A rental home’s garage plays a big part in the total appeal of the home. But even tenants who want to preserve the appeal could still be damaging a rental home’s garage without realizing it. Damage to garage interiors, garage doors, windows, and other elements is not unheard of, and it’s not always because of misuse or neglect.
Sometimes, a tenant tries to help but simply doesn’t know the proper way to clean or maintain a rental home’s garage. When that is the case, expensive and unnecessary repairs are often the result. By giving your Conroe tenants the right information, you can do a lot to prevent unintentional damage and keep your valuable investment in good condition.
A garage is an important part of a quality single-family rental home. An attractive garage door boosts the home’s curb appeal, just as the interior, windows, cabinets, and even the garage door opener can have a big impact on a tenant’s satisfaction. But none of these are to be ignored, instead, they should be maintained correctly to keep them in good working condition. If an element of the garage is problematic, the whole thing could become a burden instead of a benefit.
Being the most visible exterior element, the garage door needs to be kept working properly and looking nice. This is why it needs to have regular cleaning and maintenance. A tenant could unwittingly damage a garage door in different ways, from failing to do basic maintenance tasks to cleaning using the wrong tools and cleaning products. For example, different garage doors are made from different materials. Some are painted, while others are vinyl or metal. If a tenant power sprays a painted door clean, that could end up causing extensive damage to the door. They may have wanted to help, but regardless of intention, cleaning a garage door with the wrong tools will always be a bad idea. Harsh household cleaners may also damage a door’s exterior finish, causing far more harm than good.
Going beyond appearances, a garage door also needs to have a functional opener, springs, hinges, and rollers for it to open and close properly. These components can rust, wear out, or break over time and through heavy use. In fact, when a garage door is noisy when it’s being operated, it is a sign that the door’s hardware is in trouble and needs to be lubricated. This simple maintenance task can greatly lengthen the useful life of a garage door.
The windows, floor, and cabinets in a garage are the parts that usually suffer from unintentional damage. A leaking car engine could drip oil stains on concrete floors that aren’t easy to remove. Exhaust fumes, dirt, and other substances can accumulate on windows and seriously compromise the tracks, locks, and glass. Cabinets may be crushed or broken by heavy storage items or even parking a vehicle too close. Similar to the garage door, all of these things can easily be prevented by making sure they are regularly cleaned and maintained. The problem is that a lot of tenants don’t know the proper way to do it.
As an illustration, motor oil stains are dealt with differently from other substances. The correct tools and cleaning materials must be applied or else the attempt to clean it may make things worse instead. Harsh chemicals or scrub brushes can scratch or damage windows and window tracks as well as cabinets, but regular household cleaners may not be enough to get the grime off either. So that continued wear and further damage would be prevented, it is best for a tenant to have all the right information and a good amount of oversight. This way, they can ensure that the rental home’s garage is kept in remarkable condition.
Keeping track of a tenant’s cleaning and maintenance record can be time-consuming and difficult for property owners. For this reason, getting a professional property management company to help is an intelligent decision.
At Real Property Management Republic, we help property owners teach their tenants on the proper care and upkeep of their rental homes in Conroe and conduct regular checks to ensure that such tasks are being done. Our team of property management professionals can help secure your valuable investment from unintentional damage and prevent expensive and unnecessary repairs. Please contact us online or call us at 281-362-5001 to learn more about how we can serve you.
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