Are Your North Hills Tenants Damaging Your Kitchen Without Knowing It?

Your tenants may unwittingly be damaging your rental home’s kitchen. A kitchen includes various elements, from the floors and countertops to the appliances and cabinets. Every one of these parts must be handled and maintained correctly, or accidental damage can happen.

Through misunderstanding or neglect, unintentional damage to the kitchen can end up costing the investment property owners a great deal to repair. However, when you understand how the damage happens, you can educate your tenants on proper kitchen maintenance. This will help keep your North Hills rental homes in good condition.

One of the reasons why a tenant will choose one rental home over another is an attractive kitchen. However, a kitchen can also experience a lot of unnecessary damage if it is not being properly maintained. Tenants may not know that there is a proper way to take care of a kitchen’s floor, countertops, or cabinets, unintentionally damaging these features in the process.

Keep in mind that wood or laminate floors can be scratched or gouged by heavy furniture, heavy foot traffic, and even pets. Tile floors normally outlast other kinds of floors, but grout can stain or become damaged by strong cleaners or even magic erasers or scrubbers and dropping heavy objects can crack or break tiles. Over a period of time, these sorts of hard wear may seem insignificant but it can build up to a kitchen floor that needs to be changed years before its expected life is over.

Countertops are another hard surface in the kitchen that can be damaged by a tenant accidentally. It wouldn’t matter if the tenant were really careful in every other aspect. Countertops can instantly become permanently stained or discolored by setting hot dishes and pans directly on the counter surface, as well as scored by knives from cutting food without a cutting board. A tenant may even believe that it is impossible for hard stone like granite to be damaged by heat, sharp objects, and harsh cleaners. But it is possible and it would result in some very expensive repairs.

Cabinets are another kitchen element that is often accidentally damaged by tenants. The damage that is most common for cabinets happens when a tenant tries to clean them. Many household cleaners will take the finish off wood cabinets, as will products like magic eraser sponges. Cabinets that have been stripped of their protective finish are apt to be further damaged by heat, steam, and grime build-up, which will be more challenging to remove at each cleaning.

Though repairs for these parts can be expensive, few things bring about more issues than appliances that aren’t properly maintained. Refrigerators, dishwashers, and ranges need regular maintenance and proper use to keep functioning properly for many years. For example, the useful life of a dishwasher can be severely shortened if a tenant doesn’t know how to load it properly or uses too much soap. Dishwashers also must be cleaned several times a year by running an empty cycle with a dishwasher cleaner or a cup of vinegar, or risk clogged drains or blocked sprayers.

Utilizing the wrong cleaning products on an appliance is another typical cause of unintentional damage. Ovens, stovetops, and refrigerators can all be scratched or damaged by harsh chemicals or cleaning brushes, leading them to function defectively and look ugly. Cleaning is a critical part of standard appliance maintenance, but it must be done the right way in order to make sure that the appliance does not stop working.

Proper kitchen maintenance is an important subject to educate your tenants in. It’s vital knowledge to have when managing a quality rental home, but it can be difficult to teach this to your tenants without damaging the landlord-tenant relationship. This is the field of expertise where the experts at Real Property Management West San Fernando Valley can assist you. We can assist you by being responsible for disclosing critical information to your tenants and yet continue to encourage good relations.

We can also see to it that your tenants are executing the needed upkeep chores in the kitchen annually, carrying out the daily upkeep of your North Hills rental home a straightforward and simple process. Don’t hesitate to contact us online or give us a ring at 818-727-0100 to know more about what we can do for you.

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