Maintenance

Home Repairs You Can and Should DIY

By Dakota September 10, 2020

Landlords shouldn’t have to spend a lot of time resolving maintenance issues. That’s the reason most of them delegate tasks to service professionals or hire contractors to do the repairs for their rental properties.

If you manage multiple units, chances are you have less time to tackle even basic maintenance issues. In this case, having a service professional on hand is an excellent shortcut. But there are certain home repairs you can easily do yourself...even if you can hardly be called a maintenance guru.

Let’s take a look at the repairs that you can potentially do yourself and see when it’s worth contacting a service professional:

Fixing leaky pipes.

Leaky pipes are a common maintenance problem, but they can cause a lot of damage to your rental. Depending on the type of the water leak, you’ll need to choose a specific way of repairing them. If you notice the joint leak, tighten the joint; if it’s in the pipe, replace the part that’s leaking. But if you see that the problem is far more serious, don’t hesitate to contact a plumber. Otherwise the neighbors downstairs will do it for you.

Unclogging drains.

There’s one simple rule here: Don’t use vinegar or baking soda to unclog drains. However, if you also don’t want to use chemicals, there are a couple of ways to naturally clean a clogged drain by applying liquid dish detergent and hot water or salt and hot water. This one is an easy DIY fix that takes only minutes and can save you some money.

Quieting the squeaky doors.

The sound of squeaky doors is really annoying, but the solution is simple: All you need to do is to get some lubricating oil and apply it to the door hinge pins. It’ll help to silence squeaky doors in a minute. This one is firmly in the DIY category- you can even have tenants tackle this in most cases.

Defrosting the fridge.

Your tenants are unlikely to reach out to you regarding this minor issue, but it’s something you need to stay on top of. If a fridge becomes a literal ice box, you’ll need to spend a few hours to fix it. First off, unplug the refrigerator and put a bowl of hot water inside the fridge to make it defrost faster. Place a piece of cloth at the bottom of the fridge and wait till it’s completely defrosted. Then, wash every section of the fridge and let it dry.

Due to how time consuming this one is, and the potential for freon leaks if you don’t defrost it correctly, you may want to call a maintenance person.

Getting rid of household pests.

If you receive complaints about bugs inside your rental properties, first of all, look around the house for cracks and holes and plug them with spray or concrete repair. If the problem remains, hire a local pest control company to provide inspection and get rid of unwanted visitors for good.

Restoring old furniture.

If you’re thinking about replacing the old furniture in your rentals, try to spruce it up at first, especially the wood pieces. Overall, restoring furniture is a fun and affordable DIY improvement project that will give your places a new look and might even make your rentals increase in value. Trust us, everybody loves having hand-made furniture in their homes.

Check out some DIY furniture restoration ideas here.

The list of DIY home repairs can be continued. What would you add? Were there any difficult repairs and home improvements you managed to do yourself?

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