NWR - Cleaning Our Neighbor's Bathroom?

lc07 · July 2013

Thank you in advance for reading this and helping me.

My husband and I rent the home we live in and currently our one and only bathroom is out of service while the landlord is redoing the plumbing due to serious back-up problems. Our neighbor whom we are friendly with but not very close to has the same landlord that we do and has known about the plumbing problems we have had and sympathized with us about it for quite some time. While we are friendly with this neighbor, we are not particularly close. We do have a key to his home for emergency purposes and for when plumbers or other contractors have needed access to his house while he is at work or out of town. (Some of the plumbing problems affect his home as well and I work from home.)

Currently, my neighbor is out of town. I called to let him know about the plumbing work being done and he has graciously allowed my husband and I access to his home while the construction is going on so that we can use his bathroom which is not being affected by the construction. He apologized about the shower not being scrubbed clean to which I responded that we did not care and were simply grateful to be able to use his bathroom and thanked him. While his bathroom is not filthy (we have been using it as-is), it is very obvious that it needs a good cleaning. There is a lot of buildup from hard water in the shower and his huge 8 foot mirror above the sink area has water marks all over it. My husband thinks that we ought to clean his bathroom after we are finished using it for the week and before he comes home from vacation. I agree that it's proper to clean something that you've borrowed and used before you "return" it. Especially since our neighbor has been so gracious as to allow us in his home daily while he's away. But I guess I'm worried that he will be embarrassed about us cleaning it or feel badly that it wasn't up to our standards of use or something. Am I over-thinking this? Would you do a deep clean of his bathroom or leave it more or less how you found it? Thank you for your advice.

Edited: to fix way too small of font size.

Simply Fated · July 2013

Ugh this is a tough one. I'm a clean freak. I'd want to deep clean the shower before and after I use it.
Buut I think it might be best to clean it, but not DEEP clean it. I dunno. I'd want to scrub the shit out of it.

WinstonsGirl · July 2013

I'd clean it out and leave him a note thanking him for the use. I don't know that you need to scrub off all the water buildup, but for sure clean it.

lc07 · July 2013

Thanks. To clarify, I have no problem putting in the work to clean it fully. I'm seriously really grateful to be able to use his house instead of having to stay in a hotel. I just don't want to offend him.

stantokm · July 2013

If this guy hates cleaning as much as I do, he might be a little embarrassed that it needed a lot of scrubbing, but that will be completely overwhelmed by how grateful he'll be that HE doesn't have to clean it. I'd be stoked to let you use my shower anytime you needed after that.

kellymiron · July 2013

Clean it. If it was a really clean bathroom and you used it for a week, you would still clean it after you used it. Don't worry about it.

I was on vacation once and a friend's car broke. I let her use my car while I was gone. My car was a WRECK. I mean- really messy. Not gross food messy, but lots of papers and junk and garbage on the floor and mud in the carpets. I was really busy, working overtime the 2 weeks before I went on vacation and it got out of hand. I apologized for my car, because if I had been home I would have cleaned it for her. When I returned, she had cleaned it very well, both outside and inside. I was very grateful, because I hate cleaning, especially my car.

misssunshine17 · July 2013

I think it's fine to clean it. Maybe not crazy sparkling clean, but a good scrub.

aRachel21 · July 2013

I would clean it to show you are appreciative, and so he doesn't feel like he should clean up after you.

On a side note: your landlord should have put a claim into his homeowners insurance, and should be paying for you to stay at a hotel while the work is being done. I think it's unacceptable for him to make you stay at a home with no toilet and shower!

rel1988 · July 2013

If I were in his position I would be focused more on how grateful I was for the clean bathroom vs being embarassed for it being dirty. I think a good cleaning would be a great thank you!

Redbride801 · July 2013

Clean it AND bake him cookies/brownies or wine/beer. I hope your plumbing situation gets better soon!

harper0813 · July 2013

fyrefly76 said:

Redbride801 said:

Clean it AND bake him cookies/brownies or wine/beer. I hope your plumbing situation gets better soon!

YES! How awesome would it be to come home to a sparkly bathroom AND a six pack of beer with a thank you note chilling in the fridge?

Completely agree with you two - a clean bathroom and alcohol would be a fantastic thank-you.

ashleyep · July 2013

He's a guy, so it might be different, but if I found out someone scrubbed my bathroom I would be pretty embarrassed. If my fiance was still living on his own, I'm sure he wouldn't care, but when my bathroom gets dirty I always have that guilty feeling where I know I really need to clean it.

Part of me would be pumped that I didn't have to do it now, but part of me would think I was being judged.

I guess as long as you're not on hands and knees cleaning everything it's okay.

winelover123 · July 2013

Redbride801 said:

Clean it AND bake him cookies/brownies or wine/beer. I hope your plumbing situation gets better soon!

This is an awesome idea. Definitely clean it - I was taught to always leave something in better condition than you found it, so I would clean it too. It would be a nice surprise for him to come home to a clean bathroom and booze with a thank you note.

KeptInStitches · July 2013

Scrub away at the bathroom - I'd be embarrassed briefly but then really super-grateful if I were in his shoes.

lc07 · July 2013

Thanks everyone! I will thoroughly clean, leave a note and a gift of appreciation. Sounds like an excellent plan. Thanks for helping me feel better about it.

To the PP who said our landlord should have put us in a hotel we do know that we could have requested/required that. There are a lot of things that played into our decision not to ask for that. We're month to month and LOVE the house we're in. So she could have always terminated our lease and then worked on it and probably easily got another renter in here quickly and for more money (we've lived here for almost 4 years without a rent increase). We like our landlord a lot too and wanted to be as accommodating as possible. We knew we had bathroom options close to home - we have another neighbor whom we are closer to who offered that we could use his house, too, although he's home so that felt like an inconvenience to him. I also work from home and have a lot of equipment related to work and we have a cat and it felt like it would have been more of a hassle to move out for a week and a half than to stay. I'm also not comfortable with random contractors in our house while no one is home so I'm much more comfortable with the situation we're in.

rkbo · July 2013

@lc07 you can come use my bathroom anytime if you clean it and leave me beer! hahaha clearly I have no shame!

itzMS · July 2013

It would gross me out to clean someone else's "bathroom germs"...so I give you credit on that one.

I'd pay a maid service to do it...but that's just me.

NWR - Cleaning Our Neighbor's Bathroom?

Re: NWR - Cleaning Our Neighbor's Bathroom?

@lc07 you can come use my bathroom anytime if you clean it and leave me beer! hahaha clearly I have no shame!

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