Seven Things To Clean Regularly To Keep Your Vacation Home In Top Shape

Seven Things To Clean Regularly To Keep Your Vacation Home In Top Shape

Author: Christine Karpinski

Proper maintenance of your vacation home should make your rental business run smoothly. I advocate doing preventative maintenance. Don't make the mistake of thinking you'll only call in maintenance people when something is broken. With your vacation property, I suggest doing preventative maintenance on everything you possibly can. I know you've heard this phrase countless times before, but it bears repeating here: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Here's my rule of thumb: Anticipate all problems and make fixes before they become an issue. With this mindset, you'll definitely view vacation property ownership as a business venture. That means don't get worked up about spending $75 twice a year to have your furnace cleaned. What's $75 compared to the costs of having things breakdown and losing valuable rentals over it? I promise, taking care of standard maintenance issues regularly will make your life easier.

I advocate hiring a maintenance person to oversee your property on a continual basis. This works particularly well for people who live far from their second home and can't visit more than once or twice a year.

Exactly how much should you have your regular maintenance person do? As much as you feel necessary. Some people have a maintenance person come to their property after each guest leaves to check on things such as light bulbs, furnace filters, leaky faucets, and so on. Others have their cleaners scout any problems and notify you and/or your maintenance person if need be. Experiment and find out what works best for your situation.

Sometimes cleaning can help cut down on some of those last minute mishaps. When was the last time you cleaned these things?

1. Clean your dryer vent regularly. If you have a leaf blower, use it to blow the vent out from inside your laundry area.
2. Vacuum the condenser coils in your refrigerator.
3. Change furnace filters at least once a month.
4. Have your furnace/air conditioner cleaned and checked regularly.
5. Clean out the screens on your faucets and shower heads, especially properties with wells and hard water areas.
6. Clean out sink and drains regularly. Hair is the most common cause of slow or clogged drains. Unscrew the stopper in sinks and bathtubs and clean out the hair.
7. Wash all blankets and comforters at least once every 10 rentals.

© Christine Karpinski 2006

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