Dear Maintenance Men:

By Jerry L’Ecuyer & Frankie Alvarez

 www.JLE1.com

Dear Maintenance Men: 

I own 12 units in Garden Grove and have never had time to coordinate, prioritize and basically control my maintenance issues.  My new years resolution is to finally do it.  Can you please help me with a list of items to start my priority list? 
John Garden Grove 

Dear John:

Were glad to hear you’re committed to operating you’re building differently this year. It is never to late to start a preventive maintenance program.  You will find that during this scheduling process many deferred items will rear their ugly heads, but stay focused and stead fast on your priorities “One Job at a time”. 

Here is a brief list of important items to check /repair/replace/before moving on to preventive/corrective/routine maintenance items. 

  1. Smoke Detectors – Make sure your smoke detectors are working, and located properly in regards to your units bedrooms, halls, living room areas, and most importantly layout. For information an optimal location call your local FireDept. For assistance.
  2. Plumbing – inspect all units take list of supply water leakage at faucets, toilets, etc. to include water instructions, spillage problems at bath walls, floors.  Do not fail to inspect for waste water leaks that can damage the building structure.  Water heaters recirculation pump operation.
  3. H.V.A.C, have licensed/insured H.V.A.C person inspect / repair non-functional or damaged appliances. (Note: or call the gas company to inspect and test for presence carbon monoxide.
  4. General unit conditions – make a list of the general unit condition including blinds, carpet paint, counter tops, appliances, door stops, holes in wall, house keeping, doors, toilet seats, shower doors closet doors, etc.  (Note later at home or office you can use multi colored highlighters to color code priorities in each individual unit as you read thru your notes.  This will make it easier when consolidating your exterior / or interior priority list.

Example: Red/priority 1    blue priority 2   yellow priority 3 

Recommendation – before you decide to make repairs or replace broken or damaged items.

    A.     Attempt to determine how they were damaged.

    B.     Check length of tenancy as a guide of normal wear tear

    C.     Check current security deposit to determine weather your new investment on repairs to said unit is protected  (example: long term tenancy may only have a $200.00 deposit but you have to make $1,400 worth of repairs) 

  1. Fire Extinguishers – For proper amount / type for units and utilities. (Note: have a licensed/certified fire extinguisher company check charge and location.

This brief but important list should keep you busy. But it’s a great start for a more detailed list feel free to call us at (714) 956-8371.
 

Dear Maintenance Men:

I own four units in Garden Grove.  The residents must think I own shares in a plumbing company.  I constantly have to call a plumber to power snake a kitchen drain line in one of my lower units.  The scenario is: The upstairs unit uses the kitchen sink to wash dishes which then makes the downstairs kitchen sink flood.  I have the plumber power snake the drain lines, but the problem comes back in short order.  Who is to blame, the residents, the drain line or the plumber?  Sometimes the flooding is so bad it wets the living room carpet.  This is getting very expensive … Please help.

Bob 

Dear Bob:

You are not alone; this is an all too common problem experienced by many owners and residents alike. It is very frustrating and costly for all involved.  The resident will eventually get tired of being inconvenienced and inevitably move, costing the owner more money.  

We highly recommend a bit of preventive maintenance along the lines of Hydro Jetting, this is a high-pressure water treatment for your drainage system.  The cost of hydro jetting is between $125 and $250.  This is much cheaper then the alternative during an emergency call that exceeds $300 or $400 dollars or more.      

In cases such as these you need to have your plumber clearly identify the cause such as collapsed line, heavy grease builds up, foreign material stoppage such as toys, dishrags, S.O.S Pads or plastic bags, caps etc.  The plumber can use a  “line camera” to view the inside of your plumbing drain system. This will help identify the actual and potential problems that can be addressed before they become an expensive emergency. 

 

Bio: 

Jerry L'Ecuyer is the owner of JLE Property Management & Buffalo Maintenance and is a licensed contractor & real estate broker.  He is currently on the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Education Committee for the Apartment Association of Orange County.  Jerry has been involved with apartments as a professional since 1988 and can be reached at (714) 778-0480 or jerry@JLE1.com. Frank Alvarez is the Operations Director for Buffalo Maintenance. He has been involved with apartment maintenance for over 14 years. Frank can be reached at (714) 956-8371 or visit the office at, 202 E. Broadway in Anaheim, CA 92805. Please view our web site at: WWW.JLE1.COM