Duplex has an outdoor deck stair going up to the loft apartment.

This is a very common design in rental duplexes.

In this case, the deck stairs were very solidly built with thick wood, but someone had the bright idea of painting the whole thing white.

Of course, when I ended up getting the place, the paint was flaking off, and looked terrible.

So. In the tropical heat of summer a couple years ago, I spent a week painting the whole thing, top bottom, and under with outdoor paint. It was a huge job.

Then, I put rubber treads on the stairs - another expense- so no danger of ice slips. What little ice we get in Central Illinois these winters.

That was the fall. By spring, the paint was peeling again.

OK.

So in the meantime one of the stairs had been busted in the corner by some dope I had sold the old refrigerator to in the apartment. He clunked it down those stairs, and broke that one. I patched it, but it did not hold up to the weather.

New tenant moves in, and rents a couple years.

SUDDENLY, this Sunday night, I get a text from the tenant.

The stairs are falling apart! She says. She sends me a picture of that very stair, which she said broke under her foot.

I will be there first thing in the morning to check and replace any bad boards, is my reply. Most rentals don't even answer on Sunday evening, so I thought that was pretty good.

Apparently not.

"The whole deck is falling apart" she says.

"I don't feel safe using these stairs. I see mushrooms. I want a new stairway put in."

OK.

I explain first again that these are very solidly built stairs, and I know because I painted them myself.

If there is mold, we will spray.

If there are any bad boards, we will replace.

But building you a new staircase will cost thousands of dollars. We do not have that money. Also I added, there is no conceivable way that the stairs could be completely falling apart since the last time I was there.

Has anybody encountered tenants like this before?

Nobody wants a vacancy and I certainly don't, I already have one now and potentially a second coming. So would not like to have to deal with a third.

But these "build me a new staircase or I'm not renting here" threats are ridiculous! The rent for this apartment is only $595 a month.

I know you're not supposed to respond past a certain point, but sometimes you can't help yourself.

That ones a little tough since you wanna err on side of caution when it comes to things like stairs.

Like literally I had went up and down and checked each stair, making sure each was secure. The stairs were good. The span is not very wide, and the boards are thick.

What is more, each stair had a 2x2" screwed in each corner.

And of course as I said I then painted and glued rubber treads on each. This is all the work I did myself.

To not hear a word of complaint, then get notification on Sunday afternoon of a broken stair. RESPOND on Sunday night you will be there first thing in the morning to replace any boards, and then get an answer right after that saying the whole thing is falling apart, the apartment is unliveable and they want a whole new stairway built.

How could anyone possibly respond to this?

The hardware store isn't even open on Sunday evening.

Frankly I think the whole situation has suddenly become ridiculously unreasonable.

Its a shame because it was a good tenant up until now. But I can't afford the kind of tenant they've suddenly become. I don't know who could

She may as well have texted, "Build me a new apartment."

Frustrating and stressful of course to get these texts after dark on a weekend when you haven't even had the chance to go over and see what has happened to your deck.

Its probably best just not to look at messages at this time.

I only did it because I was already worn out over other stuff going on and just wanted to see an All Clear so I could have a good night sleep lol

No, those stairs are solid as a rock, that deck is a tank.

The runners are 1 1/2" thick and only 3 feet wide, and each one is dovetailed with a 2x2 screwed in. Most deck stairs don't even have that.

If she sees mushrooms, which is probably on one board or maybe two, this is probably because in their wisdom the previous owners painted the bottoms of the boards, so water collects in the cracks and does not drain out.

Swap the board out, done.

Yes they're $35 apiece, but to say she wants a whole new stairway put in is ridiculous.

My guess, though I haven't seen it this week... is the paint is coming off and that makes it look "old" and she wants "new"

Again, it should never have been painted to begin with, but stripping is 3x the work of repainting. And repainting was a LOT of work.

The damaged fridge board was broken off in its corner.

I repaired that and did not replace the board at that time.

I planned to replace it tomorrow. Assuming that is the one that broke.

Whatever happened to break it, I wasn't told that.

Still not at "Build me a new deck". But then when its not your money, its amazing how reasonable that sounds.

Others have made good points.

Here are a couple more to consider:

Don't jump to the conclusion that they are suddenly a bad, unreasonable tenant. She just had a step break while she was standing on it, which was no doubt frightening. It was also the end of her day, which may not have been filled with rainbows, butterflies & kittens either. Don't take it personally.

Do not ever make your tenant feel like you do not want them to report items that need attention in your property. Better to fix something early when it is a simpler project than to let it go unreported. So, a good reply is something like "THANK YOU for letting me know. I'll check it out asap"- like you said in the morning.

Mushrooms do like to grow in a shady spot, feeding on wet, rotten wood. So I suspect you do have some.

You said yourself that all sides have been painted, so the wood can't breathe/dry out.

Since it peeled off again really soon, that tells me there was moisture behind the paint.

Pressure washer should be able to remove flaking paint fairly efficiently. Leave the bottoms naked, paint top & sides - or stain with something that will breath, or leave pressure treated wood naked.

If I kicked out a tenant every time they said something that I thought was silly I would have nearly no tenants.

I would go over there to address the situation. It is a safety concern. You just need to decide how valid it is. By going over promptly and doing what must be done you will make the tenant feel that you care about her safety.

If she is always finding problems or blowing up the issues that is another concern altogether.

First of all,

YOU TALK TOO MUCH.

You put way more information in your text to the tenant than is wise. Having now survived being sued twice in one year, I'm gunshy. To me, you have just set yourself up for a lawsuit. You've admitted in writing that you're doing the stair maintenance yourself. Whether or not you have the money to fix any supposed problems is 100% completely irrelevant.

Next time, text her back: "Can you please take a couple pictures of the problems and send them to me?" That way you have HER documenting said issue. "Your honor, she complained that it was falling apart, but the only problem she told me about was this one step with a small crack in the corner and a small mildew spot."

Putting that aside, go check on it. Take pictures, lots of pictures. Fix what needs to be fixed. And ignore any whining from the tenant.

A tenant's first and immediate response to anything that doesn't work correctly is to buy a brand new one. That's the way they treat their own stuff and that is just one more reason that they are tenants. Just expect it.

Myself, I always go and have a look to see what the real issue is and whether it is a repair or a replace.

You maybe didn't check those stairs so thoroughly if one of them broke shortly thereafter.

I would not want an outside staircase in midwest winters. I would not want a wood staircase made from either the new pressure treated wood, or untreated wood, if the wood was milled in last twenty years. I replaced some exterior window sills and brickmolding when I replaced windows on a house. Three years after installing, mushroom were pushing out from under the paint! New wood is grown so quickly, it can rot that fast. Older, slow-growth wood is gone. Just plain gone. Older growth wood certainly would have withstood three years easily, even without paint, before it rotted. Mine was primed and painted the day it was installed or the next day. And, within three years I started to see 'shrooms. Unbelievable!