There are plenty of simple measures that you can take to protect your pipes against the freezing cold. The last thing that you’d need is upsetting your renters because of a burst pipe in sub-zero temperatures. It doesn’t help your Jerome renters if they’d come home to a flooded, frozen rental home and find their belongings have been damaged. It will cost you thousands of dollars in damages to your real estate investment, not to mention the extensive clean-up it would need. Heat taping and wrapping are just some of the basic steps that you can take to prevent frozen pipes.
Heat taping is like an electric blanket for your pipes. It involves an electrical heating element that is taped to a pipe. It warms the pipe to keep it from freezing. Wrapping a pipe can be done in several ways, from plug-in heating tape to pre-formed foam tube insulation that slides on over a pipe. The type of protection your pipes need depends on how cold it gets where your rental property is located and if your pipes are the right fit for heat tape. Outdoor water spigots must also be covered with an insulated cover.
Be careful not to forget the exposed pipes. They are just as crucial to take care of as are the hidden ones. However, as a busy landlord, you might find it difficult to keep track of such tasks and you might find it troublesome to get to the pipes in your Jerome home before the cold hits. What would you do? You could try and ask your tenants to do the heat taping and wrapping themselves, but that wouldn’t be a useful idea. Leaving pipe insulation to your tenants will leave your rental property vulnerable to their mistakes. Unless your tenants have some home maintenance background, chances are they’d miss a major action and mess up the whole thing instead.
One more resolution is to prepare the heat taping and wrapping yourself. Though it is true that insulating pipes is not a complex job, and that the supplies are usually obtainable, lest you also know what you are undertaking, you’re taking a risk with your investment. Pipe insulation also needs to be checked and replaced each year, which is another addition to your already long to-do list.
Of course, with everything else you have to do, pipes might not make it on the to-do list as oftentimes as they should. That is why having someone handle it for you can be the best decision you ever make. Real Property Management Magic Valley will check and maintain the pipes in your Jerome rental property regularly, providing maximum protection from freezing and bursting with zero effort on your part. For more information about our property management services, contact us online or call us at 208-734-4001 today!
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