Apartment Maintenance Problems

Living in an apartment has numerous advantages. The biggest advantage is maintenance-free living, but maintenance is still necessary – if you can get someone to do the work. What you consider broken and what the maintenance man considers good enough could be two entirely different things, and living in a maintenance-free apartment might go from dream living to a nightmare. The following information provides examples of how maintenance and management try to get out of fixing problems, and what you can do to get the service you deserve.

Dishwasher Problems

I have a dishwasher, but I don’t use it for washing dishes. I use my rented dishwasher in my rented townhouse apartment for storing plastic bowls and lids. I’d love to use it as a dishwasher, but it leaves white powder on clean dishes, and since I had to rewash about half of the dishes I put in the dishwasher, I decided to use it for extra storage space instead of the intended purpose.

Before I turned my dishwasher into a storage cabinet, I called apartment management about the problem. They wrote up a maintenance ticket for one of the maintenance workers, and a very friendly and seemingly competent guy showed up with a bottle of professional strength toilet bowl cleaner. He explained that hard water was to blame, and admitted that he doesn’t use his dishwasher for washing dishes. Instead, he uses it as a giant dish drainer, and he lives in the same complex.

I explained that the rinse agent dispenser hasn’t worked since day one. The unit hasn’t used any of the blue liquid I’ve added. I’ve never had to replace it. If the rinse agent dispenser worked, my dishes might not be covered by a white film, but I’m stuck with a dead horse, and I pay top dollar for my rented townhouse apartment. If the maintenance man admitted he isn’t even using his dishwasher, how can I expect mine to operate properly?

Toilet Problems

I met a very good friend in the apartment community where I live, and although she doesn’t have dishwasher problems, she has other maintenance problems. Her downstairs toilet almost fills to the very top when it’s flushed, and it poses a risk of running over almost every time. She submitted her concern to the management, but all maintenance did was come out with an oversized plunger. Nothing was repaired, and the toilet still almost overflows each time it’s flushed. She’s stuck with a toilet that can’t be used for every intended purpose.

Furnace Problems

I haven’t had furnace problems – yet, but my friend across the street has. Her townhouse apartment furnace comes on about every ten minutes, and after running for just a short while it turns off. It’s considerably louder than my furnace, and it doesn’t take a furnace repair technician to figure out that it’s not running properly, but according to apartment maintenance, nothing is wrong. The furnace isn’t running economically, but because it still works, the problem is cast aside by management and maintenance.

Weather Stripping Problems

The front doors of the apartment complex are over 30 years old, and so are the doorframes and the weather stripping. This winter I requested that maintenance come out and replace the worn weather stripping since air leaks in at an alarming rate. Most of the weather stripping was replaced, except for the vertical weather stripping on the hinge side of the door, and it leaks terribly. Because it isn’t cracked, it’s consider good enough. It’s not mine, so I’m stuck using it as is.

Give Me a Break!

I’m tired of excuses given by maintenance personnel. They are jacks of all trades and masters of nothing, and they have more excuses than construction workers have nails. It’s clear they’re instructed to do as little as possible to repair apartment problems. If it isn’t completely broken, it doesn’t get fixed.

Give me a break! Apartment homes should be maintained in the same manner as homes owned by individuals, but that isn’t how landlords make money. If faulty weather stripping and poorly running furnaces still work, they’re not costing the apartment complex money, they’re costing the residents money, but it’s high time to say enough is enough!

It’s Time to Demand Service

If you’re having a problem with a working component or a structural part of your apartment home, don’t accept excuses. If something is definitely wrong, start demanding the service you’re paying for. I’m paying top dollar for my three bedroom apartment home, and sometimes I feel I’m paying a premium price to live in low-quality housing. I’m paying for an apartment that is supposed to have a working dishwasher, but part of it isn’t working, and I’m now demanding that it’s fixed or replaced.

Moving isn’t convenient, but the second best aspect of living in a rented apartment is complete freedom. If the problems I’m experiencing aren’t remedied, I plan on looking for another rental elsewhere. Newer apartments are available for around the same price. The rental business is as competitive as any other business, and like other renters, I have the option to move to a community that does take care of resident problems and apartment repairs.

Don’t put up with problems for one more day. Call apartment management and demand the problems be repaired or replaced, and if necessary, report the problems to corporate. Apartments are in business to make money, but they don’t want to lose residents either. If you don’t speak up and demand that maintenance corrects problems, you won’t get the satisfaction you deserve.