Preventive maintenance for holiday rentals

April 2024

Why is preventive maintenance so important?

Holiday homes naturally wear down and develop issues due to daily use. When we decide to rent out a holiday flat, we’re aware that we always need to keep it in top shape to offer guests an operational and well-maintained apartment. And for that, nothing beats taking action and starting to apply preventive maintenance.

But what should be done in preventive maintenance? Basically, you need to follow quality checks to ensure that everything is functioning correctly. This maintenance will also save you from expensive repairs in the future. It’s worth noting that small faults can turn into big expenses if not attended to.

Moreover, preventive maintenance saves us from unpleasant surprises and allows your guests to fully enjoy your holiday rental. After all, what they want is to spend their holidays in a functional, welcoming, and beautiful place. Additionally, it’s better to fix things in time, as issues that worsen may require you to temporarily suspend the rental.

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What are the four types of preventive maintenance?

Next, let’s go over the 4 basic types of preventive maintenance. These are crucial for reducing the risk of breakdowns in the property and avoiding astronomical expenses. If you’re wondering how to avoid expensive repairs in rental properties, we’ll tell you now that it’s done by following these guidelines.

Regular inspections to avoid electrical failures

The electrical system is everything. Without it, you can’t use a bunch of things, from plugging in your computer or phone to watching TV or turning on the light at night. Usually, guests will inform you if there’s any electrical failure, as well as if bulbs have stopped working. However, you need to check that everything is okay, as well as hire a regular inspection by a professional electrician to ensure the state of the electrical system.

Operational appliances

We shouldn’t wait until the last moment to repair an appliance or buy a new one. When guests leave the property, it’s necessary to check the appliances to see if they are working properly. If any of them make an unusual noise or don’t function well, it’s time to repair or replace them with new ones. Guests will appreciate everything in the property being operational.

Well-maintained furniture

Furniture wears down over time even if we are very careful. Especially if the furniture is not of very good quality. At Holidu, we recommend furnishing your holiday home with comfortable and durable furniture. An investment in this regard is always worthwhile and will prevent you from having to replace them every 4 or 5 years, which is how long cheap furniture lasts. The importance of preventive maintenance in holiday rentals is essential, and furniture is part of it.

Seamless plumbing system

The plumbing also needs to function properly. Moreover, if something goes wrong, the repair could cost you dearly. A dripping tap, for example, can cause your water supply bills to skyrocket. In this regard, we advise you to check the plumbing each time a guest leaves the property and, additionally, carry out periodic inspections to ensure that everything is okay. It’s better to monitor and repair in time than to spend a fortune on an error not detected earlier.

Don’t let minor faults become major ones

We have a lovely property available on a holiday rental portal. However, it has small defects, which we consider hardly interfere with guests’ stay. A dripping tap, a light that flickers occasionally… Besides greatly annoying our tenants, this can also be a problem for us.

That’s right! We must repair faulty taps or cisterns as soon as possible. And in the case of a bulb, changing it won’t take you more than a minute. You’ll improve the quality of the stay and your image in front of your guests. Moreover, it’s easy to find chips on the walls and damaged furniture in holiday rentals. This should be avoided, as we must maintain the property as if we ourselves were living in it.

The flat must be taken care of, considering that people looking for quality homes will be staying in it. They have paid to stay in a property in good condition. Appliances must also function properly. Fridges and washing machines are the most used appliances, so make sure they are functional before new guests enter the holiday rental.

Other quick tips for maintaining your property

In addition to these 4 preventive maintenance guidelines, we suggest some quick tips. Does renting out my holiday home mean offering an exceptional property? Absolutely! And to achieve this, all you have to do is follow these quick recommendations:

• Ensure that the paint on the walls is in good condition
• Do a thorough cleaning at least every 6 months
• If there are any defects, be honest when advertising your property on the holiday rental website
• Check that the TV remotes and others work correctly
• Monitor the proper functioning of drains
• Check for damp stains
• Verify the functioning and speed of the wifi connection

Cleaning in preventive maintenance

When we want to advertise a holiday property, we always put up attractive photos, where the property appears clean and charming. And that’s exactly how the guest should find it. The holiday home must be cleaned as soon as guests leave, with special emphasis on the bathroom and kitchen, as they are the places that accumulate the most dirt. You’ll also need to do a deep clean at least every 6 months.

This deep clean would include lamps, the bottoms of furniture, paintings, and other elements that we don’t normally clean. The cleaning products used should not be too aggressive to avoid allergies and protect floors and furniture. If you can’t handle the cleaning for various reasons, you can always turn to a specialized company. Below, we propose a checklist for preventive maintenance in holiday accommodations:

• Wash carpets, curtains, and duvets
• Clean walls or repaint them
• Dust the surfaces of furniture
• Check that the light bulbs are working properly
• Open the windows to ventilate the flat
• Clean ventilation grilles
• Disinfect floors
• Give windows and their frames a once-over
• Check the batteries in the remotes
• Clean doors and handles
• Dust under furniture and especially under the beds

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