Floor damage - joint tenant/landlord responsibility - who pays?

Hello,

I rent a house from a landlord (generally pretty decent and helpful). I did a thorough mopping of the floor a while back, which is made up of interlocking wooden plywood slats. Unfortunately some of the water must have drained below, causing some of the slats to ‘bubble’ and rise at the edges, and now about 3-4 planks need replacing. As I mopped the floor, I am happy to pay towards it. However, one of the reasons the water leaked is that the slats had not been fitted properly, there being gaps between some of the slats. In this case, would the repair costs be a joint landlord/tenant responsibility? My fear is that the LL will say that as I did the mopping, I should pay the full costs (still waiting to hear back at this point)

Any help on this point much appreciated.

thanks,
A. Renter

Never mop this type of floor. Neither laminate

You must have used Too Much water it takes repeated soaking to lift slats, you should check your contract carefully, easy to do, also you should have noted the errors on the floor fitting? but you not the LL applied the water so I’d say you are responsible - LL are responsible for repairs not accidents-Sorry

Unfortunately laminate flooring requires delicate cleaning, not over mopping and if the damage wasn’t there before you moved in then that is unfortunately tenant damage - not fair wear and tear.

even 3 or 4 slats could mean the whole flooring needs to be replaced. Most companies would not recommend replacing a rental floor with laminate as its 2 to 3 times the cost of carpet, so your landlord would be doing you a favour not to replace like with like.

However if you haven’t moved out, I would contact the landlord. no one likes the surprise of unexpected damage on check out. especially when it clearly happened prior to check out.