Topic: Let's talk prevenantive maintenance! We need your feed back...

Property Maintenance Issues:
All properties have them - big or small - but which ones are critical? For starters, water damage can be serious. Anything from minor drips to busted pipes, eventually can wreak havoc on your units and buildings, including carpet, walls and roofs. Don’t ignore a tiny problem that can easily turn into an enormous one. And by all means…insist that your tenants report all water leaks or damage immediately. Effectively managing your property can save owners tons of money, and that means more ROI. How often do you focus on the small things before they turn into big problems? Do you have a prevenative maintenance plan and if yes, do you follow it?

Absolutely - This is a critical component of daily property operations. Preventative maintenance includes (in my opinion): cleaning A/C coils each Spring; furnace preps and checks each Fall; inspecting and cleaning dryer vents; inspecting for trip hazards and having a 5-year plan for concrete repairs; inspecting balconies annually and implementing a 5-year plan for repairs & replacements. There are so many details to your Maintenance program and all of them are important. Planning can help aleviate unexpected major expenses and I think that is worth the time and effort for inspections on a weekly, monthly and annual basis.

How about tree limbs scrapping on the roof and siding of the building? Probably not good for your roof's longevity. Large deadwood in the canopy can also fall out and hit cars or infrastructure. Here in Houston you can get a free inspection called an "arbor report" by a Certified Arborist to alert you of these types of maintenance needs. Most landscapers, although good at mowing grass and fixing sprinklers, never LOOK UP!

Mindy,
It sounds as if you are on the right track! :woohoo: Hats off to you for creating and staying on top of your preventative maintenance plan. So often managers get bogged down by the daily tenant issues and forget about the well being of the property.

Grant,
You absolutely correct! One of our clients was recently forced by their lender to trim tree limbs from their roofs. The results were more piece of mind and added curb appeal!

Thank you for your comments guys! Let’s keep them flowing everyone. :)

I am so glad you have started this discussion. Over the last two months we have had roof repairs that have cost property owners thousands of dollars. These repairs would have been avoided with inspection and cleaning of the dryer venting systems. It's only now they realize the importance of this much overlooked maintenance issue. We send reminders every year to the property managers. The proactive approach is always less costly than the reactive. Great discussion.

It has been our experience that many multi-housing managers have problems with constantly failing closet doors - especially in the more abusive market rate and affordable housing sectors. Plenty of maintenance time and money goes into the constant repair of these inferior hollow-core doors.

To end their closet maintenance nightmare once and for all, many building owners and managers perform a building-wide replacement project with MAGIGLIDE custom-fit closet doors. No jambs or headers need to be modified by your carpenters - the doors are made to fit each opening, making it a minimally invasive cap improvement that can be performed in fully occupied buildings.

MAGIGLIDE is a superior engineered product with a track record of continual success over decades, in thousands of replacement projects across the nation - and counting. MAGIGLIDE doors will last the life of the building.

If interested, you can learn more about the simple and effective replacement process at the website below. Replacements can be performed by your own maintenance crew, or you may hire out a third party contractor. MAGIGLIDE sales reps work with building owners and maintenance crews or contractors hand-in-hand to make sure the replacement occurs flawlessly.

www.magiglide.us/cap-projects

:)

Dave,
One of our owners is in the process of replacing roofs on three of their building now due to the lack of preventative maintenance. However, we saved them a ton of money by suggesting that they contact the insurance agency to find out if any damage could be accredited to the hail storms that we had about a month earlier. Well, as luck would have it, the roofs did show signs of damage due to the storm and the owner was able to keep about $27,000.00 in his pocket!

However, now that he knows that preventative maintenance is key.....he has agreed to a ton of major improvements to the property. Those much needed improvements will improve the property and tenants views :)

Anyone have a prevenative maintenance checklist or spreadsheet they would be willing to share. I'd like to see how detailed some of you may be. I'm a huge advocate of preventative maintenance and I'm wondering if I might be missing something. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated also.

Our company actually have a "Fixed Maintenance" program. Every month we have a series of prevenative maintenance that must be completed and signed off by the supervisor. For instance this month some of the required items are: Check basements and mechanical rooms for leaks, secure and align gutters/downspouts, check security/recording equipment. One of the biggest money savers for my commuity has been to add secure exterior lighting. We have very expensive globes on all of our pole lights. Over time (especially since we are beside a train track) the screws on these globes become loose. Then all we need is a strong wind to knock the globes off the post and they shatter. At over $450 per globe that was really starting to put a dent in our bottom line. Since we started adding this to our fixed maitenance every few months, I haven't had to replace even one globe.
There are also reminders to do things like check pool pumps and chemical levels during winter months. This saves money and time as the last thing you want is to get ready to open your pool only to find out there is a huge issue that could delay the opening.
Not only do Maintenenace Sup's have to sign off on this monthly, but the form is faxed to Corp. so there is a record of them saying "Yes, I signed off on the maintenance so it is done" should the issue arise later. That keeps em honest :)

Stephani,
Now that is what I call a preventative maintenance plan! That sounds like a great plan that we all could indeed benefit from.

Naomi,
I am with you. After reading how Stephani’s company handles their preventative maintenance I want to see a detailed report as well! :o)

Stephani and all others,
Are you willing to share? I am certain that we would all benefit from each others routines in some way or another. :)

If you need a preventive maintenance check sheet I can provide you one. On another note I did not see anything about the inservice date of appliances. Very important that you have accurate records so that you do not miss any warranty work that could have been performed. I have seen so many properties lose money because they did not have in service dates on their appliances.

Regular maintenance pruning on your trees will prolong your roof life, keep your gutters clean, keep your grass alive, prevent scratched windows and roof shingles, avoid losses from dangerous trees and increase your property's curb appeal. A local arborist can assist you with your planning and budgeting for this kind of service.

Does anyone have a preventative maintenance schedule that you are willing to share.....I am in need of help with our preventative maintenance program that is non existent.

Here are a couple I had on hand. We have a much more in depth checklist for assisted living facilities but it is still under construction.

Does anyone have a checklist they can provide? Thank you!

I never could get my attachments to attach but here is a link to the Google Spreadsheet . We use Google so that a service tech can use the template onsite entering information via tablet or laptop as he goes through each unit.

We are still struggling for the most efficient way to attach pictures of REAC violations to the spreadsheet. So far we are having to make a separate report with pictures and text that can be submitted to a board for approval of repairs.

Thank you Handyman Solutions! :)

:)

Looks like a lot of busywork to me. can't fix anything if it ain't broke. you can always prevent things from getting worse depending on the situation and the quality of the item.

don wrote:

Looks like a lot of busywork to me. can't fix anything if it ain't broke. you can always prevent things from getting worse depending on the situation and the quality of the item.

The very worst properties we service, both commercial and residential, always have this exact same attitude about need assessments and preventative maintenance. Some properties are over 100 years old that are in far better condition than some that are only 10 years old. Guess what the philosophy is of each when it comes to need assessments and preventative maintenance...

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. ;)

As long as you have the time, why not? administrative-heavy complexes do come up with these things B)

There are a lot of repair products for bi-fold closet doors, but this product actually prevents most of the damage from happening. minmpcom.ipage.com/products