Tips for Property Managers: Handling a Water Damage!
Handling Water Damage Tips for Property Managers!
Handling Water Damage: Water damage can seriously affect the value of your property and put your tenant’s health in risk. Problems that may seem small or unimportant can quickly turn into a disaster that is expensive to repair. It’s important as a property manager to make sure that your property is free from problems such as a leaky plumbing system or poorly sealed windows. Investing into fixing these problems early on can ensure that they won’t get out of hand and result in more costly property damages and future repairs.
Some common problems that come with handling water damage include:
Mold: If water damage isn’t taken care of properly and quickly often it will result in mold growth. In many cases mold can grow behind walls or in other hidden areas and go unnoticed. Mold is dangerous not only to the structural integrity of your property but to the tenants living in your property. Mold can cause serious health risks to many people.
Roof Damage: If your property has clogged gutters, debris or moss on the roof it can cause water to pool and damage your shingles.
Foundation damage: If you’re not diverting the water away with downspouts excess moisture can cause a basement to flood or spread throughout the foundation.
Property loss: Apart from your property being damaged flooding can cause things like carpets and appliances to be destroyed.
How to avoid water damage leaks?
One of the best ways to avoid water damage is to make sure that all the parts on your property that are likely to cause water damage are checked regularly for damage. Often if you can catch a problem early enough you can fix it while avoiding much damage and for minimal cost.
Some parts / places we recommend you check for damage include:
• Exhaust Fans
• Window Frames
• Ceilings and walls (look for water stains)
• Expansion Joints
• Gutters & Downspouts
• Attics
• Sink Cabinets
• Roof
• Crawlspaces & Basements
What to do in the case of water damage
If your property experiences any kind of handling water damage problems, we recommend you call a company like GTA Restoration that is certified to deal with water damage as soon as possible. After calling a certified water damage restoration company you can begin to take some pictures but in most cases, you don’t need to worry about this as the water damage restoration company will take the pictures for you and help you file a claim with your insurance. Depending on how severe the damage is you might need to help your tenants with evacuating the property.
