Walls – Hanging up large whiteboard in rental property

You can find home inspection checklists online (e.g. http://www.clta.titlewizard.com/learning_center/documents/HomeInspectionCklist.pdf), but these are written for home buyers.

As a renter, I wouldn't accept a lease that holds you responsible for damage that you didn't create, and I also wouldn't accept a lease that doesn't exclude normal wear and tear. In this market, there's no reason to deal with anyone that expects you to deal with these things. If a toilet isn't working or the wiring is bad, it's the landlord's responsibility to fix.

The things I would lookout for are the obvious: are there spots in the carpeting or damage to the walls from the last tenant that haven't been repaired. It is a good idea to make sure the appliances and utilities are all in good running condition, but more because that indicates how well the landlord maintains the property and gives you some idea of how much they will take care of things once you are renting. Know your responsibilities with the landscaping in advance. In my neighborhood, the rentals are typically the ones with small jungles growing in the backyard.

If you're paying for the utilities, look for energy saving devices, including an electronic thermostat that can adjust on a schedule when you're at work. For water, low flow toilets and shower heads will save you money.

For safety, look for deadbolts on the doors and locks on the windows (and check the crime stats for the neighborhood). Make sure there are smoke detectors in the bedrooms and GFCI outlets near any source of water.

The best bet is to find a stud and use a heavy nail or screw.

If that isn't an option for the print's sake, I've had luck in such walls with toggle bolts before. It can be hit or miss with screws and even mollies and screws in tandem because behind the plaster and cement are 3/8" thick by 1 3/8" wide strips of wood spaced 3/8" apart called lath, which is what the gray cement (the "scratch" coat) squishes into when wet and locks into once dry. You'll drill a hole and you might hit wood (lath), or you might hit air, and which you hit will affect a fasteners ability to hold in the hole, and it's often a crap shoot on the first hole or two going in blind. A toggle bolt works well in these walls because the "wings" of the bolt have a good chance of catching the back of at least one strip of lath and hopefully more, no matter where a hole is drilled, giving it a good purchase and a high chance of success on the first try.

Don't even bother with nails in these walls unless your certain you're driving one into a stud. You're liable to break loose burgs of cement and plaster, and yes, bend nails, because the elasticity and memory of the wall across open space is high and the energy of your hammer blow will be mostly directed back at you and the nail itself.

You'll want to use masonry drill bits for any drilling in these walls. The cement beneath the skim coat of plaster will chew up any others almost immediately.