As autumn shows up and the leaves begin to fall, there are times that this can end up clogging the gutters. To make certain that your Radford rental property is in perfect condition every year, it is urgent to make cleaning gutters a consistent part of your property maintenance routine. But who should be responsible to clean them out? Granting that obliging your tenant to work on the task at hand may appear like a marvelous plan, there are important reasons why you should not have them perform regular gutter maintenance. Even though they know what they are doing, asking a tenant to clean your rental property’s gutters could lead to serious injury or property damage, both of which could result in expensive problems later.
Functioning gutters are an essential part of preventing expensive repairs. Overflowing gutters can elicit damaged foundations, roofs, and other structural elements of the property. They can also attract insects and other pests, including other health hazards like mold. When gutters are not washed correctly, they can create dreadful problems that you might not be able to catch until it’s too late.
Cleaning gutters is not a difficult task, but it does require time and insight on how to do it correctly. The right equipment is required, and proper safety procedures should be observed. Most gutters can be cleaned with a ladder, hose or sprayer, and a trowel or plastic scoop. Using these tools, you can easily remove large debris from the gutters to keep water flowing in the right direction. It’s remarkable to be aware that you should move debris away from the downspout and check vertical pieces of the gutter for blockages. Flushing these parts with a hose can be quite effective in most cases. Some applications may require the use of a power washer to get the more stubborn dirt out of gutters and downspouts but must be used with care or risk damaging the gutters or even the house itself.
This is one of the considerations of why asking your tenant to perform gutter maintenance is not a good idea. Your renter may not have an idea of how to clean a gutter without damaging it, or even without causing damage to the roof, siding, and other areas of the house. Even renters with respectable intentions may accidentally cause damage that will be expensive to repair. Equally, if a renter cleans the gutters but does an atrocious work of it, you may not realize that there has been an issue for months or even years. Thinking the work has been carried out adequately could cost you months or even years down the road.
Another characteristic to reckon is your renter’s wellness and security. To reach the gutters, it is often necessary to use a ladder and other equipment notorious for causing accidents and injuries. By one estimate, there are more than 36,000 deaths from falling off ladders in the United States every year. Ladder-related injuries are even higher, with more than 164,000 accidents reported annually. With numerous risks involved, it is not a smart idea to ask your tenant to scale a ladder to do property aftercare on your rental house. Should they fall and hurt themselves, you could be sued and found liable to pay their medical and legal expenses.
Cleaning the gutters on your rental property once or twice a year can help facilitate your renter’s safety and halt expensive repairs. Supposing you do it yourself or recruit a trained professional to do it for you, the duration and spending included are trivial unlike the consequences for not ensuring that your gutters are properly maintained. At Real Property Management Insight, we also cover regular gutter maintenance with our other quality property maintenance services in Radford. With our usefulness, you will have more time to specialize in the more pressing conditions of your real estate investing business. For more information, contact us or call us at 540-998-6917 today.
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