Your tenants may be ruining your rental home’s kitchen without even knowing. 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 be very costly for investment property owners to fix. However, when you understand how the damage happens, you can educate your tenants on proper kitchen maintenance. This will help keep your Breezy Point rental homes in good condition.
For some tenants, one of the biggest deciding factors when choosing a rental home is an attractive kitchen. But a kitchen can also go through a lot of unnecessary damage if it is not being properly maintained. Tenants may be unaware of how 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 are more durable and usually outlast other types 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. This wear and tear might begin as a little amount, yet over the years it will result in a kitchen floor that must be removed and a new one installed 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 immediately 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 most usual type of damage to cabinets arises when a tenant attempts 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.
While repairs are expensive when one of these elements are damaged, few things generate more problems than badly maintained appliances. 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.
Putting the wrong cleaning products on an appliance is also usually a 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 crucial part of appliance maintenance, but it must be properly done so that the appliance does not break down and will not need to be replaced right away.
Proper kitchen maintenance is an important topic for your tenants to know– it is essential in managing a quality rental home. However, educating them is quite difficult as it may lead to damaging the landlord-tenant relationship. This is the area of discipline where the pros at Real Property Management Deluxe can be of service. We can assist you by being responsible for disclosing critical information to your tenants and yet continue to encourage good relations.
We can also aid you by guaranteeing that your tenants are completing the required service jobs in the kitchen every year, performing the daily upkeep of your Breezy Point rental home a trouble-free and easy as pie process. 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 218-454-7962.
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