I sat down with one of our maintenance guys this week to talk about rental damage left by kids. He let me in on the dark secrets of our 211-apartment complex. Here are the top kinds of damage they have to deal with from the families in our block, and a few tips of my own as to how to avoid them.
Number 1: Kitchen doors and towel racks torn off.
It seemed crazy to me, but I am assured by my friendly maintenance guy that the number one apartment damage he has to deal with (at the hands of kids) is this: kids swing on things affixed to the wall or to cabinetry and they tear off. Has this ever happened to you?
Possible Solution: I know there are days where every parent has had their fill of saying "No! Get down!", but consider the expense of these repairs and as soon as you see it happening be firm in warning. Boundaries are your friend.
Number 2: Drawing on the walls.
Basically every toddler tries this at some point.
Possible Solution: First up, be sure to only purchase washable markers and crayons, just in case. If you are a Sharpie-a-holic, keep them high up in a container difficult for little hands to open. Offer the kids some other permanent space to draw in the house, like a chalkboard wall or easel, so they can still let their creativity run wild — just in the appropriate place.
Number 3: Toys in the toilet.
Not as destructive as towel racks being pulled off walls, but a pain nonetheless. "Almost always little boats", our handyman tells me, "apparently kids like to watch them swirl around on top of the water."
Possible solution: Keep bath toys out of reach during the day. Try a wall mounted bath toy holder, like this awesome one from Boon. Particularly persistent potty putter-inners may mean you will need to invest in a toilet lock — most just clamp onto the side of the seat and require no adhesive or special installation. And when the weather heats up, offer your kids different options for water play. Some suggestions can be found here and here.
Number 4: Holes/tears in the window screens.
These happen thanks to either little fingers wiggling in little holes to leave bigger ones, or thanks to toys with sharp edges being pushed through the screens.
Possible solution: Be quick to patch small holes that may appear in your screen, if the landlord is okay with you doing that (most patch products are visible). Also, following general window safety guides will help here: minimize the ability for your kids to climb up to windows, and possibly install window guards (like these guardian angel ones: check with your landlord first), which not only increase safety in your home but make it much harder for a large toy to come in contact with a window screen. Further discussion on window safety can be found in ourearlier post.
Number 5: Holes in the walls.
"Usually from ride on toys, in particular: full sized bikes." The worst case my maintenance guy ever saw was when one kid rode their bike into the wall, and their siblings proceeded to pick at the hole, until said hole was over a foot wide.
Possible solution: Prohibit riding bikes indoors. If you have active kids who need to go crazy inside, why not try soft jumping options like a Rody Horse rather than a hard bicycle. Check out this post on active toys for more inspiration.
Of course, after reading all of this we should also keep in mind: things will happen that are truly accidents, but putting a few preventative measures in play will at least minimize the damage your rental takes at the hands of young kids. And when it all gets too tough don't forget: teaching children to take care of their home, their own special place in the world, is a great lesson for them to take into their adulthood, their future home and future family.
(Image: Shutterstock)
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My kids absolutely think the towel racks are handles to be used to hoist their body weight around. Of course I tell them no every time! I own the house and I don't need my tiles ripped off the wall. They keep doing it because it comes naturally to them and they do it unthinkingly. Honestly, I'm sure kids do damage, but so do partiers and pets.
Most of these sound like parents not bothering to tell their children "no" once in a while. Obviously a toy down the toilet is going to happen once in a while, but kids LITERALLY pulling apart walls? Yikes. I know some parents are afraid to be in charge of their kids but that is just too much!
Sorry, one too many "once in a whiles" there = one too few coffees this morning :P
I couldn't imagine my brother or I ever doing those things. We grew up in rentals. I guess having one parent that was a clean freak and the other a control freak kept us from even thinking about messing something up!
We actually removed some of the lower-hanging towel bars, etc. We left the hardware that mounts to the wall and removed the bars. We'll put them back when our toddlers are capable of being more compliant. In the meantime, over the door towel bars/hooks are our friends. And we own -- we just didn't want to have to fix the walls.
When I was renting my condo out (for the first time) last year- I chose the single female renter over a young family for this exact reason. They had a 3 year old that they told me is sometimes loud (they were asking how soundproof the laminate floors were). I felt (and still do feel) horrible about turning them down...but this post is pretty much why I did it. I live 2 hrs away and didn't want to deal with the damage kids leave behind. Kids will be kids- and there's nothing wrong with that...I just didn't want to spend the money fixing up after them.
