Interesting. I recently moved into a renovated flat. The inside of the flat had a new flatpack kitchen, newly polished floorboards (old cat-ridden carpet removed), and a complete paint job, which is all very good.
However, the outside was a mess. Overgrown trees – to the point where the Hills Hoist couldn’t spin around from the mess of branches pushing through. A lot of rubbish and mess in the side garden, with sharp metal and broken furniture making it unusable. Oh, and an ancient airconditioner sticking out of the living window which the real estate agent initially refused to remove.
I insisted on rubbish removal and some small repairs, which were done. However, the gas plumber was called in a couple of days later because the newly installed stove had not been fitted properly – gas leak in the kitchen!
Out in the garden a dead tree leaned at a precarious 45 degree angle, posing a danger to our toddler. I have borrowed a chainsaw and cut down the dead trees and a fair number of overgrown branches, building a big pile in the street. The real agent took photos of the dead trees months ago but nothing was done.
My question is, now that I have done the labour of pruning and stacking the overgrown and dead trees out on the street, should I ask the landlord to help pay for carting it away? Remember that I asked them to do something about it months ago, it was dangerous and now I’ve done it for ‘free’.