Renting -> Glass sink cracked where do I stand?

kayomani

kayomani

kayomani

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I moved into a new property a couple of months ago and a few weeks ago (This has been going back and forth for a while now..) the glass sink in the bathroom cracked one morning when I was about to wash my hands under hot running water. Has anyone had similar experiences with glass sinks?

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the web about them although there are quite a few warnings about hot water on certain ones which says to me that it wasn't fit for purpose. The landlord is adamant that its my fault and I should repair it as it was fine when I moved in, the contract is fairly black and white in my eyes that it is the landlords responsibility as I don't feel I misused it in anyway (water wasn't even steaming..).

The culprit: http://i45.tinypic.com/p1zbt.jpg
 
Unless the landlord can prove that you did it maliciously its up to him/her to maintain, repair and upkeep the property. He/She put a glass sink in (Glass? really?) that doesn't seem fit for purpose (could just me a manufacturing defect) so its their problem. Don't let them tell you otherwise.
 
It will be up to the terms of your tenancy agreement. From what you say, it sounds like it will be up to your landlord. Phone him up and inform him. If he takes more than two weeks, send him a letter to get his arse in gear.
 
I think when renting the contact will by law has to fall under certain acts as shown below which say it is her responsibility except where I will have abused it. The relevant part of my contact below is fairly obvious in my view apart from the last sentence which I think is badly written as it makes no sense to give a list of landlord obligations then say they will not be liable for charges except where it is their obligation as listed above. I recon I will end up taking a first trip to the citizens advise bureau as I feel there is little chance of them doing anything.

Whilst its a nice house it has not been without its other problems, immediately after moving in I found that there had been a previous woodworm infection and the floor had not been repaired properly in places and in my view was unsafe (But they fixed that after 2-3 weeks) or that the oven had a fault which meant it could not be used (that took a month).

Repair
4.6 This Agreement shall take effect subject to the provisions of Sections 11 to 16 of the Landlord and
Tenant Act 1985 (as amended by the Housing Act 1988) which imposes on the Landlord obligations
to repair and keep in good working order:

4.6.1 the structure and exterior (including drains, gutters and external pipes) of the Premises;

4.6.2 installations in the Premises for the supply of water, electricity, gas and sanitation (including
basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences). The Landlord is not however responsible
for repairing other Fixtures and Fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of
water, gas and electricity;

4.6.3 installations in the Premises for space heating and heating water.

Neither the Landlord or the Landlord's Agent will accept responsibility for charges incurred by the
Tenant in repairing such items as are listed above except in the case of an emergency or where the
Landlord is in breach of his obligations under this clause.
Click to expand...
 
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The last sentence means that they aren't liable if you go out and get stuff done on their behalf, except if it's an emergency. If something breaks you need to get them to sort it, rather than you saying "Oh £500 please, got a plumber in to unlock the sink".

Not all landlords are bad ones... they may very well take you at your word and get it sorted.
 
Its not like you hit the thing with a hammer - 'It was fine when you moved in' is retarded - I'm sure lots of things that will eventually go wrong in a flat were fine when a tenant moved in - does the landlord expect that nothing can ever break/wear out or sustain damage through normal use.
 
I'd say document everything you say in correspondence in relation to this as well. Nothing worse than coming into a contentious situation with no proof to back up what you're saying.
 
:eek::p

Fortunately we talk via sms so i have a record of everything.. when it broke it made me jump of my skin, wasn't a quiet affair!
 
You are entitled to fair wear and tear, although im not sure a sink cracking qualifies.

I think you will have to brace yourself to lose some of your deposit for that.
 
Rex-Kramer said:
You are entitled to fair wear and tear, although im not sure a sink cracking qualifies.

I think you will have to brace yourself to lose some of your deposit for that.
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I'd say it does qualify. The idea that a renter is responsible for the Landlord's exploding furnishings that are not fit for purpose is utterly insane!
 
by the look of the crack it looks like it come from the hole, must have been shelled at installation and just popped a crack in it over time
 
PianoBasher said:
Humping a lardy fogbeast you pulled in a club on a glass sink is never going to end well.
Click to expand...

Humping anybody over a glass sink isn't going to end well...

And why glass? I mean it doesn't seem the best material for sinks if you ask me. Just trendy **** I suppose. The Victorians had it right with enamelled cast iron.
 
I notice that the sink isn't made from toughened glass. Are there no rules about sinks having to be made from toughened glass like there are for glass coffee tables etc? Seems very dangerous, I wouldn't stand anywhere near that thing with bare feet :eek:.
 
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