Effort and regular maintenance are needed in caring for a rental home. A good quality tenant appreciates this and will do their best to help property owners keep their Boerne rental homes clean, maintained, and in good repair. But there will be occasions where well-intentioned tenants will accidentally damage a home’s interior surfaces.
Sometimes unintentional damage comes about because a tenant simply does not know that what they’re doing could cause harm. Other times, damage to property is because of accidents or as the result of a tenant’s poor decision. Property owners would greatly benefit if they knew the common ways a rental home’s interior surfaces can sustain inadvertent damage. Knowing this would aid them in keeping their tenants informed and their rental homes in excellent condition.
When surface damage goes beyond basic wear and tear, tenant negligence is usually the source. Countertops, floors, and even sinks and bathtubs are usually very durable that they can go through constant heavy use for many years. However, many tenants aren’t aware of the proper ways to take care of these surfaces or how to protect them.
To illustrate, kitchen and bathroom countertops can typically handle daily cleanings, food preparation activities, and a few spills with no issue. But countertops can be tarnished by harsh cleaning products, particularly those containing bleach or ammonia. The type of cleaning product should be picked based on the variety of countertops that are in your rental home.
Countertops can be damaged in other ways, such as placing too much weight on a countertop. They could be damaged when there is an unusually heavy appliance or even a person standing on it. Some countertops may be damaged by placing hot pans or appliances on them, such as a toaster oven or a slow cooker.
Even a curling iron can cause burn marks on a bathroom countertop and can be difficult to remove. Cutting and chopping directly on a countertop can create small indentations that damage the surface, and these indentations could turn into greater problems down the road.
Floors are another interior surface that tenants often accidentally damage. There are a lot of things that could go unnoticed even under a watchful tenant’s radar. Small leaks under a refrigerator or a drip under the cabinet from a sink water supply line could go on unnoticed, and these could, over time, create permanent water damage in a kitchen floor.
Moving furniture is one of the biggest culprits of unintentional floor damage. Moving heavy items across a laminate or wood floor can cause scratches, gouging, and tears. This is usually the way most carpets get torn. Putting heavy furniture in the wrong spot can crack or chip tile floors, also dropping heavy items, such as exercise weights or even books. Just like countertops, cleaning with the wrong cleaning products can permanently damage a floor, stripping off finishes and creating unsightly stains or bleach spots.
Bathtubs can also sustain accidental damage from harsh cleaning products. On the flip side, a usual mistake is not cleaning often enough. When you don’t clean a surface, you allow mineral deposits from tap water to build up and, eventually, they will be almost impossible to remove, or worse, allow mildew to form. The same with tile, you shouldn’t place anything too heavy in a bathtub as it can cause cracks. The bathtub should be used for what it was made for or else a whole variety of problems may come up, from unfixable scratches in a solid-surface unit to rust or coloring dye stains.
The best method to help tenants avoid unintentionally damaging your rental home’s interior surfaces is by informing them. Teach them to understand how to properly clean countertops, move heavy furniture, and so on. Doing this can greatly help prevent expensive repairs. At Real Property Management Alamo, we serve with both tenants and property owners to make sure that all parties care for the rental home with more than just helpful intentions, but with real practical knowledge as well.
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