The Importance of Preventative Maintenance
Not everyone is a born handyman (or woman!), and hiring a professional contractor for preventative maintenance and repairs is often easier.
And hey, at least you can sleep at night without fear of causing even more damage than if we’d called somebody who knew what they were doing in the first place!
However, like all bad phone calls, the “There’s a problem at the property” calls tend to arrive outside working hours. If the roof leaks in the middle of the night, chances are you cannot reach a contractor.
As intimidating as they seem, we must prepare for the worst and learn the basics. If you are in the rental or property management business, things get trickier because the state and the look of your assets are your brand as a landlord or property manager.
Apart from that, landlords are legally required to maintain health and safety standards in their properties — A.K.A. implied warranty of habitability. One of the responsibilities is ensuring all major systems function properly.
On the brighter side, regularly performing maintenance tasks fulfills these obligations and helps build relationships with reliable contractors. These connections can come in handy during emergencies.
General Preventive Maintenance Checklist For Rental Properties
In most cases, the preventive maintenance required varies depending on the type and location of the rental property. Still, generally, a typical preventive maintenance checklist should include many of the following.
| Checklist Item | Action Required |
| Pest Control | Inspect for and address any pest issues |
| Water Damage | Check for leaks and signs of water damage |
| Bathroom Maintenance | Inspect caulk and grout; add hair catchers to drains |
| Roof and Gutters | Inspect roof for damage; clean gutters |
| Interior Repairs | Patch cracks in ceiling or drywall |
| HVAC Maintenance | Replace air filters every 3 months |
| Water Heater | Flush twice a year |
| Safety Devices | Check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors |
| Lease Compliance | Verify tenant is following lease agreement |
Without further ado, let’s discuss the most crucial preventative maintenance jobs to never forget about. They can save you thousands in preventing larger property problems!
Plumbing Part I: The Kitchen Drain
What you can’t see won’t hurt you, right?
Well, not exactly. Fixtures, fittings, and the rest of plumbing terminology are enough to give you a headache and pretend pipes do not exist and water just magically materializes when you turn on the faucet.
The most common problem of the pipes? Cloggage.
This happens for a multitude of reasons, the main one being fats and oils dumped down the drains. If you follow this advice and still accidentally spill fats or oils, quickly turn on the faucet to hot water and pour dishwashing liquid. Combining heat and fat-cutting detergent will help dissolve the fats and oils enough to exit your property’s portion of the pipes.
Since this preventative maintenance rests on the tenants’ behavior, make sure your lease contract includes a clause requiring tenants to occasionally flush the kitchen drain with hot water and detergent!
Plumbing Part II: The Shower Drain
In bathrooms, the shower drain is most likely to get clogged up due to hair.
Hair strainers are the perfect solution to this problem. With them, the renters can remove any hair that fell down while taking a shower.
Which, of course, also means a lease contract clause requiring your renters to keep the hair strainer clean! Consider a lease clause requiring them to empty the hair strainer weekly.
While we’re in the bathroom, the shower head is also prone to issues. Check it at least once a week for cracks and damages to improve its longevity. If it leaks, try thread tape. Simply unscrew the showerhead, wrap the tape clockwise, and re-attach the head. If it is clogged, put it in a bowl of warm water and vinegar for an hour and clean it with a small brush afterward.
Beyond the obvious leaks and clogs, neglecting your property’s plumbing can have some unusual consequences. One tenant found that what he thought was a typical clogging issue was, in fact, caused by snakes.
And not the plumber’s snake apparatus, either. Nearly twenty live snakes slithered out of the ceiling due to a small crack in the pipe! Yikes! The crack was large enough for a small snake to fit in.
Tenants routinely break their lease contracts over less. Keep your property’s plumbing humming at peak performance with simple lease clauses and regular inspections!
