Removing Curry Smell - At tenants cost or landlord??

D

dan_89

Hi all,

I currently have a unit rented in Boronia. The lease is up end of next month and I am in the process of searching for some new tenants. To cut the story short, the tenants are Indian (all 3 are lovely & very friendly people - by no means am I racist) and they have have left the property with a distinct and very strong curry smell.

I am now looking at options to try and rid the property of these odours before I let potential tenants look through. Can the tenants be held liable for costs incurred trying to eliminate odours? Also the range-hood is completely clogged with oil and no longer works properly. They have also left a burn mark the size of a 5cent piece in the bench top which I would assume can be taken out of their bond to repair?

Any advice or options for anyone that has dealt with similar issues in the past would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Dan
 
You'll need to give the entire properties walls and flooring with a wash which can cut through oils. Run a draino clean through all drains. If you properly noted the exit report that there is smell issues and an unclean rangehood, you should be able to claim for a professional cleaner to give the place a once over - just note to the cleaner that you need the smell to be removed and need xyz treatments above a standard clean.

This used to be a common problem back in my property managing days, where we saw a large % of exchange students in apartment accom.

The kitchen cupboard internals melamine would often be stained too, from storing the assorted spices etc. In some cases these would need to be replaced.
 
Obviously you will be directing the PM to check the range hood from now on.

Is it a flued rangehood or an internally circulating one?
 
We had a similar issue once before. After cleaning everything really really well (including steam cleaning curtains, etc etc) there was still a very strong smell left. We hired an ozone machine, which got rid of the smell. We'd definitely do this again, it eliminated any remaining odours which seemed to have become embedded in the property.
 
I've had this conversation with a PM before.
A PM confessed that some landlords do not like to take certain ethnicities of tenants for this reason.
She said if it's 'fair wear and tear', then no, you can't charge them.

For removing oil and stains on walls, cabinets etc - sugar soap. Works like magic to remove oil. Not sure about smell though, although I assume the smell will come out with the oil.

Rangehood - if it's just the mesh-cover-thing - chuck that in a dishwasher a couple times.
If the entire rangehood is damaged, you can get a new cheapie for around $129 and, if you're handy with a drill, install it yourself?
NB: This only applies if you're using a cheapie plug-in type of rangehood that just circulates the air. May not be applicable to the type of rangehood that sucks the air into a chimney. For that, you may need a tradie (or not, I wouldn't know, since I've never installed one of those).

Oil on carpet - hmm. A professional carpet cleaner told me the oil is near impossible to remove, that's why he recommends people lay the cheapest carpet possible for IPs. You could try steam cleaning it nonetheless?
 
Jen_PFR said:
We had a similar issue once before. After cleaning everything really really well (including steam cleaning curtains, etc etc) there was still a very strong smell left. We hired an ozone machine, which got rid of the smell. We'd definitely do this again, it eliminated any remaining odours which seemed to have become embedded in the property.
Click to expand...

But will they remove a smell permanently if the source of the smell is not removed?
ie if the carpet is embedded with oil/curry, it will continue to emit odours until the oil/curry is removed or the carpet is removed, won't it?
 
miss green eyes said:
Oil on carpet - hmm. A professional carpet cleaner told me the oil is near impossible to remove, that's why he recommends people lay the cheapest carpet possible for IPs. You could try steam cleaning it nonetheless?
Click to expand...

Try rubbing in Sunlight dishwashing liquid then steam clean - great for (food) oil stains on clothes.
 
Jen_PFR said:
We had a similar issue once before. After cleaning everything really really well (including steam cleaning curtains, etc etc) there was still a very strong smell left. We hired an ozone machine, which got rid of the smell. We'd definitely do this again, it eliminated any remaining odours which seemed to have become embedded in the property.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jen, I read something earlier online about someone using an ozone machine.. Where did you hire this from? and what were the costs involved? Sounds like it's worth a shot! Thanks in advance.
 
geoffw said:
Obviously you will be directing the PM to check the range hood from now on.

Is it a flued rangehood or an internally circulating one?
Click to expand...

Rental manager has been hopeless.. I should have attended the inspections rather than take their word for it being in "good condition" as ticked on the condition report.. I have got a few words for her tomorrow don't you worry. Will be self managing from here onwards and will be carefully selecting new tenants (easier said than done).

As for the rangehood I'm not too concerned (have a spare in the garage - one I prepared earlier!) although it is a little disheartening knowing your property isn't being respected as it should.

It is a flued rangehood and most likely just filters full of oil.. along with the rest of the kitchen being covered in oil..
 
I just bought my ppor that had similiar tenants, this is what it's costing me
- repaint whole house 38 sq
- drain, clean and fill pool
- replace 4 bedrooms and theatre with new carpet
-range hood and splashback to be cleaned still.

So far we are up for over 10k.
That said I'm sure that was included in the sales price and more
 
Jen_PFR said:
We had a similar issue once before. After cleaning everything really really well (including steam cleaning curtains, etc etc) there was still a very strong smell left. We hired an ozone machine, which got rid of the smell. We'd definitely do this again, it eliminated any remaining odours which seemed to have become embedded in the property.
Click to expand...

You may want to consider buying your own ozone machine.
We have 2 and use them a lot.
We bought ours from USA for $900 (total)
...actually just ordered 2 more, as our others finally need repaired after 5 years.
 
Yes manage the property yourself. It's so much better than leaving it up to someone who quite frankly could not care less. Your property is just one of hundreds. As far as finding tenants yourself that's the best part of self managing. I advertise on realestate.com.au through Eezirent. All I pay is 100 bucks and I lose no other money. I have them rented in a trice as I put all my efforts in to getting that tenant rather than leaving it to a PM who might open it once or twice a week for 10 minutes at some ridiculous time like 11.30 on a Wednesday.
 
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