Effort and regular maintenance are required when caring for a rental home. A good quality tenant understands this and will help property owners keep their Calabasas rental homes clean, maintained, and in good repair. But sometimes, even tenants with good intentions can unintentionally 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, the damage is caused by accidents or as the result of a tenant’s poor decision. Knowledge of the usual ways a rental home’s interior surfaces can sustain inadvertent damage can greatly help property owners keep their tenants informed and maintain the good condition of their rental homes.
When surface damage goes beyond basic wear and tear, tenant negligence is usually the source. Countertops, floors, and even sinks and bathtubs are constantly being used yet they hold up well for many years. The issue is that many tenants don’t know how these surfaces should be cared for or protected.
As an illustration, kitchen and bathroom countertops can typically take daily cleanings, food preparation activities, and a few spills. They can go through all that and still be in good condition. Yet, countertops don’t fair well when cleaned with harsh cleaning products, especially those containing bleach or ammonia. The kind of cleaning product should be chosen depending on the type of countertops you have in your rental home.
Countertops can be damaged in many ways, such as placing too much weight on a countertop. When there’s an unusually heavy appliance or even a person standing on it, the extreme weight could take a toll 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 damage the surface as well. They could create small indentations that can turn into larger problems down the road.
Floors are another interior surface that tenants often accidentally damage. There are several things that could stay hidden even under a watchful tenant’s radar. There may be small leaks under a refrigerator or a drip under the cabinet from a sink water supply line, and these tiny things, given time, could produce permanent water damage in a kitchen floor.
Moving furniture is one of the biggest culprits of unintentional floor damage. Dragging things, especially heavy items, across a laminate or wood floor can cause scratches, gouging, and tears. This is generally the way many 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. Similar to 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. Just like tile, when you put something that is too heavy in a bathtub, it can cause cracks. Using a bathtub for things it was not designed for can result in a variety of problems. These problems can range from unfixable scratches in a solid-surface unit to rust or coloring dye stains.
The most beneficial way to help tenants avoid unintentionally damaging your rental home’s interior surfaces is through information. Show them how to properly clean countertops, move heavy furniture, and so on. This education can greatly help in preventing expensive repairs. At Real Property Management West San Fernando Valley, we communicate with both tenants and property owners to make sure that everyone involved would care for the rental home with more than a desire to help, but with genuine practical knowledge too.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
