TENANT S GUIDE TO MAINTENANCE

TENANT S GUIDE TO MAINTENANCE

CONTENTS 3 Introduction 4 My drains are blocked? 5 No hot water or heating? 6 My lights have gone off? 7 My ceiling is leaking? 8 I think I have damp? 9 Unwanted Guests? HELP! Unfortunately, throughout the year things can go wrong in your home. Thankfully, many issues can be solved by you...yes, you! So you can have that grand satisfaction of being the true master of your own home if you follow the simple steps in this guide! Whether it be lighting issues, blocked drains, boiler not working, no hot water, or issues with pests, there are many steps that you can take to remedy the situation. However, if trying the simple tips in this guide doesn t solve the issue, remember that the TLR team are just a phone call away waiting to come to the rescue!

My drains are blocked? So you re doing the dishes, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, or perhaps even on the toilet... and you realise that all that water that you re using isn t draining away... Your drain is blocked. Unfortunately, there s nobody else other than the tenants of your household putting things down your drains, so it s your responsibility to sort this one out. The good news is that it s relatively cheap and easy to fix. Just follow these easy instructions: 1. Go to your local store to pick up a bottle of drain unblocker and a plunger and you re ready to rock n roll! 2. Follow the instructions on the bottle (usually to empty the entire bottle into the blocked drain and leave for 5-10 minutes while it works its magic). 3. After 5-10 minutes, run the water and, just like magic, your drains are clear! 4. If they re still blocked, get on YouTube (the fountain of all knowledge) to find a video of how to use your plunger and get plunging! Now we don t expect you to break your back or the bank over this. If you ve tried the above process at least 2 times and there s still no movement, let us know and we ll order a professional to pop around to sort the issue. However, if the blockage is found to be tenant-related, unfortunately the bill will be split between all the tenants in your house! No hot water or heating? Picture this. You wake up on the morning of your big presentation at Uni. You ve been preparing hard for this day and you re feeling ready. Your alarm has woken you up in plenty of time to have a good breakfast and take your time getting ready. As you reach to turn on the shower, the usual 10 seconds of cold water runs through but, this time, it s not getting warmer... your hot water isn t working! Now if you follow these simple steps, you won t go to your presentation smelling like last week s dinner! 1. Go to your boiler and check that someone hasn t accidentally turned it off! Your boiler usually has a switch either above, below or alongside your boiler. 2. If it s definitely on, open the panel and check the pressure dial - if the dial is on zero, you have no water pressure and you ve potentially found your issue! 3. In the matrix of pipework under the boiler, you should see a bendy pipe - that s your filling loop! Open the valve(s) (some boilers have 1 valve and some have 2 valves at either end of the filling loop). 4. Wait until the pressure dial is pointing to between 1 and 1.5 psi. Close the valve again and your heating and hot water should be working again! If your boiler still isn t working and there s definitely pressure in the system, let us know and we can get a gas engineer to visit to assess if there maybe another problem with the boiler.

My lights have gone off? It s November. For all you Game of Thrones fan boys and girls out there, Winter has come. You re sat at your desk trying to get that essay completed before Friday s deadline, but that incessant hammering on your window of the seemingly baseball-sized raindrops keeps breaking your concentration. Suddenly, as if to add insult to injury, you hear it. Drip...drop... drip...drop. Either you ve finally gone doolally or you ve got a leak. Now leaks are not uncommon, but they need to be looked at as quickly as possible! There are 3 main causes: Shower or Bathroom Is there a shower above you? Ask them to turn off the water and if the leak stops, you ve found your problem! Let us know and stop using that shower! Penetrating Damp The outside of houses degrade over time and, sometimes, this can lead to weak spots or cracks where external moisture or rain can sneak through. If you have a wet, damp patch in your wall or ceiling, take a picture and let us know! Pipe Leak If you have a constant leak occurring that isn t affected by the weather or a bathroom, then a pipe may be burst and causing the leak. Let us know immediately! My ceiling is leaking? Before we start - make sure you have a torch, just in case! You re sitting down to enjoy your first homemade shepherd s pie (mum s recipe, of course) while cosying up on the sofa waiting for Corrie to start and... *click*...it s all gone black! YOUR FUSE BOARD HAS TRIPPED You can almost guarantee that someone in your house has done something to have caused your fuse board to trip. Put your detective hat on and do the following: 1. Unplug every item in the house (from the fridge freezer to computers to hairdryers...). 2. Go to the fuse box (usually in the top corner in your entrance hallway) and push all switches to ON. Voila! Let there be light! 3. Then plug in and turn on every item one at a time until the lights trip again. You ve found your culprit! If the item is a tenant item, it s on you to replace it. But if it was provided by your landlord, let us know and we can speak to your landlord about it. If after the above you still aren t able to get your lights and/or electric back on, Let us know and we ll try to get an electrician to you asap!

I think I have Damp? Damp and Condensation are the two main causes of mould in your home, but being able to determine which is which can be quite difficult if you don t know what you re looking for. YOU HAVE CONDENSATION (TENANT) Water is running/dripping down the inside of your walls and windows. Your windows are misted up. Mould is growing on the most effected areas. Condensation is caused by poor ventilation and/ or poor heating.. Water vapour is produced by humans all the time through cooking, washing, doing laundry, even breathing. If you don t heat your property, then the water vapour in the air will condensate on your cold walls and windows and start running down the wall as water. Likewise, if you don t ventilate your home by opening windows/doors, then even if you re heating your home well, then the water vapour can t escape. So your home will be humid and likely rife with mould. YOU HAVE DAMP (LANDLORD) There are patches of wetness IN the wall, not just water on the wall. The patch gets worse when it rains. Mould is growing on the affected areas. Damp is caused when water from outside the property penetrates through to the inside. This could be through: Exterior cracks in the wall Blocked, overflowing gutters Rising damp Either way, if you spot water in your wall, let us know quickly and we can get it looked at! Unwanted Guests? Nobody likes wild rats and mice. At least we ve yet to meet anyone that does! There s nothing worse than going into your kitchen and finding those dreaded droppings lining the floor of your food cupboard, or even worse, your food packets chewed through and food eaten! If you re anything like us, wasting food is a big no-no! Rats and mice are able to move pretty freely amongst terraced houses, so if you hear them in your walls or ceilings, it s time to get cleaning! You need to give them as little reason to be in your house as possible so they move onto greener (dirtier) pastures. Follow these helpful tips and you should stay pest-free: Make sure you put your rubbish out each week for collection and store any rubbish in the dustbins provided. Check your local council s website for collection dates! Ensure your kitchen and bedrooms are clean and wiped down (worktops, floors and cupboards). Don t leave food, empty food packets/boxes, or dirty plates lying around. Vermin issues are a tenant responsibility, so should there be any issues throughout your tenancy, it is your responsibility to speak to the council and/or pest companies to get the issue sorted. Should there be any obvious entry points for pests to gain access through, let us know and we can speak to your landlord about fixing them.

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