Asking permission for repainting

Faith

We've been living in a rented property for 4 months now. Our landlord is lovely, and we're decent tenants. We've no issues fixing small problems ourselves etc. Our issue is that half the house is painted black. We moved in in high summer and it wasn't that much of a problem, but now that the nights are drawing in and the weather has gone to pot, the house is very very gloomy. We've gotten throws and rugs, but we'd still really like to repaint the doors something bright but neutral, like cream (at our cost and effort).

My question is, how is best to approach this with our landlord? Just straight out say "Hey, mind if we paint the doors if we buy the paint and do the work ourselves?". Are most landlords likely to be okay with that, providing we do the work and shoulder the cost, or is it something that we'd struggle to get permission for?

quietsailor

Most Lls don't like the idea of the tenant painting the premises for two reasons I can think off the top of my head

1. The tenant may not be a good painter ie spatters/drops of paint put on the ceiling/floor/furniture
2. The tenant only sees the colour they want - the tenant before you may have been the one to paint the rooms black & they were perfectly happy with it - your not.

Have you painted houses before

• do you understand about cutting in, masking, preparation work, priming.
• Are you going to paint a neutral colour or be willing to re-paint to a neutral colour before you leave.

If you can show the LL that you know what your doing and the colour is going to be one that is neutral then they will be a lot more amenable to letting you paint.

If the color you want is refused by the LL you could offer to give a deposit against the cost of paint & painter to change it back*


* = And before everyone jumps on the bandwagon saying " but but the color there already is hideous why should the tenant have to make it into a neutral color" --- the color was there when the lease started, by signing the lease without querying the color the tenant stated they were happy with the color

As regards approaching the LL, definitely saying you'll organise the work yourself is a help, that plus showing you know what your doing or are willing to hire a professional (you might prefer this route) will be a lot more favourable to the LL

L1011

Most landlords would be ok with tenants painting in neutral colours, just ask.

djimi

I think your best course of action is to just come out and ask the question straight up. Explain the problem that you have and see what they suggest.

miss no stars

I think most landlords want their tenants to be happy in their homes. Happy tenants stay longer and cause fewer problems. Go ahead and ask.

If it was me... I'd be inclined to tell the landlord why I wanted to paint and say that I'd like to agree a colour with them if they were open to the idea as, although you intend to stay, you don't want to leave them with something that's difficult to rent out again or impossible to keep looking clean. Then say that I'm open to absorbing some of the cost and/or doing some of the work myself and would welcome a chance to discuss it with them. That way they might say anything from "sure, pick a colour scheme, run it by me and I'll pay to get the walls and doors professionally done" (they may have chanced their arm putting up for rental but figured it needed a freshening up) to "sure, but how about getting the walls done rather than doors and skirting boards?" to "no, please leave it as it is" and anything inbetween. But for the sake of keeping the relationship good I'd leave the cost, colours and nature of the work as open as possible initially. You never know, LL might just pay for it

Faith

Thanks for the replies.

The house suits our needs perfectly but is generally in need of fairly significant attention. The majority of the walls need repainting, furniture is very old and tired etc. It was also on the market for a relatively long time by the time we came to it - at least 6 weeks by my reckoning so he didn't have potential tenants clamoring all over each other to rent the place. So I'd guess that the doors have been this colour since the LL bought the place because no LL would chose to paint half a rental property black, surely! By that logic, he hopefully won't mind things being painted neutrally, so I'll say it straight out to him and leave it fairly open about colours etc.

fussyonion

Most Landlords don't mind what redecoration a tenant does once it's fairly neutral and contributes to the general upkeep/maintenance/appearance of the property.

After all, he/she also wants his/her property to look good and be well-kept; it also shows you have a vested interest and a sense of pride in your home.

I suggest keeping the colours neutral and agreeing to paint it back to
whatever colour the Landlord wants, should you move out.
I can't see it being a problem but it goes without saying that you should consult your Landlord before you start any project.

