Do I have to pay for my damaged sink?

April 13, 2007 9:20 AM

A huge chip (approx. an 8" x 1" strip) came off the porcelain on my kitchen sink while I was washing dishes this morning. The sink is 60 years old (like my apartment) and was a bit cracked and discolored when I moved in 11 years ago. I was not doing anything more than normal dish washing when the damage occurred (no heavy pots or anything like that). Will my landlord by justified in making me pay for the repairs? (He will definitely try.) I'm in California if that makes a difference.
posted by ljshapiro to home & garden (15 comments total)

Would he actually try to repair it? Unless it's impairing the functioning of the sink, I find it hard to believe it would be worth repairing in your landlord's eyes.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 9:38 AM on April 13, 2007

not sure of the laws in california, but aroudn here, the answer would be no. you were using the sink for it's intended purpose, not abusing it, and it's 60 yrs old--so it's due to be replaced anyway.
posted by lester at 9:40 AM on April 13, 2007

Yeah, "normal wear and tear" is the applicable phrase here. A reglazing after 60 years is not unreasonable.
posted by phearlez at 9:44 AM on April 13, 2007

He probably will not repair it, but based on his past behavior with other tenants, he will try to make me pay for the damage when I move out. I'm thinking that I should let him know about the damage now, and go on record with a statement that it's not my responsibility, even if he does nothing about it. He will definitely notice the damage the next time he's in my apartment and will not be happy about it.

He tried to evict another tenant over age-related damage to her apartment, which ended up in court with me as a witness. He lost that battle, but I wouldn't put it past him to try it again. Half the apartments in the building (including mine) are rent controlled, and he only makes the bare minimum of repairs.

The sink is cast iron under the porcelain, and the exposed iron started to rust immediately. I forgot to ask whether anyone knows whether the rust is a halth hazard.
posted by ljshapiro at 9:51 AM on April 13, 2007

Oops, I meant "health" hazard.
posted by ljshapiro at 9:52 AM on April 13, 2007

I think the rust just adds iron to your diet, but does not harm you. It will eventually corrode through. Talk to whatever tenant's rights group exists in your area, then consider taking a hard line and demanding that the landlord replace it. He probably won't, but it will set up your expectation that it is not your responsibility.
posted by theora55 at 10:12 AM on April 13, 2007

Can you just glue it back on with superglue? If it came off cleanly it may not even be noticeable.
posted by JJ86 at 10:18 AM on April 13, 2007

I though about the superglue option, but there are many pieces, some tiny, so it won't really work.
posted by ljshapiro at 10:20 AM on April 13, 2007

the rust will eventually stain your dishes and the sink. that alone might give him enough reason to get it fixed now before he has to replace the whole thing AND your dishes.
posted by sxtxixtxcxh at 10:25 AM on April 13, 2007

There are do it yourself kits for repairing porcelain. I just googled "porcelain repair paint" and got a bunch of hits.
posted by jvilter at 10:26 AM on April 13, 2007

You can get some enamel repair kits at the hardware store. If the sink was originally white, you can get the white stuff to fix it. It should also stop the iron from continuing to rust. It is cheap and relatively easy to use. There are several different types of enamel repair kits which, if your hardware store doesn't carry them, the local plumbing shop should.

It may just be easier for you to do the repair yourself and not worry about Mr. Landlord who sounds like a pain.
posted by onhazier at 10:29 AM on April 13, 2007

Submit a written request for it to be repaired (including relevant info indicating why its not your fault), get your landlord to give you a signed copy acknowledging he received it. When you move out, you have documentation of when and how it happened, as well as evidence of *his* negligence for not ever fixing it.

Having old fixtures that are falling apart is his responsibility, not yours, and if it comes to it, the law is on your side. For more info, check out your cities housing web page, which should give you info on tenants rights.
posted by jpdoane at 12:05 PM on April 13, 2007

Also, "the sink is falling apart, and needs to be fixed" may be a better way to phrase it than "I broke a huge chip off the sink". Emphasize the fact that this because of the sinks age, not because of anything you did.
posted by jpdoane at 12:07 PM on April 13, 2007

Definitely say the sink fell apart, not that you broke it - jpdoane is 100% spot on with how you phrase it.

Do not admit fault in any way (because you're not at fault).
posted by voidcontext at 1:23 PM on April 13, 2007

If that were my sink, and I were contemplating an enamel touchup job, I'd hit it with some phosphoric acid ("rust converter") first. That will turn the rapidly growing rust into a relatively impervious layer of iron phosphate, massively slowing further rusting and giving the repair enamel something much more solid to bond to.
posted by flabdablet at 9:18 PM on April 13, 2007