*knock on wood*- my current renter is awesome and I hope she stays forever.
I can understand towel racks, but kitchen doors? That's a lot of weight to tear those out.
Pi--I think by 'kitchen doors' the authors may have meant 'cabinet doors' (which could seem like a good thing to swing on if you are 2 years old).
Some parents are negligent or remiss in saying no. Others have to occasionally shower, use the toilet, or answer the phone, and 90 seconds later the damage is done...None of us remember being destructive--it is mostly very young kids who will, in a decade or two or three, recall themselves as behaving flawlessly and courteously both in restaurants and rentals.
I'm wondering if he meant cabinet doors? I've seen kids I babysat swing on lower cabinet doors while draping themselves over the top of the door. It was surprising how much speed they got in a short distance from one good push with their feet. And it did loosen the hinges a lot - I checked. I'm guessing they did it all the time when their parents or other babysitters were around.
I don't remember my sisters or I making this kind of damage growing up, and we lived in rentals all the way up to my late high school years. There might have been a crayon mark or two on the wall, but that's about it. I think the most common incidents were spilling liquids on the floor (not mentioned in this post) because an older wood or linoleum floor can warp if the liquid is not completely soaked up right away.
I can see more possible damage with teenagers: marked up walls from taping or using that putty stuff to put up posters, and swinging open doors with doorknobs - the doorknob can go right through the plaster wall next to the door.
Cabinet doors makes a lot more sense. I never did that when I was a kid, but I did rip a toilet paper holder off the wall once. In my defense, it was the only place to step and there were monsters.
I'm surprised water damage from overflowing sinks didn't make the list.
Pi--I also ripped off a toilet paper holder by stepping on it!! It was worth it as I lived to tell the tale of my escape from the child-eating bath mat. My mom sure was mad, though.
@MCross:
"Others have to occasionally shower, use the toilet, or answer the phone, and 90 seconds later the damage is done..."
My thoughts exactly. Thanks for the words of not judging of parents.
I don't have kids, but I can totally see them doing things like picking at the already-existing hole in the wall while mom thinks they're quietly playing in their room. It's a curiosity- usually there aren't holes in the wall- and it's there to be picked at! When I was a kid, if there was loose yarn or a hole in an afghan, I was constantly pulling on it or sticking my fingers and toes through it. It's just what kids do, without thinking, so saying 'No' isn't going to help much.
It's why the AT post suggests fixing small things ASAP, before kids get preoccupied with them!
Teaching the difference between "don't do that" and "don't do that when I'm looking at you (otherwise, have at it)" seems to take until the child is around 25.
Is there a similar post for dogs? Our lab is great except that as soon as he returns from playing at the park, he shakes wildly in the front hallway. The walls are filthy now and wiping with a damp cloth has not helped.
Instead of wiping the walls, why not wipe the dog? Clean him off before he gets into the house. Use positive reinforcement to get him to shake before he gets in. When he does, give him a treat. He'll start associating shaking at a certain spot with treats. If he messes up and shakes when he gets inside, he won't get a treat but will get a stern rebuke.
Must be nice to live someplace big enough that your kids can ride bikes inside (seriously, wtf?).
I must have the world's most well-behaved child. He never drew on walls, never stuck stuff down sinks or toilets, never swung on or climbed stuff. As a renter, I'm starting to think we lucked out with our son's nature. He did have some whoa nelly temper tantrums that I'm sure our neighbours weren't fond of :-)
I never rented with children but I guess that I am fortunate that my children have not done any of these things other than draw on the walls. I, however, stupidly grabbed a towel bar when my clutzy self fell in the bathroom. Sometimes it is not children who cause these problems.
Drawing on the walls: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, All I'm sayin'.
For us, the most damage was on the kitchen wall beside our son's high chair. The food stains from dropped bits of mac-n-cheese, avocado, etc. just would not come out, even with a magic eraser and wiping them down right away. We ultimately repainted the wall ourselves before we moved out to avoid the mark-up on repainting from the management company.
There are kids who live across the street from the public library where I work. Over Christmas break, "somebody" shot BB's through a front door and several of our windows. In one location, the hole in the screen and the hole in the window align to point to the upstairs window of the house in question. But since nothing can be "proved", nothing is being done. Thousands of dollars worth of (new -- maybe 2-years old) glass has to be replaced. (Suppose the gun was a gift???)
Thank goodness the antique stained glass window (repaired for $10K a few years ago) is perpendicular to their window.
