Helpful Advice For Landlords: Easy Ways To Reduce Risk Of Water Damage In Rental Units
As a landlord, there's little doubt that you've heard enough horror stories about tenants to make you leery about new tenants. Unless you are new to being a landlord, you may even have a few of your own tenant horror stories to tell. Even though there are horror stories about tenants, the average tenant will not cause intentional damage to the rental unit they live in. Most often, the damage is unintentional due to negligence or ignorance, particularly when it comes to water damage.
Regardless, it's up to you, as the landlord, to protect your investment. Obviously, you want to be careful when selecting tenants, but it's also a good idea to be proactive in helping your tenants avoid unintentionally causing water damage. Here are a few things to do.
Professional Drain Cleaning
Clogged and slow running drains can lead to extensive problems with the sewer drain system in the rental unit. A tenant may attempt to clear a clogged drain on their own and use the wrong chemicals or—worse—not notice a toilet overflowing from a clogged line in the drain system. Drains that are not entirely clogged could very well become clogged soon after a tenant moves in if the tenant has bad habits such as dumping coffee grounds and grease into the drain of the kitchen sink.
Solution: Hire a professional drain cleaning service to clear all drains before each new tenant moves in. Clearly state in the lease what the tenant is to avoid putting into the drain system.
Install Shower Doors
When properly used and closed, shower curtains can effectively prevent water from escaping the confines of a shower while someone is bathing and washing their hair. However, since the world is far from perfect, there's always a chance that water can escape the shower and cause a massive puddle on the bathroom floor that goes unnoticed until the tenant turns the shower off and steps out onto the floor. By the time a huge amount of water like this gets cleaned up, water has already started seeping through the floor.
Solution: Install shower doors. A shower door installation is an effective way to prevent the typical leaks that come from gaps in a shower curtain system. Shower doors can also help cut down on the amount of mildew growth in the bathroom. To further protect the flooring and the rental unit in the floor below, install waterproof flooring in the bathroom as well.
Contact a service, like Beach Glass & Window Company, for more help.
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