alt Hacker News> Things start off fine, but then mold starts growing in the bathroom, and a recurring leak springs up in the living room, and then roaches start appearing in the kitchen.
When I started reading the article, I thought the whole point was gonna be that the author doesn't take care of the apartment.
The recurring leak might not be the author's fault, but the mold in the bathroom and roaches in the kitchen definitely are. Is this a case of a total lack of self-reflection? Or a post to scare people away from becoming landlords?
Replies
My first thought. I also encountered this problem and learned to clean the kitchen every night, never leave anything edible on countertop and floot, and store everything in good food containers.
I've unfortunately lived in too many houses where mold becomes a problem. It's never my fault, it's always been because the house is old/doesn't have proper damp proofing/cheap paint was used, or no damp proofing applied on exterior walls. I clean it, of course, so I'm not literally living in a house with moldy walls, and I keep the house as dry and ventilated as possible. But in certain climates it's nearly inevitable to get mold during winter or the humid season unless the house is very well built and modern.
The worst, and again very common, is when the paint is so cheap it can't be cleaned easily - when you use anything that can actually clean the mold (soapy water + a bit of vinegar is my preference, but baking soda, very weak bleach solution, or commercial mold cleaners) it also destroys the paint.
> roaches in the kitchen
roaches need to come from somewhere. Even if your apartment is spotless, someone else in the building might not be...
I had the same thought after reading the first few sentences. Bathrooms and kitchens especially have to be cleaned regularly, and not just superficially. Otherwise, what the author describes happens.
Of course you should take care of your home, but to be fair, the moisture that caused the mold could have come from a leak elsewhere. The roaches could have found a way into your home from that crackhead neighbor's place through cracks and seams somewhere in the construction.
Fwiw, most mould is caused by buildings. Poor ventilation, leaks, no waterproofing, substandard building materials.
Yes, you can avoid mould in older buildings by carefully airing out rooms and keeping things dry and away from walls. But not if the previous three tenants had a mould issue and the landlord just painted over it.