I would reimburse - My number one goal as a landlord is the upkeep of our property. We have found over the years if we make the tenants pay for the small things, especially things to do with water, - we end up with a much bigger bill in the end because they don't tell us about the small things and once it comes to our attention it has become a HUGE cost to us.
I would thank them for taking care of the situation until you have a chance to get to the problem and pay for the tape.
I've seen the tape before (not to that extent) but asking for a reimbursement? Nope. I can't shake the feeling looking at this and remembering the other tape jobs I've seen that I've already been doing this too long.
Looks like your handyman's got some quality time ahead of him with the AcrylPro and then the unsanded grout.
I would consider it if it could get me to the end of the lease without the tenant complaining about it. What can they claim as a charge? $10 maximum I would think.
Compare trying to retile the enclosure with a tenant in place versus tiling when the unit is empty. To me it would be worth the $10 to tile with an empty unit.
Clearly the duct tape is only a stop gap and that a real repair has to be performed. The question is what is the cheapest/easiest way to perform the real repair and for me that is with an empty unit.
BTW I just replaced a shower enclosure with a tenant in place. We did the whole shower including the pan, custom tile (not premade enclosure or pan), new shower valve, new shower door. It took basically a week. A week of the tenants living around the crew and the crew working around the tenants. I will call it less than ideal.
I would reimburse - My number one goal as a landlord is the upkeep of our property. We have found over the years if we make the tenants pay for the small things, especially things to do with water, - we end up with a much bigger bill in the end because they don't tell us about the small things and once it comes to our attention it has become a HUGE cost to us.
I would thank them for taking care of the situation until you have a chance to get to the problem and pay for the tape.
Wow! Did it just get like that or have they been living with a known issue for a while? I'd try to fix that as soon as possible. And I'd pay them for the tape. For what little it would be, I may just give them a $20 and get someone out there to fix it right.
FYI they're probably falling off the wall because they're attached to sheetrock, which isn't waterproof, and the entire wall is waiting for someone to slip slightly and hit it to go right through the wall. Have your repair person grab a sheet of waterproof panel that looks like tile, cut it, glue it to the wall over the real tile and caulk the edges. It will get you a year or two until the tenant is out
Thanks for all the interesting responses. This was a photo taken of a property we 'inherited' from another agency. I posted for fun. Of course, the tile and sheetrock were ripped out, vapor barrier, backer board installed, new tile properly laid and grouted. There are also pre-fab surround kits that work well.
Re Bathfitters: I'm not a fan. Mainly because it goes directly on top of the existing bath. That means you will be sealing in any mold, etc. That's not a good thing.
@Deb R. Bathfitters is for people making it look pretty for the week before they sell to a sucker. It's a thin sheet of plastic glued over a train wreck and hiding more issues than most can imagine. You don't get much time before it starts to look bad and the whole time everything behind it is getting worse because moisture is still getting into the walls through cracks and gaps