Landlord or tenant responsibility?

[LoveTrains]

Shower is draining slowly and tenant is showering in ankle deep water. Tenant wants landlord to get a plumber over.

Is this the responsibility of the tenant or the landlord?

[mrssandro]

LL

[Miss Phryne Fisher]

Well as the tenant, I would try draino first. After that, it is the LL responsibility to get the plumber.

[zarapipe]

LL

[orangeblossom]

LL

[nessness]

Landlord

[panicked]

LL, unless the tenant did something negligent. Like try to flush caulking down the drain instead of putting it into a trash can. Not that my stupid ex husband did that or anything..

[vanillacourage]

Landlord

[awick14]

LL, but as a tenant I would always take the grate piece off and see if its my hair clogging the drain, if so I would clean it before calling the LL. (I clean our drain at least 2-3 times a year because I shed so much,lol)

[AAM2012]

Nov 20, 2013 19:08:24 GMT -5 Miss Phryne Fisher said:

Well as the tenant, I would try draino first. After that, it is the LL responsibility to get the plumber.

Agreed.

[FishChicks]

Been there, paid for the plumber. I'm the landlord. If it had been tenant negligance, I would have charged them for it.

[awick14]

Nov 20, 2013 19:19:46 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

And get something better to block hair from the drain. I have a little rubber aftermarket thing that keeps lint and hair from clogging the drain. Drano will not help with hair problems....

What is this called? I would love to get one, and I shed an embarrassing amount.

[LoveTrains]

Yeah perhaps I am just annoyed because this tenant seems really needy. I asked her if she tried drain-o first because this happens all the time to me with my long hair and my shower but she hasn't replied.

But seriously when I lived there I would have to do drain-o like every three months but this happened ZERO times in four years with my previous tenant.

[hbomdiggity]

I would prob call the plumber the first time. Once plumber confirms hair I would tell tenant that hair is their problem and next time it's on them.

[Deleted]

Landlord, unless she sheared a sheep in the tub and washed the fleece down the drain - this falls in the normal wear and tear/maintenance issue in my book.

[awick14]

Nov 20, 2013 20:31:31 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Nov 20, 2013 19:59:59 GMT -5 awick14 said:

What is this called? I would love to get one, and I shed an embarrassing amount.

www.amazon.com/Hair-Snare-Drain-Cover-Universal/dp/B000PSDGNA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1384997227&sr=8-4&keywords=Shower+ststrainer

i bought in the misc. plumbing area at Home Depot or lowes. The nub doesn't fit into the drain, it goes up like shown. It works well and catches EVERY BIT OF LINT.  I have to clean it daily and it does get moldy underneath if you don't clean it. 

You can buy a flat one to use for baths too. They are a little tricky, sometimes you have to hold down until the suction works right. 

Thanx, I'll look into it. I hate when the shower/tub gets clogged with hair.

[shevacc]

Nov 20, 2013 20:21:25 GMT -5 kooshball said:

Nov 20, 2013 20:06:56 GMT -5 hbomdiggity said:

I would prob call the plumber the first time. Once plumber confirms hair I would tell tenant that hair is their problem and next time it's on them.

ditto

Agreed.

[Deleted]

Landlord but when our drain does that it never requires a plumber. A little draino and maybe fishing out a glob of my hair.

[ESF]

This happens to us. We just pour draino down there and the problem is solved. If that didn't work, I'd expect my landlord to call the plumber, but pouring draino down there just seems like a basic part of the tenant's cleaning responsibilities.

I would bring a bottle of draino over there, and if that works, tell her next time her hair clogs up the drain, its her responsibility to purchase and try the draino first.

[speckledfrog]

Ditto PPs, LL.

[sa]

Nov 20, 2013 19:59:59 GMT -5 awick14 said:

Nov 20, 2013 19:19:46 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

And get something better to block hair from the drain. I have a little rubber aftermarket thing that keeps lint and hair from clogging the drain. Drano will not help with hair problems....