Not a fan of kids and the destruction they (can) cause. Nor of permissive parents. (Yes, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. On the other hand, they are more LIKELY to happen with kids whose parents don't set and enforce boundaries day to day.)
I am not surprised by kitchen doors being number One. The screws used are short and small in diameter and the cabinets themselves are usually made of particle board (especially big box store ones) or MDF. Both materials are not the best at holding screws. And kids are not the only culprit! Guys leaning on door tops do damage too!
Several generations of my family have managed to make it through life without doing major damage to any of our houses or anybody else's house. We were by no means perfect little angels and definitely had energy to spare but we were taught early on what did and did not constitute acceptable behaviour and managed ourselves accordingly. No harsh punishments were required either.
I'm surprised that our number one issue wasn't mentioned: ruined blinds. Kids love to look out windows but instead of raising the blinds, it's much easier (apparently) to peek through them. It just destroys them after a while.
Also it seems like a lot of non parents are chiming in here now. It's good to remember that none of these things are the end of the world, that children are not miniature adults, and landlords charge security deposits for a reason.
I love it when people say things like, "I don't remember ever doing anything like THAT when I was a kid." Trust me: you did. You did it when you were under the age of four, which is why you don't remember. Your parents don't remember either, because most parents of adult children believe that they were perfect parents with perfectly behaved kids. (Case in point: my mom believe my brother and sisters and I were total darlings, but even I can recall many times when we were not. My memories, of course, are triggered by watching the stuff my kiddos try to pull.)
Human memory is a funky thing. I'm sure I'll do exactly the same thing some day, but for now, down here in the preschooler trenches, I'm having a good laugh.
HAHAHA...It's so easy to tell who has children and who doesn't....
AGREED! hahahaha
I think by bikes, they might mean toddlers and their big wheels. They don't take up much space, but contribute to a lot of damage.
As the kids have gotten older, the damage gets bigger, culminating in the late teens. Amongst the worst of the damage to our house:
Doors come off hinges regularly
Holes in internal doors
Smashed glass on front door
Smashed french window
Scratched up kitchen counters
Collapsed ceiling
Absolutely agree TammyE. A child’s perspective is different than a parent’s. A child remembers the rule/expectation and the times it was (so unfairly!) enforced. They don’t remember (and probably didn’t even notice) all the times they left things out that their parents let something slide or dealt with the consequences. They’ve also forgotten age development. You can be as confident as you find out how quickly *your* child can get a toy into a toilet.
In our house, it’s the sink instead of towel bars. I remind someone at least once a day not to hang off the wall-mounted sink.
I love that they got the scoop from a rental maintenance worker, but my one correction is that this is just as important to those who own! Home owners don't want doors torn off or holes in the walls, either.
Other than crayon on the wall, and that easily washed off right after we took a pic for posterity, neither of my kids have done any of these things, and they are 9 and 5. I bet they would have flushed toys, though, if it weren't for the very loud flush on our low-water toilet, which terrified them. They used to ask us to flush after they left the room because it was so loud.
I lucked out on having a kid who is pretty tame, but that hasn't prevented her bedroom carpet from getting stained or the blinds from getting bent. And I'm sure a couple of dings in the hardwood floors were from her dropping stuff.
For all parents out there feeling judged, if it makes you feel better most of these things have happened to me over the years and I don't even have kids. Ripped screen: neighbor's dog barking at my cats. Hole in the wall: a friend fell down half a flight of stairs and put a hole in the wall with his apparently very hard head! (he's fine btw) Towel bars: I've had several fall down on their own, probably not very secure to begin with. Life happens.
Kids are endlessly creative in finding ways to destroy things. My kids usually don't intend to break things; they're just trying to answer the question, "what will happen if I...." Nevertheless, stuff happens that I would have never anticipated. But we've chosen some specific things that are completely off-limits, with serious consequences, and my kids don't push it. (i.e., pushing on screens, doing anything near the TV/tv stand, hanging on anything indoors.)
I remember touring our condo with the Realtor while the homeowner was home, and they were letting their preschool-age kid hang on the closet door handles. Turned out that many knobs needed repair (repairing a too-large hole in a hollow bifold door = no fun).
Whenever I start to think I might want to have a kid, I read a post like this and remember that I like nice things :)
I feel like most children cause more damage than an average pet. So why do most apartments not allow pets, yet have nothing to say about children? I sincerely wish that my apartment complex banned children. Especially the constantly screaming or running baby next door.