4 Tips for Maintaining the Pipes in Your Rental Unit

12/14/2020 (Permalink)

Plumbing issues in a Miami, FL home

Save Your Units From Water Damage

Plumbing is something you should be familiar with if you own properties for rent. The key is to maintain them. Whether it is tenants who decide to flush diapers down the toilet or those polybutylene pipes you wish weren't in that one home, the best thing you can do for your rental home is to give your plumbing proper maintenance. Make sure you know what basic things you should be doing and how to tell when it is time to call a professional remediation company.

1. Have a Plumbing Lease Clause
The first key to ensuring your plumbing's safety is to have a plumbing lease clause. This limits your responsibility for plumbing maintenance in kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms to only tasks beyond your tenant's control, such as replacing polybutylene pipes. The basic maintenance your tenants should perform includes limiting what they put in their garbage disposal, cleaning the laundry filters regularly, removing hair from sink and shower drains, and refraining from flushing anything extra down the toilet.

2. Provide a Plunger
To encourage your tenants to solve any plumbing issues themselves, you should give them plungers. There are two types you should supply them with. A dome plunger is for kitchen tasks; a bell plunger is for bathroom issues. It is important to give them two plungers for hygiene and ease of use.

3. Provide a Snake
When a plunger isn't working, a snake often can. Sink snakes are necessary for any unit. They are great for removing clogs of hair and can also be used for clogs in showers.

4. Call a Professional
No matter how good your tenants are about maintenance, fragile polybutylene pipes could still be in danger of bursting. When this happens, there is only so much you can do. Any major problems to the plumbing in your unit in Miami, FL, should be handled by a professional plumber.
There are several steps you can take to save your units from water damage due to plumbing issues. Encouraging your tenants to perform their own maintenance and providing support when needed helps everyone.