Maintaining Floors in Rental Properties
20/09/2017
Renting a property out is never easy, there will always be a sense of worry in the back of your mind about whether your property will be looked after properly, but these are the risks that must be taken. Of course there are some things in your property that are bound to take a bit of a beating, your floor being one of them. So we are faced with a dilemma, do you install hardwearing, high-quality floors or do you opt for something safer but that may need replacing more frequently?
Lets start with the measures that you can put in place to prevent any damage to the flooring in your property, some of them may be simpler than you think.
The first thing that you can do to encourage your tenants not to carry dirt through the house is to place a doormat at the entry. This should hopefully deter your tenants from wearing their shoes throughout the house, which surprisingly can cause significant damage. Doormats are a lot cheaper than having to fork out for your flooring to be repaired so buy plenty in advance and replace when necessary.
If you are letting a furnished property out then it is important to consider protecting your floors from the furniture itself. Things like tables, chairs and other furniture can actually damage your floor by scratching and denting it. In order to prevent this it may be worth purchasing some velvet patches or protective caps to place on the legs of the furniture which simply fit on and prevent any damage to the floor. But how can you ensure that your tenants will carry this out too? Well, one way to do it is to specify in the tenancy agreement that if the tenants purchase any furniture it should have protective coverings. The same applies for cleaning products, if there are any certain ones that can’t be used on the floor you should also specify this in the tenancy agreement too.
Now for a more sensitive issue; pets. It’s no secret that cats and dogs, as well as other furry friends, can cause a bit of a mess around the home, especially if there’s a high-quality floor involved. Pet claws aren’t the most interior friendly thing to have around the home and although a lot of floors are really durable these days they can still cause scratches and dents. If you really want to protect your floor then one of the best ways to do so is to say no to pets in your property, many landlords do this and many landlords allow pets, it really is a case of each to their own.
As mentioned above, it may be that you are letting out a fully furnished property, if this is the case then it may be worth your while to move the furniture around the rooms in between tenancies. This process is more relevant for homes which have linoleum or vinyl floors as they tend to be damaged easier by longstanding furniture causing dents. Another problem may be if an area of the floor is cut off by furniture then the surrounding floor will be exposed to sunlight, this may cause discolouration so it’s important to shuffle the furniture around every so often in order to prevent this.
Tenancy agreements, as mentioned previously, are a legal requirement when renting out a property and they’re useful when it comes to including personal things you’d like the tenants to abide by. Whilst this is useful it also pays to try and build a good relationship with your tenants, encourage them to discuss things with you regarding the property and that way if you have any issues or requests you can reach out to them in a friendly manner! Whilst it is important to remain professional, it pays to be nice sometimes.
So there you have it, just a few simple tips to help keep your floors in pristine condition while renting out your property. If you have any other suggestions be sure to let us know.
