I've been on both sides. Landlord Diplomacy, that best encapsulates a whole lot of fuzzy middle ground and painstaking effort to deal will Rental livability issues. I wholeheartedly think your approach would be correct should we tackle the problem ourselves in a civil manner. Be proactive and network, be decisive, give the Landlord clear notice of our intention should he not address the issue by a certain time frame, be open to his recommended hardware supplier, keep and show the receipts along with the old parts that were replaced as necessary.

Who knows, your Landlord may ask you to be his Handyman. Be a Boss Girl!
!LADY