hard wood floors

[gammagrace]

I am wondering if my landlord is responsible for maintaining my hard wood floors. I have been living in my apartment (rent stabilized) for 7+ years and the floors have started to splinter and need to be refinished. Is this his responsibility or mine? I know there's some rule about landlords providing paint every couple of years, but I am unsure if the floor's maintenance is also his responsibility. Does anyone know the answer. Thanks for any help.

[Cathy Lambert]

Interesting question. My experience is that this kind of maintenance is the responsibility of the tenants. But I would like to see if there are differing opinions on this.

[Cranky Tenant]

I don't remember seeing anything specifically about floors but the LL is required to maintain the overall apartment in reasonably good condition. Whether or not you can get your LL to refinish the floor after seven years probably depends on your LL and how bad your floors are.

One friend of mine who lives in a rent stabilized apartment gets his hardwood floors sanded and refinished every two years or so. Others friends in RS apartments have never had their floors redone.

Sometime back I managed to get my LL to repair the floor in a couple of rooms. I originally had linoleum which lifted and I was left with unfinished splintery wood. A city inspection listed the floors as a violation and the LL was required to repair them.

[Brooklyn Babe]

The floors are the LL's responsibility. The question is does he feel they need to be done or not. Depending on the condition, inspectors may order him to "repair". Send your LL a letter (cert of mailing) stating that after 7 years your floors need redoing...

[HS77]

Well here it is....mostly the landlord is responsible for your paint job once every 3 or 4 years. The lease has the exact time.

As for the wood flooring, unless it is extremely rotted, or worn, or uneven; then the responsibilty lies upon you to repair that flooring. Because some tenants may want the floors refinished at the landlords expense because it will look nicer.

I mean you can call an HPD inspector to come down and see it, but unless its rotted, or in a condition that warrants serious attention. Like say hardwood flooring near a leaky radiator; this will cause the wood to rot, and an HPD inspector will issue a notice to repair. And if so, your landlord will just repair those few areas leaving the area all different looking with different grains of wood types. Some people are bothered by it, others not.

Otherwise, I recommend grabbing a peice of sandpaper, a small can of polyurethane and touch it up, if its a few spots. If not a few spots and more than a few small inconspicuous areas, then i say try doing it with an inspector. Use your judgement.