Dealing With Water Damage As A Rental Property Owner

Even if you have dealt with water damage disasters in your own home, dealing with water damage in your rental properties is an entirely different matter. 

Water Damage Cleanup In Charleston

From our water damage restoration pros at Restoration 1 of Low Country, here are a few tips on how you can prepare and respond to water damage in your rental properties. 

Have The Home Inspected

To increase your chances of preventing leaky appliances or burst pipes, hire a plumbing professional to inspect your property. They’ll crawl under your home, investigate every water source, and look for telltale signs of pipe corrosion, damaged fixtures, or other hints that leaks are happening or will happen in the future. Doing this is especially important if you manage a large number of properties. There’s no way you can keep tabs on everything you need some support for ensuring things are functioning well in your rental properties. 

Install Water Detection Devices

Water detection devices are extremely handy tools for catching water damage in the early stages and preventing it from getting any worse. As a rental property owner, you can have these installed in all your units and link them to your phone so you will be notified if a unit is flooding so you can help take action immediately.

Know Your Flood Risk

The FEMA website will tell you the level of flood risk your properties face. Basic flood prevention precautions along with purchasing high-quality flood insurance are a must if you have rental properties near the coast or in high flood zones. 

Prepare Your Renters

Once you’ve leased the property, make sure your renters have renter’s insurance to cover any water damage not covered by the landlord’s policy—like personal property and temporary housing. Also, be sure your renters know where the main water shut-off valves are in case a pipe bursts late at night.

Know Your Insurance Policy

Navigating insurance claims after a water damage disaster can be a pain, but it helps a lot if you understand your policy and know what to expect. Make sure you have read through your policy and have asked questions about anything you aren’t clear on. 

Be Able To Stop The Water Quickly

If a unit is flooding, a water detection device will help you know this but it will not stop the flooding. One way to do this is to make sure your tenants know where the water shut-off valve is so they can immediately shut off the water in the case of a flood. 

Arrange For Temporary Housing

Finally, you may need to arrange for temporary housing for your tenants if their unit floods. This isn’t too difficult but in the wake of dealing with the fallout from the water damage, it will be much easier if you have arrangements made ahead of time. That way a single phone call can get the job done and you can get back to focusing on dealing with the damage.

Finally, our team of dedicated water damage restoration experts at Restoration 1 of Low Country is always just one call away. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us after a flood so we can begin removing the water and restoring the damage for you.