful to keep things square.

My radar was up of course, my first apartment out of high school had the owner stating that I skipped a month's rent after I had been there for a year. I had copies of all my cancelled rent checks. I promptly sent off copies to her.
Other tenants had to pay up an extra month's rent as they did not have the documentation. It's an interesting world out there.

cycle_maven

I found that it's mighty important to spend about 3 hours writing up every scratch and fleck of dust in the apt or rental house on the move-in condition report. Take a few pictures, too. It shows that you're not going to be a pushover when moving out. Never had a problem getting a deposit back after doing that. But I always left an apt in better condition than when I moved in, too, 'cause broken stuff bothers me greatly.

dddd

+1^^

I don't know if it's the law here in CA, but the move-out report came to me by mail (fully 3 weeks on, the limit as the law is written here), and included a copy of the move-in report as well.

I could see all of the items that I had taken the time to document 14 years earlier, and it was extensive, including every little tile and paint chip, a faded section of heavily-scrubbed carpet, the small crack in the refrigerator door handle trim (that promptly fell off, and which I saved), even the intermittent operation of the garage-door remote, suggesting a weak battery. Also the evidence of an abrasive scrub pad used on some of the appliances and a dirty air filter louvered door up high, little stuff like that, I took a couple of hours doing it.

Bill Kapaun

Take pictures when you move in.
Take pictures when you move out.
Use a newspaper to document the date.
Save newspaper.

jon c. 

After that, I considered each cleaning deposit to be a sunk cost, and when it was time to move; I simply moved.

That's the way I always handled it. Considered the money gone when I gave it to them and never worried about how much, if anything, I'd get back. The time and effort to do otherwise wasn't worth it in my opinion.