Garage Rental to Wood Shop Hobbiest

[Chris Lombardi]

Hi everyone,

I just closed on my first property (yay!) and have a 3 car garage to rent out.  One unit is included in the rent of one of the tenants living in the house, I'll be using a second one, and the third I will need to find a new tenant.

After putting it online for a day I received a ton of interest, and the first person to call me was a woman who collects and restores antiques.  She said she'll mainly be using this place for storage, but will come by time to time to sand and stain some pieces.  

My concerns/questions are the following:

• I'm sure that staining and finishing liquids are highly flammable and combustible.  
  • Should I allow her to keep a small amount of these in the garage if she keeps them in a non flammable trunk?
  • Should I require she takes those home with her after every trip and not keep them stored in the garage?
• I'm sure the work she will be doing will produce some smells that will carry over into the other units (there are no dividers)
  • Should I require here to do all work with the door open?

On the other hand, I can simply tell her that after further consideration I cannot rent to her.  I have at least 4 other people waiting for the spot to open up, so it can be filled with someone who wants to work on their car or store their ATV.

Please let me know how you guys would handle a situation like this.