The_Conductor

Providing your painting skills are fairly ok- and you offer to return the walls/doors (etc) to their original colour when you finish the tenancy- most landlords are happy with this. The big question mark in this for most landlords would be- how good are they at painting- would they leave drops of paint all over the place, will their paint job look decent or amateurish. If you do a bad paint job- the landlord would normally deduct the cost of professionally repainting from your deposit when you vacate the property- which in turn would most probably result in an excursion to the PRTB for both parties.

I would suggest you take a few good pictures of 'before' and 'after' your paint job- and get permission first- just to cover yourself.

tatli_lokma

Do you realise that painting doors is more difficult to do well than painting walls? And if they are black you will need to kill the colour first and then repaint. It is not just a slap some paint on job - possibly why the landlord hasn't already done it himself. No harm in asking as others have said, but don't make a bad paint job worse is all I'm saying.

And if you do paint them, as an inexperienced painter I would recommend you chose an eggshell or satin finish and definitely not a gloss or high gloss finish. If you try to high gloss them you will wish you had eaten them rather than painted them you'll be so driven mad trying to get it nice and even!!

The_Conductor

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Do you realise that painting doors is more difficult to do well than painting walls? And if they are black you will need to kill the colour first and then repaint. It is not just a slap some paint on job - possibly why the landlord hasn't already done it himself. No harm in asking as others have said, but don't make a bad paint job worse is all I'm saying.

And if you do paint them, as an inexperienced painter I would recommend you chose an eggshell or satin finish and definitely not a gloss or high gloss finish. If you try to high gloss them you will wish you had eaten them rather than painted them you'll be so driven mad trying to get it nice and even!!

I'd echo all of this.
If its helpful I can post a few photos of why what appeared to be easy enough job turned into a grotesque mess. Its not straightforward at al.

stargazer 68

I have painted mine several times now with no problems. LL has actually said it looks nicer now than it did when he lived in it! As long as you cover the carpet etc he shouldn't have a problem.

ABajaninCork

Funny how we seem to be doing the same things at the same time Faith!

Anyway - my 2c's worth. We're in the middle of painting our house with the LL's permission. We've been here 5 years and it's not been painted since we moved in. He's paid for the paint which I chose, so cool runnings. All I've done is paint in creams and magnolias. Guaranteed not to annoy anyone! And yes - we've covered the floors and furniture that couldn't be moved with old duvets and plastic before painting. Any splashes, I've immediately scrubbed off (Emulsion, so nice and washable!).

And I agree that black doors you're going to have some job with! I covered over some bright red once and it was a NIGHTMARE!! Took several gallons of white emulsion before I could even think about using colour. Might be easier to sand off the colour or get one of those gel strippers before you paint. I'm not sure a couple of gallons of cheap white will do the job, TBH.

Faith

Thanks again all.

The brush work is already shoddy on the black paint, so I doubt we could make it worse! It obviously wasn't done professionally, and we'd at least be able to do it as well, if not better.

The OH's mother is something of an interior decorator and has recommended an undercoat that should save us a lot of work. I can't find a link to it right now but I'll post it up when I do.

Thanks for the advice on the finish, tatli_lokma. It's not something we'd gotten as far as thinking about yet.

ABajaninCork, I seem to be one step behind you for the past few months .

Pawwed Rig

ABajaninCork wrote: »

And I agree that black doors you're going to have some job with! I covered over some bright red once and it was a NIGHTMARE!! Took several gallons of white emulsion before I could even think about using colour. Might be easier to sand off the colour or get one of those gel strippers before you paint. I'm not sure a couple of gallons of cheap white will do the job, TBH.

This exactly. I once had to paint over black and I ended up putting 4-5 coats on before I was happy with it

ted1

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

This exactly. I once had to paint over black and I ended up putting 4-5 coats on before I was happy with it

As a LL I would be delighted, ot makes the tenant feel like its there home and chances are that they will stay longer.

I use a crew who charge 50quid to paint a room. Of they make a mess I'll just get it done when they move out and the house is nice and fresh for the new tenants