Spring Maintenance Tips

 Spring is here and that means it’s time to take your foundation vent plugs out and fire up the sprinkler systems. I have written about this before, but in case you forgot, by taking out the vent plugs you will be encouraging bugs to leave your house. Bugs like dark places with no breeze, so let’s give them their marching orders and not have to pay a pest guy to come and spray for bugs.

 Now let’s talk about sprinklers. Whether you turn them on yourself or you hire someone to do it, make darn sure there are no leaks. Even if you blow your sprinklers out every winter, sometimes a little water can accumulate (mostly at the elbow directly below a sprinkler head) and that’s all it will take for it to freeze and break. Usually this is a very easy fix - most of the time it’s a threaded fitting not needing any messy glue. With the sandy soil we have here in Central Oregon a small leak in a sprinkler pipe can drip and disappear into the ground practically all summer without making much of a mud hole. Most places now have water meters and high water rates to go along with them, making a small leak turn into some real dollars.

 There are lots of little money saving tips if we will just watch for them. In these economic times, a dime here and there will add up. One thing that I have forgotten in the past is to shut off garbage service when a tenant moves out. My wife and I always pay for garbage service at our rentals, and in those areas where we have four or five units sometimes it’s easy to forget to cancel that one garbage can when the unit goes vacant. I kick myself when I do this because it costs me money!

 Also be mindful of ways to help your tenants save some money. Fix those water leaks and leaking toilets, make sure vent plugs are installed in the fall and taken out in the spring, install weather stripping, caulking, and insulation where practical. Why should we care if our tenants save money? Because, as I have said before, every dollar that your tenant spends or wastes is one less dollar that can go towards being able to pay rent and stay in your unit. And guess what? These maintenance tips also work around our own households!

  I hope this helps.

 See You Next Month!

Terry Luelling