If you’re looking for tenant tips to prevent maintenance, you’re in the right place! There’s nothing more frustrating than having something break in your rental home and having to wait for maintenance to come to fix it. While The Realty Medics strives to address your maintenance and repair needs quickly, you’ll still have a little wait time and inconvenience to your household life.
But what if we told you there were some easy home maintenance tips you could use to minimize or even prevent maintenance requests? Here are some practical tips and a few easy DIY fixes that solve your problem in minutes. This way, you don’t have to wait hours or days for our team or pay someone to address it.
Prevent Plumbing Disasters
Plumbing is one of the many utilities we take for granted… until it doesn’t work. One of the best ways to avoid plumbing issues is to avoid putting anything in the lines that doesn’t belong there. To make the most of these tenant tips to prevent maintenance, be mindful of what goes down your plumbing.
Toilets
What belongs in the toilet? Aside from the obvious, only toilet paper belongs in the toilet. Keep everything else out of the porcelain throne. Never flush feminine sanitary products, wet wipes, or your hopes and dreams. It doesn’t matter if the box says it’s flushable. They’re not. And it’s embarrassing (and gross) to have them fished out later.
Garbage Disposals
Not quite as funky as toilets, garbage disposals still have a dirty job to do. To make them work smoothly, only put ice, water, fruits, and veggies down there. Save the milk products and grease for the actual trash. And for the love of all things holy, don’t pour paint down the garbage disposal (it’s happened enough times that we had to say it).
Dishwashers
We’re guessing you want to avoid an overflowing dishwasher or eating off dishes coated with last week’s food. The best way to avoid this is to give your dishes a good rinsing before putting them in the dishwasher.
Water Softeners
Many Orlando rental properties have water softeners. If your rental has a water-softening unit, remember to add salt as required. If you’re unsure how to do this, use this video as a guide.
Air Conditioner Maintenance
There’s nothing worse than air conditioners not functioning properly in the Central Florida heat. To maximize your cool factor, make sure you change the HVAC filter every 30 days.
DIY Troubleshooting Tasks
Electrical Breakers
In most cases, apart from changing a light bulb, don’t mess with electrical work. However, sometimes the electrical problem is just a tripped breaker. Locate the breaker box in the house. Each breaker should be clearly marked for each room. Locate the breaker for the area with the issue. Flipping the breaker on and off can solve many problems.
Garbage Disposals
If your garbage disposal stops working, turn it off at the breaker and make sure there’s nothing in there that shouldn’t be (utensils, jewelry, and toy cars are common culprits). Once you’ve confirmed it’s clear, hit the reset button underneath the disposal.
Air Conditioner Issues
When an A/C shuts off, check the float switch. If water is backed up by condensation and bacteria, it will trigger the switch and shut the system off. You can use a wet/dry vac to get the water out and suction from the pipe outside the house. Pour a little bleach or vinegar down the A/C drain lines.
If the A/C is not cooling properly, DO NOT TURN IT TO “ON.” Turning it to ‘on’ will cause it to run constantly, likely leading to system leaks from the coils and handler. The one thing keeping it on will NOT do is make it any cooler in the house.
Call in the Professionals
If you’ve exhausted all the options to fix the problem yourself, remember these tenant tips to prevent maintenance and call in the professionals. Call your property manager, who may be able to walk you through additional options while on the phone. If that still doesn’t work, submit a maintenance request through the Tenant Portal. Each tenant has their own link connected to their rental home.
For emergencies after hours, call 407-584-7186. Emergencies include water leaks, lack of running water, septic backup, or ceiling/roof leaks.
