Abuse proof rental home flooring

[pandus13]

c/d Class.. You are a tough one!

couple small alternatives based on ideas already mentioned:

-level (I think there are DIY recipes) your subfloor; 2 times primer; OSB on top; make a grid with black paint(squares or planks, up to you); 2-3 times polyurethane ; looks like bamboo; (this is to give the impression you're not the cheapest landlord with the paint); this could be repaired as easy as sand or level bump and coat on poly

-plywood: go with 2'x2' squares poly-ed or painted

-paint: look for "European floors"; just be creative but not too much for your own sake; of course exterior grade paint with primer under

-vinyl: could get scuffed/deep gauged by dragging appliances/furniture/chairs across; but it is installed by a lot of investors from b/c/d class

-carpet: external grade; cleanup is you take it in the yard and hose it off

also change your color scheme:
-baseboards and doors to gray (to hide the dirt they never clean)
-front door to red/blue/turquoise (something distinct)
-ceiling: primer
-walls: something greige (gray-beige); hides dirt/"paw" prints better

 

[demarpaint]

Too bad you can't concrete the floor. Tenants can really suck, been there done that.

 

[Driz]

That’s funny the comment about the concrete floor. But you know something if you get section 8 people in there that’s about the only thing that can tolerate. Around here trying to find a decent tenant is like trying to find a nun in a cat house Your chances are somewhere between slim and none because if they got kids or if they got animals and even if they don’t have either one will magically appear out of nowhere and turn your place into a mess.

 

[demarpaint]

The comment was funny, and true at the same time. Concrete floors, walls, and ceilings were needed, along with steel doors, frames and trim. Even then they'd find a way to wreck something. That's why we exited that business. For every good tenant we had over the years we had 10 headaches.

 

[SeaJay]

Cast iron floor with an inch and a half thick coat of polyureathane. Not cheap but will last your lifetime and anything short of a direct hit from a NK nuclear missile.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Cast iron floor with an inch and a half thick coat of polyureathane. Not cheap but will last your lifetime and anything short of a direct hit from a NK nuclear missile.

I thought it was called the Bismark and it was unsinkable?

 

[pandus13]

OldTom/OP,

let's step back a bit:
-in all the years you have done this, have you had mostly good renters?
-the neighboring landlords, have they had good renters?
-what is the Section8 "vibe" in your area? (I hope you're not in Balto)
-any new renovations in the area? what did they used?
-do you know somebody successful in the area? can you befriend them? What tenant-proof processes/renovations/supplies they use?
-any chance of catering to older/retired tenants?

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
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


Lots of people with good credit scores rent for a variety of reasons. I've run into a few that had lots of debt but had good scores. A good score means you pay your bills on time, doesn't mean you have money for a down payment. Average tenancy for a rental is about 3 years so it gives people the flexibility of moving that owning doesn't give you.

I run credit checks in my office, we charge $35 for all 3 scores. There are also places online where they charge around $30 for one score. You can also ask the tenant to get their own credit report, they're allowed one free one every year from all 3 bureaus. I've never really bothered with that because it's easier to just run the check myself. When you get the credit report, you don't get a score, but if you know how to read the report, you can pretty much figure it out. One key is to actually read the report, see how much debt they've had and if they've been late. I've turned down people who just had a decent score, but they just had it for 6 months on a car payment for $200 when the apartment is well over $1000. Not really a solid history of paying a large amount of money on time.