Periodically replacing the carpet in your Shoreline rental is crucial, though few property owners like doing it. Have you contemplated removing the carpet from your rental property once and for all? Increasingly, rental property owners are opting for hard-surface flooring over wall-to-wall carpeting. If this notion seems too radical, reflect on some reasons why eliminating the carpet can benefit landlords and tenants.
Carpets may harbor dirt and odor
One of the hardest things about having carpet in a rental home is ensuring it stays clean. Despite professional cleaning between tenants, they may not maintain the carpets themselves during their stay. When tenants stay for several years, those carpets might accumulate dirt and grime for years.
Carpet fibers are well known for trapping bad odors, particularly when not cleaned regularly and thoroughly. Even when tenants clean the carpet, they probably want to avoid the expense of hiring someone or the time to do it themselves.
Conversely, hard-surface floors like laminate or tile are easy to clean. Such flooring can be scrubbed to shine in minutes and as often as tenants desire, preventing unpleasant stains or odors. Unlike carpet, hard-surface flooring is significantly more sanitary for children and people with respiratory or health issues.
Avoid soaked carpets in case of a flood
Another reason to abandon carpets is the hassle of cleaning them after water leaks and floods. Even a minor plumbing issue can cause major flooding in a rental, and wet carpets can become a significant problem.
Soaked carpets must be removed, and the subflooring, pad, and carpet must be dried immediately and thoroughly to avoid mold growth. If the carpet cannot be dried, it needs to be replaced. If a flooding situation is not handled promptly and correctly, you could endanger your residents’ health and face severe liability.
Most hard-surface flooring, except for natural hardwood, is much easier to manage in a flooding situation. Properly installed laminate and vinyl are very water-resistant and can be dried out efficiently. This means avoiding expensive restoration services or floor replacement, just some focused clean-up.
Hardwood floors have a longer lifespan
It’s well known that carpets need to be replaced every five years. Some landlords try to stretch this to seven years or longer—generally to their disadvantage. Most tenants are not fond of living with old, worn, or stained carpets. If the carpet is not replaced regularly, tenants may consider moving out.
Old carpets look unattractive and can be dangerous. When carpets age, tacks can emerge and harm people walking on them. Cheap carpet, specifically, doesn’t hold up for more than a few years in rental properties.
In contrast, hard-surface flooring has a much longer lifespan. Though there are ways a tenant could damage a hard-surface floor, most tile or laminate flooring lasts ten to twenty years or more. Laminate flooring costs roughly the same as carpet but doesn’t need to be replaced as often, making it a better choice for rentals.
Ditch the outdated look of carpets
Ultimately, wall-to-wall carpeting can sometimes give a rental property an old-fashioned look. In newer homes, carpet is often kept to a minimum, perhaps only in bedrooms or not at all.
For a modern look, consider replacing the carpet in the main living areas with attractive laminate or tile flooring. Unlike carpet, which tenants can’t change, hard-surface flooring allows tenants to add rugs or décor to customize the space while maintaining cleanliness and durability.
Modern laminate tile is available in various sizes, colors, and patterns, including wood-look tiles that can upgrade your rental without the cost and hassle of natural hardwood.
Learn about the benefits of hard-surface flooring for rental properties. Contact Real Property Management Eclipse at 425-209-0252 or online for cost-saving tips on creating attractive, durable interiors tenants will love. Our property managers in Shoreline specialize in cutting maintenance costs without sacrificing tenant appeal.
Originally Published on May 7, 2021
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