What is considered wear and tear

[Damon67]

What is considered wear and tear for the purposes of being reimbursed for damages and requiring deep cleaning at your property?

I had a guest who broke my door away from the hinges, broke the door stopper at the bottom of the door, let their kids urinate on a mattress/floor, and mark up one of my bedroom walls with dirty hand marks. I had to have my cleaner fix the door and put new screws in the bedroom door. I also had to have my cleaners scrub the bedroom walls and place a fresh new coat of paint on them. The cleaners also had to scrub/clean a mattress and carpet in the same bedroom on at least three different occasions to adequately clean the mattress/carpet and remove the urine smell from the room, carpet, and mattress. Would this type of work be considered normal wear and tear???

[Sandra126]

No, not normal with breakages like that.  However, you simply must have waterproof covers on mattresses. Otherwise you'll be buying many new ones! Covers are cheap and washable. Get some today.

[Damon67]

I have mattress covers on every bed in my home. Even my pillows have protective covers. The bed in question had the mattress cover removed & tucked between the mattress and bed frame. When my cleaner arrived the day after the guest left the mattress was still wet with urine. My cleaner has spent three days trying to clean the mattress and carpet and remove the urine smell from them & the room. The mattress may require replacement. The guest also allowed their children to put dirty hand prints all over the walls of the bedroom. The walls had to be scrubbed/cleaned and repainted. I'm new to Air-BnB but there is no way that this is normal wear and tear. Am I wrong? 

[Sandra126]

No, you are not wrong, its not normal.

[Damon67]

This was only my fourth guest and I can't believe they trashed my place like this. They cooked on my stove's griddle and popped grease everywhere. Used every dish in the cabinet and left them dirty without cleaning them. On top of the other more serious things I have already mentioned. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Damon67this is outrageous! I hope you took photos and opened the damage claim process. You have 14 days to do that or before your new guests arrive. You also need receipts/invoices for repairs and for the new mattress.

All my guests with kids were bad experiences and all kids peed in bed, even those of 6+ y.o. I don't know what's wrong with kids and parents today, maybe disposable diapers are too good, but it seems they pee in bed until puberty. I am not afraid to host people with dogs, smokers, young backpackers... but I am afraid of hosting families with small kids.

[Fred13]

@Damon67  Your unfortunate experience may lie with how little you are charging; an entire 4 bedroom house and big property for only $193. A perfect magnet for people that may not know how to treat nice things because they themselves do not have them and also to pack more people that they claim are coming because of its privacy.  Perhaps $250 a night may serve you better. Good luck.

[Lenore22]

@Damon67 I can't believe she put all that in her reply to your very kind review. 😅 

At least future hosts will see exactly what happened. Be sure to document everything with receipts, photos, etc. It sounds like she's already be asked to pay. Well done.

And no, not normal. It is not normal to remove a mattress protector.

[Damon67]

Lenore I even left a good review for her considering the way she left my place. In life I've learned to try and be positive as much as possible and no matter the situation. I included all of the negative information about how she left my home in the private message that is not visible to the public. She didn't respond to the private message or my request for reimbursement due to the damage & required deep cleaning. I'm learning fast how things work& what to look out for! 

[Brian2036]

@Damon67 

As for what is “normal,” it sounds like what we typically had to deal with when we accepted children under age 12, so maybe that’s normal.

Some of them did worse things, literally ransacked the house, and broke everything inside and outside that they could get their hands on.

It appears to be common for them to wet the bed, take the mattress cover off, stuff it under the mattress, and do it again.

We no longer accept children and if I catch anyone trying to smuggle them in they’re all out immediately.

It’s tough to rent a large house if you don’t accept children. You might consider dividing it into two smaller units.