Abuse proof rental home flooring

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I just evicted some snowflakes from my class c/d rental. The carpet was brand new when they moved in 6 months ago. Apparently, the snowflakes were angry at being evicted for not paying rent so they trashed the carpet. Due to this stupid act, they lost the entire two month security deposit. I am trying to think of a cheap, indestructible flooring that can be easily and cheaply renewed every turnover. The existing plywood subfloor is rough, wavy, and has a lot of gaps, so the usual trick of painting the subfloor will probably not work. I thought of screwing down sheets of thin OSB with the smoothest side up and painting them satin brown. Smooth, cheap to install, and easy to refresh if scratched or gouged by rolling on a new coat of cheap paint.

what do you folks think?

Thanks in advance for any advice :)
 
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I would think that any decent tenant will see this painted osb floor and look elsewhere leaving you with only scumbags who don't plan on paying their rent anyway.

I understand that the low end rental business is tough but you can't cut every corner. How about cheap carpet in the rooms and some vinyl click plank flooring in the high traffic areas?
 
That's why you have damage deposits. I also had a rider on my rentals insurance that covered me for renter vandalism and it also covered my loss of rent due to vandalism. I learned this early on from a friend who had rentals. They destroyed his carpet and flooring and they epoxied all the windows doors and cabinets closed.

Beyond that if you aren't doing a renter check that includes renter history, credit check and criminal wants and warrants you've been getting by on luck and borrowed time. It will catch up with you sooner or later.
 
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Cheap vinyl laminate is pretty easy to come by...

I've seen it as low as $0.25 a square foot on clearance
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
I've been putting down this Allure flooring lately. Started doing it a few years ago and it hasn't been trashed yet although I'm sure it's only a matter of time. A bit more durable that old stick on vinyl tile. I never put in carpet, either hardwood floor or this vinyl flooring.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficMASTE...110-0/202075782



This. My Dad owns several rental properties and he puts this in all of them. Some of his are section 8 and have been holding up really well with this flooring. Its also easy to install.

He generally uses the ones that look like wood planks, but the squares work well also for a "tile look"
 
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original laminate swells then peaks with moisture and the proper cleaner is $12 per qt. that's the problem. The new vinyl plank click flooring solves that but it's more money and all of these 'floating' floors require flat subfloors. Your sub floors were probably ruined by the steam extraction carpet cleaner bozo who went nuts with the water.
 
Originally Posted By: Oldtom
I just evicted some snowflakes from my class c/d rental. The carpet was brand new when they moved in 6 months ago. Apparently, the snowflakes were angry at being evicted for not paying rent so they trashed the carpet. Due to this stupid act, they lost the entire two month security deposit. I am trying to think of a cheap, indestructible flooring that can be easily and cheaply renewed every turnover. The existing plywood subfloor is rough, wavy, and has a lot of gaps, so the usual trick of painting the subfloor will probably not work. I thought of screwing down sheets of thin OSB with the smoothest side up and painting them satin brown. Smooth, cheap to install, and easy to refresh if scratched or gouged by rolling on a new coat of cheap paint.

what do you folks think?

Thanks in advance for any advice :)


If your subfloor is trashed, there are no quick fixes that are not going to be completely obvious hack jobs. Just replace the subfloor, all you need is a killsaw, nails and subfloor adhesive. Toss some laminated vinyl plank on there and be done with it. They make waterproof varieties.

Brand new floors means increase in rent right?
 
What kind of tenants are you getting? Typically if you are not in the slum it is worth picking your tenants by giving a slight discount and pick the better one you can get from a pile of candidates (those with slightly higher income and FICO, non substance abuse kind).

If you must, cements will probably be the most durable and cheap, then planked laminate, then short hair stain resistant carpet.
 
How would a floating floor work? Just replace what they break. After being a renter for 7 years, I want nothing to do with carpet. Could never get it clean. I had 2 or 3 apartments where they "cleaned" the carpet and it was disgusting when I moved in. I actually cleaned the carpets when I moved out and they were nicer than when I moved in and I still got charged to clean them!


I bought a house that was abused as a rental. The last tenant was a family friend the sellers were trying to help out by letting them rent the house for stupid cheap while in the process of selling. It was left with garbage and a lot of broken stuff. Worked well enough for me to bring the price down a bit, but they had to remove all of the trash from the driveway.


Originally Posted By: KneeGrinder
I own a 6 plex, I have had many problems also. I have learned to adhear to a 700 fico score. That works! Never have to clean up after those tenants!


Wouldn't someone with a 700 FICO score be buying a house?

How does one run credit on someone applying for a rental? I'm almost a decade out from being a land lord but would be good to know
 
Originally Posted By: Oldtom
I just evicted some snowflakes from my class c/d rental. The carpet was brand new when they moved in 6 months ago. Apparently, the snowflakes were angry at being evicted for not paying rent so they trashed the carpet. Due to this stupid act, they lost the entire two month security deposit. I am trying to think of a cheap, indestructible flooring that can be easily and cheaply renewed every turnover. The existing plywood subfloor is rough, wavy, and has a lot of gaps, so the usual trick of painting the subfloor will probably not work. I thought of screwing down sheets of thin OSB with the smoothest side up and painting them satin brown. Smooth, cheap to install, and easy to refresh if scratched or gouged by rolling on a new coat of cheap paint.

what do you folks think?

Thanks in advance for any advice :)


If you do what you are thinking … can you cover 80% of that with a rug? The furniture will then hide another 10% along walls etc …
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
How would a floating floor work? Just replace what they break. After being a renter for 7 years, I want nothing to do with carpet. Could never get it clean. I had 2 or 3 apartments where they "cleaned" the carpet and it was disgusting when I moved in. I actually cleaned the carpets when I moved out and they were nicer than when I moved in and I still got charged to clean them!


I bought a house that was abused as a rental. The last tenant was a family friend the sellers were trying to help out by letting them rent the house for stupid cheap while in the process of selling. It was left with garbage and a lot of broken stuff. Worked well enough for me to bring the price down a bit, but they had to remove all of the trash from the driveway.


Originally Posted By: KneeGrinder
I own a 6 plex, I have had many problems also. I have learned to adhear to a 700 fico score. That works! Never have to clean up after those tenants!


Wouldn't someone with a 700 FICO score be buying a house?

How does one run credit on someone applying for a rental? I'm almost a decade out from being a land lord but would be good to know
Maybe those with the 700 score don't want to pay the crazy prices that people are selling houses for these days. I have just over a 700 score and have no plans on buying a house due to the way over-inflated housing prices up here.
 
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