Before a new tenant moves into an apartment, it’s not uncommon for a landlord to decide to repaint an apartment. This can make the apartment look fresh while providing the added benefit of making any future damage caused by the tenant more visible.
However, these paint jobs aren’t always done to the highest standard. As a result, noting the lazy and often comical ways landlords have gone about repainting apartments has become something of a trend online—with this style of paint job being dubbed the “landlord special.”
One user claimed that a landlord painted over a box of raisins left by a previous tenant. Another said their landlord painted over hair in the apartment. Some allegations are more serious; a few users on TikTok have alleged that their landlords simply painted over potential dangers like mold.
In response, some internet users have taken to repainting their own apartments, jokingly dubbing their own shotty jobs as “landlord specials.” One such user is TikToker Mels (@mixgurlmel), who showed their own repair to a hole in the wall in a video with over 975,000 views.
@mixgurlmel Pt2 Hit us up good prices #fyp #painting #onthisday ♬ original sound – Mels💕
In the video, one can see someone placing a piece of paper over a hole. The person then proceeds to paint over both the paper and the wall, leaving the hole less visible.
“Hit us up good prices,” Mels jokes in the caption.
Commenters were quick to share their own experiences with landlords’ substandard paint jobs.
“My landlord just had the maintenance paint over dust plus I think on my closet he painted over a spider,” claimed a user. “U can see the legs and eyes.”
“There was deep mold to the point no one could live in my old roommates room and they just painted over it TWICE,” added another.
“It be like that… my old apartment painted over a dead roach smh,” recalled a third.
A few even wondered if their own landlords had performed a similar trick to the one shown in the video.
“Yeap i can look at my walls and tell that’s what was done,” said a commenter.
“THATS WHY MY WALLS LOOK LIKE THAT LMFAO,” exclaimed a second.
The Daily Dot reached out to Mels via email.
