Does it seem like you’re calling a lot for Houston commercial plumbing repair services for your units? Many of your tenants may not know how to properly care for your apartment building’s plumbing. A lot of common plumbing issues in apartments are easily avoidable and tenant-caused. One simple way to help prevent repair costs for your community is to educate your renters about proper use for their unit’s plumbing.
Common Houston Commercial Plumbing Repair Services for Apartments
There are many things that can go wrong with your multifamily community’s plumbing. Of course, some things are more common than others. Drain clogs and garbage disposal breakdowns are some of the most common plumbing issues we see caused by tenant misuse.
Plumbing Clogs
Drain clogs are pretty common in apartment units, especially if your tenants aren’t aware of what can and can’t go down the drains. For example, they might be pouring bacon grease from their breakfast right down the kitchen drain, or may not be taking steps to prevent hair from going down the shower drain. Some people might even be flushing un-dissolvable materials like dental floss or those “flushable” wipes that shouldn’t be flushed.
What’s more, they could end up making the problem worse by trying to use liquid drain cleaners to clear the clog. While many tenants may be trying to help reduce service calls by using liquid drain cleaners, they could do more harm than good. In many cases, they may be using the wrong type of drain cleaner, or be using too much. This typically doesn’t clear the clog. What’s more, it can make it worse and even corrode the pipes. Instead, it’s better to get Houston commercial plumbing repair for clogs, as we know the right way to remove them without damaging other parts of the plumbing.
Broken Garbage Disposals
Garbage disposal problems are another typical service call for your Houston commercial plumber. The name “garbage disposal” might suggest a more heavy duty machine than it really is. At the end of the day, garbage should never go down the disposal. It’s meant to grind up small food scraps before sending them down the drain.
What many people don’t know is that even certain foods shouldn’t go down the disposal. For example, starchy foods like pasta and potato peels can act like glue on the garbage disposal unit. Fibrous foods like celery or asparagus can tangle up in the blades and stop them from working. And, obviously, one should never put hard things like bones or fruit pits down the disposal. Yet, we see these things frequently stopping up garbage disposals in apartment communities.
Keep Everyone on the Same Page By Educating Tenants on Proper Plumbing Use
However, there are ways to help your tenants prevent apartment plumbing problems. Education is a great way to help your tenants help you keep the plumbing system in good condition.
Unfortunately, many of your tenants may not know that the things they do are damaging your building’s plumbing. So, educating them can make a world of difference in your Houston commercial plumbing repair costs.
There are a few ways to do this. For example, you can send out friendly reminders of what shouldn’t go down the garbage disposal or what to do for a drain clog via email, social media, or whatever your community’s preferred form of communication is.
Upon move-in, you can also add a list of basic plumbing “rules” to your resident welcome packet. These gentle reminders and educational resources can go a long way in helping your tenants take better care of your plumbing.
Another great way to help your tenants reduce apartment drain clogs is to install drain screens on all the drains. You can even remove garbage disposals from all your units if you frequently need Houston commercial plumbing repair for broken, abused disposals.
Now, a small minority of renters may still not be very careful about the plumbing. However, in many cases you can add apartment plumbing misuse clauses to lease agreements. These often indicate that costs for having a Houston commercial plumber fix plumbing issues are on the tenant if their gross misuse causes a problem.
In the clause, be sure to include a list of common actions that cause plumbing issues, like not flushing feminine hygiene products down the toilet or not putting bones down the garbage disposal. Just be sure to check with local laws before adding this to your lease agreement to ensure it’s legal.
Quick, Affordable, High Quality Houston Commercial Plumbing Repair from AAA Plumbers
When you need prompt, quality service at competitive prices, contact us at AAA Plumbers. We’re a trusted Houston commercial plumbing company that specializes in apartment and multifamily plumbing. Our team helps communities throughout the Greater Houston area keep their plumbing working so you have peace of mind. Call us now at (713) 462-4753 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to request service.
