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 are known to happen, and it’s not always the result of misuse or neglect.
There are times that a tenant means well but they just don’t know the correct method of cleaning and maintaining a rental home’s garage. When that is the case, expensive and unnecessary repairs are often the result. By giving your Mt. Vernon 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 every one of these should be kept in good condition, and that means they should be maintained properly. If one component is damaged, it would affect everything else, making the entire garage a problem 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 inadvertently damage a garage door in various ways, from not knowing what basic maintenance tasks are needed, to attempting to do these very tasks while using the wrong tools or cleaning products. For example, not every garage door is made from the same 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 can also damage a door’s exterior finish, causing far more harm than good.
Beyond the looks, a garage door also needs functional opener, springs, hinges, and rollers to be able to close and open properly. These parts can rust, wear out, or break over time and through heavy use. In fact, if a garage door produces a lot of noise when it opens or closes, it may be a sign that the door’s hardware is in trouble and needs to be lubricated. This task to maintain the garage door is so simple yet it can considerably extend its useful life.
The windows, floor, and cabinets in a garage are also the usual parts that get unintentional damage. A leaking car engine could be a problem since oil stains on concrete floors aren’t easy to deal with. 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. Comparable to the garage door, routine cleaning and maintenance can easily stop all these issues from happening. What makes it a real problem is that the tenant may not know the correct way of doing it.
As a case in point, if you have motor oil stains, you have to clean it using a process that is totally different from cleaning 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. That is why hiring a professional property management company is a really smart option.
At Real Property Management Results, we help property owners teach their tenants on the proper care and upkeep of their rental homes in Mt. Vernon and conduct regular checks to ensure that such tasks are being done. Our property management professionals can help defend your valuable investment from unintentional damage and prevent expensive and unnecessary repairs. Feel free to contact us online or by phone at 812-461-1676. We’ll be glad to answer any of your questions.
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