Construction & Contractors Blog
If you have a rental property, you might notice that the same plumbing issues come up again and again with your tenants. If you are getting frustrated with common plumbing interruptions, try to minimize this damage for your busy schedule. Here are four tips to help your renters have better luck with standard plumbing issues.
1. Empower Your Renters
If you can make it easier for your renters to solve and prevent plumbing issues on their own, you won't need to have emergency plumbing work done nearly as much. Having plungers in all bathrooms when renters move in is a great way keep tenants from running into clogged toilets with no way to resolve problems themselves. Preventative measures upfront can be cheaper than calling in a plumber later on.
2. Have a Plumber On Call
If you have a plumber that you always use, you can take yourself out of the equation and have your renters call directly if they have problems. Your plumber can bill you direct if you trust they will do what is needed or consult you on bigger issues first. If you are out of town and just relaying issues to a plumber, you don't need to be the middleman. If you are the person that your renters call when there are issues, you might be able to entrust a plumber to be the one to take emergency calls on evenings and weekends.
3. Schedule Ongoing Maintenance
If you can have rental units checked either yearly or in-between tenants, a plumber can oftentimes catch small problems that might get out of control if left unfixed. This can be leaky pipes, slow flushing toilets, or clogged shower drains. Make sure that you have units looked at on an ongoing basis to help maintain plumbing and to keep emergency problems at bay.
4. Start With Helpful Hints
Don't just assume that your renters will understand the background of your specific plumbing situation. Leave a starter list of do's and dont's when it comes to what can be flushed, what can go down a garbage disposal, and how to keep drains from clogging. Your renters will understand their home's limitations better and will be less likely to abuse your plumbing.
Having rental properties can be stressful, but if you can keep plumbing problems at a minimum this will help with landlord woes. Try to take preventative measures when you can, and keep communication open with your renters. Have a trusted plumber service on your speed dial so you don't end up with emergencies without a plumber available.
Share28 September 2015
My name is Debbie Greenberg. I’m a single woman who owns her home, and like most homeowners I dread home repairs. I’m not very handy with do-it-yourself projects around the house. I can do a few minor repairs when necessary, but for the most part I have to call in a professional. Last year I had a leak in my roof. When it rained, water would leak into my kitchen. What appeared to be a simple fix turned out to be anything but simple. It took over four months to finally identify the problem, and double the money I was initially quoted to fix it. The problem ended up being that the flat part of my roof didn't have shingles, but a sheeting material. I learned a bit about home roofs along the way, and that is what I want to share with you.
