Tenant refuses to pay pet rabbit damages.

[Angelique Kelly]

My last tenant had three pet rabbits that she let run free through out the house.  It wasn't until we had hired a house inspector to do a routine evaluation that we realized how much damage her pets had done.  The base molding was chewed on in every room and the tile flooring and laminate flooring were damaged by rabbit urine.  The carpet in the bedrooms were so bad we had to immediately pull it out along with the padding and floor tacks.  We also had to replace the fireplace tile and grout because we couldn't get the urine stains off.  I only asked her to pay for the replacement of the flooring in the bedrooms and the tile in the bathroom but she refused saying I should replace the flooring anyways because of the age.  I understand if it was just normal wear and tear but this was beyond nasty and the carpet was in excellent condition before she moved in 5 years ago.  I'm ready to take her to small claims court but I'm worried the judge might side with her.

[Jim K.]

@Angelique Kelly

Thanks for the shots, Angelique.

Those are calcium deposits in rabbit urine. Common enough. The fix there is going to be a steam cleaning followed by steel brush with some TSP or oxalic acid (Bar Keeper's Friend) and digging out the top layer of the grout with an oscillating tool.

There was no need to replace the tile around the fireplace to deal with that stain. We are talking about cleaning a fired glaze surface. Now, I'm just a stupid tile guy who installs the stuff, but my wife is a potter and actually makes all kinds of ceramics, including tile. In order to get that glaze on, that tile was heated to about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit so that the glaze could melt on it, fuse with the refired clay underneath, and turn to glass. That surface will survive practically any cleaning technique and, undisturbed, there are of course examples that have lasted millennia.

As far as I can tell, grout removal and replacement was not really given to you as an option to deal with the problem. This is a real shame, because with the new pre-mixed urethane grouts like Fusion Pro, the difficulty of fixing an issue like this has turned into little more than a craft project.

If she can find a tile guy who knows his stuff even moderately well, you're not going to do well with this in court. It really was a simple steam/solvent cleaning and grout replacement fix. How much were you charged for replacing the tile?

Again, the laminate flooring, the baseboard, and the carpet are completely separate matters, but really, as the other commentators above are explaining here (and they are also both experienced self-managed landlords with multiple holdings) this is probably not something you're going to collect on pretty much anywhere.

I'm sorry, Angelique, but my recommendation is to eat the expense. Fix the baseboard molding with Bondo, get rid of the laminate flooring and replace with luxury vinyl plank flooring or sealed-in-place triple-polyurethane-coated solid hardwood if you're going to allow pets. I am a hardwood and tile enthusiast for rentals because I do my own flooring work and tile and hardwood are the smartest floorings I can have for tax purposes, but most people like the LVP these days.