Finally got my landlord to fix the drafty windows after trying 3 different approaches

I live in a old apartment in Buffalo and the draft from these single pane windows was killing my heating bill. Spent 6 months sending polite emails with photos of the ice buildup. Nothing. Then I tried threatening to report them to the city. Still nothing. Last month I just showed up with a roll of weatherstripping and asked if they wanted me to install it or if they'd rather pay a real handyman. They had a guy here within a week. Guess the threat of me doing a sloppy job was worse than fixing it proper. Anyone else have luck with that kind of reverse psychology on their landlord?

3 comments

3 Comments

richard_ramirez24d ago

Haha yeah that's a solid move. It's wild how landlords will only fix stuff when they think you're about to mess it up even worse. It makes me think about how a lot of problems in daily life get solved the same way. Like at work or with friends, people only really listen when they think you're about to do something that makes their life harder. It's not about what's fair, it's about who's gonna be the bigger pain in the ass if they don't act. Kinda sad that honesty and politeness don't work as well as the threat of a half-assed DIY job. But hey, whatever gets the windows fixed before the next lake effect snow hits, right?

jason7324d ago

Nodded along reading this because I basically did the same thing last winter. Told my landlord I was gonna caulk the gaps myself and asked if he wanted to save me the trip to the hardware store. He sent a maintenance guy over in two days. The trick is making them think your DIY fix will be worse than their professional job. I swear they'd rather spend money than deal with the mess of a tenant doing it half assed. Works especially well in older buildings where the previous tenants just gave up and bought space heaters. You just gotta make the repair sound like a bigger headache for them than it really is.

ramirez.caleb23d ago

Wait wait wait, you actually did that? That's genius but also terrifying because if he had called your bluff you'd be stuck caulking the whole place in January. I once told my super I'd just shove some old socks in the drafty window frame if he didn't come look at it, thinking he'd laugh and send a guy. Instead he just nodded and said "okay, that'll work for now" and I froze my butt off for two more weeks before he finally replaced the weatherstripping. That landlord psychology thing is real though, they absolutely panic at the thought of a tenant making things worse in a way that's harder to undo.