Student rental repairs in Tuscaloosa
Wall and door damage put right before the keys go back — for students on the way out, and for the parents who own the place.
Tuscaloosa has an unusual repair market and the reason is the calendar. Off-campus leases here are built around the academic year, so they do not end when a tenant feels like leaving. They nearly all end at once. source
Everybody moves out in the same two weeks
This is the single most useful thing on this page, and it is a scheduling problem rather than a repair one.
- The University of Alabama enrolled 42,360 students in fall 2025, and off-campus living is an expense a student typically takes on after their freshman year. Most of that number is renting somewhere in this city. source source
- Leases are built around the academic year and typically run twelve months, with move-in around August 1 and the actual arrival in mid-August. Which means the move-OUT is the end of July, across the whole market, at the same time. source
- Rent is usually spread over 11 or 11.5 months even on a twelve-month lease, so the last month often feels paid-up when it is not. Worth checking before you assume the tenancy has ended. source
- Book the work in June, not late July. That is ours, not a citation: every drywall and paint crew in Tuscaloosa is spoken for in the last two weeks of July, and a repair that takes two days in June takes two weeks to get scheduled in August.
What actually gets charged for
The deductions we see most, in roughly the order they show up on an itemized list.
Anchors and TV mounts
A mounted television leaves four bolt holes in the drywall, and the patch has to be flush or the repaint shows it. This is the single most common one.
Doors
Handle holes punched through hollow-core doors, and frames that stopped latching. Both are repairs, not wear and tear.
Paint
An accent wall someone painted without asking, and scuffs along a hallway. Repainting a whole wall reads properly; a dab does not.
The trades are the same ones on the rest of this site — drywall and ceiling repair and interior painting. Send photos and we will tell you what is worth doing and what is not.
The deposit clock, in dates that matter to you
Alabama gives your landlord a fixed window, and a July move-out puts it in a specific place.
- A deposit may not exceed one month’s rent. The University says the same thing to students signing leases. source source
- Your landlord has 60 days from the end of the tenancy and handing back possession to refund it or send a written itemized list. End of July plus sixty days lands in late September — a long way into the next semester, which is why people forget to chase it. source
- Give the landlord a written forwarding address when you leave. It is the step everyone skips. source
- Get it in writing. The University’s own advice to students is blunt about this: a signed lease is legally binding and verbal agreements are not. source
The full move-out rules, including what happens if the landlord misses the deadline.
General guidance, current as of August 2026, not legal advice. We do the repairs; the deposit is between you and your landlord.
If you are the parent who owns it
A different job with the same deadline, and usually a harder one to run from out of state.
- You will not be in town. Send photos, or have the outgoing tenant send them, and you get a number without anybody flying in.
- The window is fixed and short. One tenancy ends in late July and the next starts in August. That is the whole turnaround, for everyone in the city at once.
- One quote for all of it. Patching, paint and a door are one job here rather than three trades to chase from another state.
- Photos when it is done. If nobody is local to look at it, that is the proof.
The part we do not do
A handover usually needs the place scrubbed as well as repaired, and that is not our trade. Carpets, ovens and the deep scrub at the end are A&A Cleaning Co, a separate company here in Tuscaloosa. The University keeps its own off-campus housing resources at offcampushousing@ua.edu and 205-348-0200 if you need something neither of us covers. source
Straight answers
When should I book repairs before moving out of my Tuscaloosa apartment?
Earlier than feels necessary. Off-campus leases here are built around the academic year and run to the end of July, so tens of thousands of tenancies end in the same two weeks and every trade in the city is booked in that window. June is not too early to get a number.
My landlord is keeping my deposit. How long do they have?
Sixty days from the end of the tenancy and handing back possession, and if they keep any of it they must give you a written itemized list inside that time. For a July move-out that puts the deadline in late September.
Is it worth repairing the wall myself?
Sometimes. A filled nail hole that still shows through the paint often gets charged anyway, because the deduction is for the repaint rather than the hole. Send a photo and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth paying anyone.
My parents own the condo. Can you deal with them instead?
Yes, and it is common. We can quote to whoever is paying, work between tenants, and send photos of the finished work if nobody is in town.
Tell us about the job
Tell us the address, when the lease ends, and send photos of anything that needs putting right.
Water or damage: we call you back within 2 hours, any day. Everything else: a real answer the same business day.
We are insured — general liability coverage, so damage we cause while working in your home is covered.
Office hours
- Mon-Fri
- 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Saturday
- 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM
- Sunday
- Closed
Send the form whenever suits you — outside those hours it lands in the same inbox and we pick it up when we open. Water or damage should not wait on the form: call, any day.
Would rather talk? Call (205) 723-3595 or send a text.