A good property management company has a procedure in place to handle active water leaks and can assure that owner’s rental properties are handled with care. Water leaks are the most urgent maintenance calls we receive from tenants. An active water leak is a situation where water is pouring into a part of your property, and it could cause additional damage. There might be a burst pipe, a pump that’s malfunctioning, a clogged drain, or a roof leak. There are ways to handle an active water leak as well as tips to prevent water damage.
What do you do when you have an active water leak?
Find a Way to Stop the Water
First, you need to stop the water from entering your property. If this is a plumbing issue, walk the tenant through the process of hitting the valve to shut off the water to the house. That will immediately stop the flooding.
Contact a professional. If it’s a plumbing issue, get a plumber out to the property. If it’s a water leak that’s coming from the roof, call someone who can get into the roof. You want to stop the leak and make the necessary initial repairs. Then, you can get the water restored to the residence for your tenant.
Assess the Water Damage
Contact someone to assess the amount of water damage that’s been done to the home and to extract any water. You want to treat the wet areas that could lead to a serious situation in the property such as mold. Lots of companies handle this, such as Serve Pro and Dura Clean. They will respond 24/7 and arrive quickly with fans and dehumidifiers to take out the water. They might also cut out some drywall or flooring or any other affected areas. After that, a rebuild is required.
All of these things should be done within 24 hours.
Rebuild your Damaged Property
Hire a contractor to rebuild what was cut out. Serve Pro and Dura Clean will demolish a lot of the things in your home that may have been damaged or at risk. There will be damage to your property, but you will have a stable home without any mold hazards. Then, you’ll need another contractor to come in and make the necessary repairs.
Before you call a remediation company, make sure the situation cannot be remedied in a simple way. If it’s a minor water problem that hasn’t touched any walls yet or it’s just in the surface of the carpet or in the basement, you can have a handyman suck out the water. That will save you money and avoid an aggressive rebuild.
Everyone is worried about mold. There are lots of different types of mold, and not all of it is hazardous. It can get overblown. If you have bad mold or you can visually see mold, you need to have it removed. Instead of calling a mold remediation company, contact an independent home inspector to check for mold. A mold company will always find something that needs to be removed, and you’ll have your house torn apart for thousands of dollars. Sometimes, basic mold can be removed with bleach and water. With an inspector, you can have mold tested, and the results will tell you what kind of mold it is and what you need to do about it.
If you have any questions about handling an active water leak situation in a rental property, contact us at Real Property Management Gold. We’d be happy to help you.