A rental home’s garage contributes a huge amount to the home’s appeal. But even well-meaning tenants who want to keep the appeal could still be inadvertently damaging a rental home’s garage. Damage to garage interiors, garage doors, windows, and other elements do occur, and misuse or neglect isn’t always the cause.
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 Raleigh 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. A nice garage door improves 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 none of these elements should be neglected. All of them should be properly maintained to keep them working well. If one component of the garage fails, the whole thing could turn into an obstacle instead of an advantage.
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. There are multiple ways a tenant could damage a garage door accidentally. They may not know the basic maintenance tasks that need to be performed and end up not doing any maintenance at all. They may also clean the door but use 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 attempts to clean a garage door with the wrong tools, they may cause 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.
Beyond the looks, a garage door also needs a functional opener, springs, hinges, and rollers to be able to close and open 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 very easy maintenance task can profoundly extend the useful life of a garage door.
The windows, floor, and cabinets in a garage are generally the parts that experience unintentional damage. Many garages have oil stains on concrete floors that come from a leaking car engine. These are very difficult to remove. Exhaust fumes, dirt, and other substances can collect 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.
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 used so that cleaning it would solve the problem and not make it bigger. 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 avoided, it would be better for a tenant to possess the correct information and also have a significant amount of oversight. This way, the rental home’s garage is sure to be kept in great 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 Raleigh, we aid the property owners in educating their tenants on the proper care and upkeep of their rental homes in Raleigh and conduct regular checks to ensure that such tasks are being done. The property management professionals in our team can help safeguard your valuable investment from 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 919-481-0008.
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