Four years ago, we bought a charming country farmhouse (“Innismar”1) on Big Island, in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Because we weren’t quite ready to move here, we rented the house for four years to “S” and her partner/boyfriend/husband, their 5 children, and two dogs. In retrospect, this was a red flag. On April 30 we took back the house, along with a laundry list of other surprises.
The Crap
Fast forward a few days from April 30 and we have completely filled 2 dumpsters with the stuff that was left behind. In fairness, about half a dumpster was stuff that was ours and we asked them to leave – a couple of couches, 2 easy chairs, …. S warned me there were “signs of wear” after four years of use. This was an understatement considering we used gloves and masks to carry them to the dumpster. It’s like the leather surface of one couch had … melted? Some of the extra treasures that were left for us included; 6 mattresses and a foam sleeping pad, 2 dressers, 4 bed frames, a headboard, maybe 10-12 industrial sized bags of garbage, 4 broken vacuums, about 20 empty shoe boxes, a dozen rubber vehicle floor mats, a child’s play kitchen, and a large dog stuffy. Most suspicious and unsettling were 101 mini propane canisters (empty) and a broken hibachi. Make your guesses in the comments. Perhaps there will be a prize!
One of two! 
The sun room isn’t so sunny right now. 
Someone likes outdoor cooking?
The Damage
Dog-gouged French doors. A broken wooden window sill. A broken window that S told me a tree branch had fallen against (here’s the window – do you see any trees?). Every single baseboard radiator is partially disassembled. There are many holes in the walls ranging from 1-3 inches wide. Several curtain rods have fallen (been pulled?) off the wall. The toilets. My god, the toilets.
A “tree” did this. 
OMG OMG OMG OMG 
???? 
Who let the dogs in? Nobody!
The Smell
There are three competing smells fighting for dominance; smoke (smoking was not allowed in the house per the lease), wet dog, and mouse pee. The more you try to resolve one, the more one of the others takes over. Lose lose. Today we attempt steam cleaning but have already been warned it may not work. I have taken up the carpet in the master bedroom and the side room off the “parlor” (now the “bar”). And I have already inspected to determine I can rip up one hallway upstairs and two closets, although Jeff wants me to settle down until after the steam cleaning is down. He’s weird.
Tomorrow: Contractors – our new best friends.
1 Innismar comes from Ynys Mawr, which is Welsh for Big Island.
It’s unfortunate and enraging that some renters act like this. Thankfully, there are many out there who do not. These kinds of people give those of us who treat our homes like homes a bad name. On the up-side, the place is going to be so awesome when you’re done. I am so sorry you’ve had to go through this.
You’re right, of course, not all renters suck! I would rent to you any day 🙂
Holy fuck. Good luck with the clean up.
See if you can rent an ozone machine (ozonater). You’ll have to be out of the space for 12-24 hours while it runs (nothing living can be in there including plants), and then let it air out for a couple of hours. It’s amazing how much organic “scent” ozone can eat. Definitely worth a try.
Speechless.
The good thing is that it looks like they mostly stayed inside and didn’t burn big fires into your lawn or cut down your trees. Small consolation when you have to replace and refinish the entire interior.
and actually there is minimal structural damage inside, believe it or not, so that’s also a silver lining
The toilet pic made me gag…not even kidding a little bit.
Looking forward to the “after” pics when you and Jeff have worked your magic and eradicated any trace of loser renters!
Cooking meth? Contractors will not be your best friends! Can’t wait to hear about being over charged, work half done, work done wrong, never showing up when they say, changing the price half way through.
Oh Risa, I feel your “renter” pain!!!
When we bought our house in Kamloops, we were still living in Vancouver so we rented it out for over a year before we moved in.
The family (husband, wife and kids) we rented to seemed so nice and respectful when we interviewed them.
WRONG.
Horrible horrible horrible experience.
The house was IMMACULATE before they moved in.
The house was absolutely DISGUSTING when they finally moved out.
Really unbelievable how people can apparently choose to transform their home into a cesspool? It can’t be just neglect… I don’t think you can’t trash a place that quickly without intent?
Oh, and just to make sure we hated the experience, they also screwed us for a few months rent.
Never ever never ever never ever being a landlord again.
Sorry… your posts brought up past trauma that apparently I needed to purge! 🙂
Glad to see how much progress you’ve made in turning your house into your home.
Good luck with the rest of the renovations!
Phil
OMG Phil, right??? We also ended up giving up about a month and a half of rent (and I consider myself lucky!) I remember when Jeff and I rented in Vancouver for about 3-4 years, and when we were getting ready to move out, the realtor told the owners “wow, your renters are really CLEAN” and I was puzzled by her surprise. Not any more!
OMG, Risa! That toilet bowl will give me nightmares for weeks to come! That is beyond god-awful! I don’t understand how people can live in such squalor especially smh. I’m so glad you were able to have them move out and that you and Jeff had the time and sensibilities to get this over with before your actual move. Hopefully you never have to endure anything like this ever again!
Right?? I think the easy answer is simply to never rent again. It’s unfortunate for people who are truly respectful (and clean) and are looking for rentals because I have heard from a lot of different people who are in the same boat – never intending to rent again. And because the laws favour the renters, who wants to take the risk?