A rental home’s garage provides a lot of appeal to a home. However, some well-intentioned tenants, who just want to preserve the appeal of the home, can be damaging a rental home’s garage without knowing it. Damage to garage interiors, garage doors, windows, and other elements are known to occur, and misuse and neglect aren’t always why it happens.
Sometimes a tenant does things to help out but they just don’t know the proper 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 Kirkland 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 excellent garage door increases the home’s curb appeal, while the interior, windows, cabinets, and even the garage door opener can have a big impact on a tenant’s satisfaction. But all of these elements must go through regular proper maintenance to keep them working well. If one component is damaged, it would affect everything else, making the entire garage a problem instead of a benefit.
The garage door needs regular cleaning and maintenance since it’s the most visible exterior element. It is important that it stays working properly and looking nice. 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, not every garage door is made from the same materials. Some are painted, while others are vinyl or metal. If a tenant attempts to clean a garage door with the wrong tools, they may be causing extensive damage to the door instead. There are a few people that think it’s a good idea to power spray a painted door clean. 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 may rust, wear out, or break over time and through heavy use. In fact, when a garage door opens and closes and it produces a loud noise, that may mean 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. Some garages have stains from a leaking car engine. Oil stains on concrete floors are notoriously difficult to clean. Exhaust fumes, dirt, and other substances can heap up 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. Just like the garage door, regular cleaning and maintenance can easily prevent all these issues. What makes it difficult is that the tenant may not know how to do it correctly.
To illustrate, the methods used to clean up motor oil stains are entirely different from the methods used for other substances. The correct tools and cleaning materials should be used or else when cleaning is attempted, the problem may get much 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. To avoid continued wear and further damage, it would be good for a tenant to have the right information with them and also posses a good amount of oversight. Doing this ensures that the rental home’s garage will be kept in good condition.
Keeping track of a tenant’s cleaning and maintenance record can be time-consuming and difficult for property owners. That is why a professional property management company is needed, and choosing to have one is a good decision.
At Real Property Management Eclipse, one of our services is to help property owners prepare their tenants on the proper care and upkeep of their rental homes in Kirkland and conduct regular checks to ensure that such tasks are being done. Our team of property management professionals can help guard your valuable investment against unintentional damage and prevent expensive and unnecessary repairs. If you want to know more about what we can do to serve you, don’t hesitate to contact us online or call us at 425-209-0252.
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