A hardwood floor can make your single-family rental more beautiful and durable. However, if your rental property has hardwood floors, then you’ll need to take some extra steps to preserve its condition. Regular maintenance is one of these extra things you’ll need to do. Tenants can sometimes be very hard on hardwood, scratching and gouging floors either by accident or through negligence. For this reason, it is critical that both you and your tenant know how to care for and maintain your property’s hardwood floors properly.
One of the best things you can do to keep your West Bend rental property functional and aesthetically pleasing is to conduct proper hardwood maintenance. But what you must not neglect is knowing the right way to care for a hardwood floor. For example, most hardwood floors have a coat of surface finishes that protect the wood from liquid spills, scratches, and other types of damage. This makes keeping this finish intact the best way to ensure the long life of your floor.
Hardwood can also be damaged by using harsh cleaning products or the wrong cleaning technique. This is something to consider. That’s why experts recommend using a soft microfiber mop or cloth to sweep dirt and dust off the floor. Even vacuum cleaners can scratch up a hardwood floor, and regular mops aren’t any better because they use too much water— which is also bad for hardwood floors. Now, when there are liquid spills, you need to make sure they are immediately cleaned up and that steps are taken to make sure the floor is thoroughly dry.
There are many things you, as a property owner, can do. But the best way to ensure that your rental property’s hardwood flooring is kept looking great is to work with your tenants in caring for it. The first thing you should look at is educating them. Make sure your tenants are trained on proper hardwood floor maintenance and cleaning. When you help them learn the right way to take care of the floor, you extend the life and beauty of the hardwood and prevent damage simultaneously.
Another way to make sure your property’s hardwood floor is well-kept is to encourage tenants to place rugs in high-traffic areas. This will collect the dirt and keep it off the floor, reducing the amount of cleaning needed. Finally, it would be really good if your tenant uses the right cleaning products. You could ensure this by giving them the name of the one recommended for use on your floor, or even write it down in your lease that they are required to only use approved cleaning products. This can help boost the importance of proper hardwood floor maintenance.
Even if you care for it properly, hardwood floors still need some additional attention every few years or between tenants. After some time, wear and tear can fade a floor’s finish and accumulate scratches or other blemishes. But if that’s all that happened to it, then you really have no need to completely refinish the floor. In cases like these, all a faded hardwood floor needs is a screening (which roughens up the surface of the existing finish) and a new application of a finish.
That being said, if your hardwood has become seriously damaged, warped, or has deep scratches or other problems, repairing and refinishing the floor may be your only option. Refinishing a floor is a long, labor-intensive task that requires specialized equipment. You can do the maintenance yourself, but a lot of West Bend property owners feel that hiring a professional is well worth the cost. A flooring contractor can tell you the specific flooring you have in your home, and also which process would best serve to restore it. Different kinds of wood require different techniques and engineered or wood laminate simply won’t tolerate heavy refinishing as solid hardwood does. For situations like these, any restoration work is best left to a professional.
Taking care of hardwood floors doesn’t need to be difficult, for as long as you do the extra planning and enlist the help of your tenant. The essential part of this solution is maintaining good tenant relations. The better your relationship with your tenant is, the more likely they are to keep your valuable hardwood floor in the best possible condition.
Take the headache and hassle out of managing your rental properties. At Real Property Management Greater Milwaukee, we handle the lease paperwork, renter relations, professional vendors and everything else! Feel free to contact us online or by phone at 262-309-6961 to talk to a professional West Bend property manager today.
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