What is this called? I would love to get one, and I shed an embarrassing amount.

We tried the one pp posted, which worked pretty well for a while, but like this one better:

www.oxo.com/p-210-shower-stall-drain-protector.aspx

[sa]

Nov 20, 2013 20:34:38 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

Also, my dad told me drano is really bad for your plumbing. I don't know why and some people argue with me. Tbh, I used it when I rented but so far refuse to use it in our house. Better off trying a zip it or getting some sort of snake for plumbing.

It is. It can corrode the pipes.  My friend's sister used it regularly and found a hole in her ceiling one day due to leaking pipes.

[statlerwaldorf]

Our lease specifically says not to use Drano. I'm not sure if it's just because we have a well. I keep a snake to clear the drain if needed and would expect my landlord to cover anything beyond that. I know in certain situations we could be charged like if a plumber has to come out because I was flushing tampons down the toilet.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using proboards

[Deleted]

Eh, I have to use a Zip It on our shower drain every six months. It's my hair. I'd be so embarrassed if my landlord called a plumber for something so simple.

A Zip It is pretty cheap, like $6 cheap.

[mollybrown]

Nov 20, 2013 20:27:52 GMT -5 @bonsoirlune said:

Landlord, unless she sheared a sheep in the tub and washed the fleece down the drain - this falls in the normal wear and tear/maintenance issue in my book.

I agree.  I don't think that hair going down the drain is negligence, so I don't see how the tenant would ever be responsible for paying a plumber if it's just hair.

Part of the joy of renting is calling the landlord for things like this.  There's no way I'd snake a drain in a rental.  This is why I always rented from large complexes...

[mellymel]

LL, unless it is due to tenant negligence.

I am an LL and my last tenants clogged one of the toilets terribly. Now,THAT was their responsibility. I don't know exactly what happened but I kindly reference the section of the lease that stated this was their responsibility. I think they rented a snake from Home Depot and fixed it.

Anyway, I should look into this ZipIt thing and maybe keep one on hand for our tenants.

[imojoebunny]

We are writing the tampons into our next lease, since we replaced the toilets with low flow and tampons are not good. I would try a plunger first. You seal off the extra hole for the tub drain with a plunger or a wet towel, then plunge the tub. It's easy and works a lot of the time. Drano has worked for us at times, but I generally try to a avoid it. It is the land lords responsibility, unless the tenant is doing something really dumb on a regular basis.

[Deleted]

Our landlord takes care of that

[Deleted]

Nov 20, 2013 23:16:20 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

Eh, I have to use a Zip It on our shower drain every six months. It's my hair. I'd be so embarrassed if my landlord called a plumber for something so simple.

A Zip It is pretty cheap, like $6 cheap.

If a landlord has to call a plumber instead of fixing it himself, that's his own problem/embarrassment.

With what we pay in rent, I have no embarrassment about having our maintenance people fix minor problems.  Gotta get my money's worth!

[LoveTrains]

Nov 21, 2013 7:46:10 GMT -5 v said:

Nov 20, 2013 23:16:20 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

Eh, I have to use a Zip It on our shower drain every six months. It's my hair. I'd be so embarrassed if my landlord called a plumber for something so simple.

A Zip It is pretty cheap, like $6 cheap.

If a landlord has to call a plumber instead of fixing it himself, that's his own problem/embarrassment.

With what we pay in rent, I have no embarrassment about having our maintenance people fix minor problems.  Gotta get my money's worth!

Yeah my issue as a landlord is that I live 2 hours away and don't have a handyman or a property management company, so its kind of a PITA for me to go up there. Plus I'm cheap and I already lose like $500+ a month on this rental which I'm salty about - which obvoiusly is not the tenant's fault. Again, I think my personal interaction with this tenant is coloring this request in that I am extra annoyed because she complains about everything.

I asked her to try some dran-o, and if that doesn't resolve it, I will send a plumber over to snake the drain.