A landlord's tool-kit of skills

[xris]

Something which has often occurred to me is that a hands-on landlord is at a serious disadvantage if he/she does not have at least some very rudimentary handyman skills.

The reason should be obvious – the cost of a tradesmen’s call out fee alone can be around $80, for what can often be a two minute job, such as easing a sticking door, or screwing in some door stops.

Over time I have picked up a few basic ‘skills’ which I use. As well as the cost savings there are other benefits too, such as keeping an eye on what is going on and even just the general feeling of satisfaction.

I have also learned, and opined here that sometimes too much DIY can be counterproductive. We all need to know our limits.

But, some basic skills should, I believe, be mastered as soon as possible.

I thought it might be of interest if people could give a few ideas of what they do themselves and why.

I’ll start with a couple obvious ones.

Painting
Fresh paint can transform a room and a flat/house. Often I find it easier and much more effective to paint a wall rather than clean it. I believe it is very cost effective. Although it sounds easy, if you are totally ignorant of what to do then you can mess it up. You do need to know about what type of paint to use where and how paints can be affected by light, different surfaces and the weather and so on. To do painting regularly you will probably pick up a few other ‘skills’. You will quickly learn to try to keep to one or two colours and gloss levels, otherwise you’ll end up with a garage full of half used tins/tubs. There are numerous other hints available.

Gardening
In terms of effect and cost effectiveness, similar to painting. Get a tow bar on your car, hire a trailer and do the rounds, cutting back those shrubs, getting rid of the self seeding trees, putting down weed mats…

Any other ideas besides painting and gardening, the obvious ones?

xris

[Ivanhoe]

Jif anf polishing compound.

I would go around the property and give any plastic or metal surface good cleanup with Jif. Electrical switches and door-knobs, hanles, window locks levers accumulate amazing amount of grime overtime, skylights and any other lights - lots of fly sh!t. Tapware benefits from ut heaps

Any stainless steel bowls or benchtops look like new when polished with fine polishing compound (Jif is not tough enough to handle).

The only problem - I have to do it myself as I was not able to find anyone to out-source this type of jobs (paining and gardening jobs are easy to outsource).

[RentMaster]

In the past I have done some...

- Hole-in-wall repairing
- Gibbing and gib stopping (only a small bit in a concealed area)
- Gutter clearing
- Replace light bulbs
- Install smoke alarms
- Hanging venetian blinds
- Interior painting and gardening which you have already mentioned.

[SuperDad]

Great thread xris.

I know that there are a few out there who think that thier time is more productively spent sourcing property deals, and leaving repairs and maintenance to the experts. But for most of us, the suggestions on this forum will be cost effective.

I also get a lot of satisfaction from doing things myself, and it is good to keep an eye on things. an additional benefit is the speed with which one can do these things. Unless one has a fulltime tradesman in one's employment (as I beleive Dean Leftus does), it can sometimes take a day or two (or more) for a tradesman (or woman) to get on site. This results in unhappy tenants. So having these skills also makes good business sense from a customer services point of view.

To the list above I would add:

*The ability to change a fuse (and to know that an electrical "fault" is really just a blown fuse).
*Knowing how to change a tap washer, or to fix a faulty toilet cistern that won't stop filling. How to fix plumbing leaks.
*How to replace, not only a light bulb, but the whole fitting. (And knowing how to do this without getting electrocuted!) New light fittings can really add value and change the feel of a place, for a very small outlay. Or sometimes old bayonet fittings/batten holders perish from heat, and break. These are easy to replace, but try finding a sparky to do this work without charging a horrible amount.

Also important is knowing where to go to get advice. My local Placemakers is excellent when it comes to advice on anything to do with building, from which sealant to use to how to build decks and fences. And the staff at my local Guthrie Bowron store are brilliant when it comes to all matters paint related. Find people who can help you.

Paul.

[manic_mansions]

I was thinking about this topic this week. Over the last couple of months I have done quite a variety of things to a high standard, and saved untold fortunes.

I reglazed a broken window, fitted from scratch about 8 metres of spouting and a downpipe on one house, and 5 metres of spouting on another, waterblasted a concrete backyard that reeked of dog urine, sanded and varnished a hallway, ground a tap seat and fitted a new washer, put exposed cables from a light switch to a ceiling in conduit, fiddled with a header-tank ballcock to make it stop going, replaced a toilet seat, caught four mice with one trap (the 'Better Mouse Trap' [very effective]), dug about 10 square metres by 5 cms of dog soiled top soil from a lawn and replaced it with 4 sacks of compost and 2 sacks of potters mix on special at the Warehouse and fertilsed and laid lawn seeds, watered the lawn regularly, put 500 kgs of asphalt in a BIG driveway pothole, and sawed about 2 metres off the top of an overgrowing shrub.

This variety of work is very enjoyable. I like spouting the best, as it is asthetically pleasing, involves rotating shapes in one's head and concentration, the glue fumes are heady, and you can stop a drip thats been irritating people for years and so make them happy.

I'd like to improve my plumbing skills since plumbers seem to have lost their grip on reasonable pricing.

I'd also like to be able to do basic electrical work like laying wires for lights and sockets to a good enough standard that I'd only need to get an electrician to check and certify it.

[xris]

Thanks for the replies so far.

From my experience, it can be of little use doing a job if you do not have at least the basic equipment. This is why I avoid plumbing work but will do painting – I have all the brushes, rollers, paint, overalls, ladder and so on. These items of equipment soon mushroom. This is the point when I do use the tradesmen – if I do not know exactly what to do I’ll avoid doing it.

Another obvious and cost effective skill is cleaning. Ivanhoe has mentioned how effective a few wipe downs can be. Although obvious, again, if a property is dirty you are on the back foot from the start.

Old but clean is acceptable: modern but dirty is not.

Many years ago I came across a fellow who had an old 10 litre paint tub into which he put all his wipes, rags, bucket, JIF, and spray n’ wipe. The day the tenants moved out he went round with this cleaning package and became a scrubber for the morning. Too much scrubbing meant a claim from the bond. But even here just to do cleaning you need the right equipment. There is no point trying to clean an oven with spray n’ wipe, so as part of your package you will need two or three types of cleaning liquid. Incidentally, most towns have cleaning equipment outlets where the professional cleaning firms go to. Try buying from them rather than your local supermarket.

Cleaning: so simple but so effective.

A point about electrical work.

Although I cannot quote the exact rule on this, I am pretty certain that there are strict restrictions on what a landlord can do at a rented property, more so than in his own house. I believe that anything more than changing light bulbs may need to be done by a registered electrician. By doing it ourselves I believe we may be making ourselves liable if there is an accident or if the tenants complain. Perhaps some insurance people or property managers could comment here.

A small hint about electrical work anyway while I am on the subject. You will never have too many sockets. Even houses from the 60’s and 70’s are inadequate for 21C living. Seize every opportunity to replace singles with doubles and make sure there are at least two phone jack-points in the property. Another easy way to add more sockets is to have back-to-backs wherever you can. The cable is already there in the wall so it is an easy job putting in another socket in the adjoining room. I tend to do this whenever I call out an electrician. Rather than pay him an hour’s call out for a ten minute fuse job, he might as well add a couple more sockets while he is there and use up more of my one hour.

xris

[SuperDad]

From my experience, it can be of little use doing a job if you do not have at least the basic equipment.

How very true. Diy becomes that much more effective and enjoyable when one has the right tools. I must have nearly every tool known to mankind, or at least my wife thinks so. But it makes jobs so much easier.

My only specialist plumbing tool is a pipe wrench. This, together with adjustable wrenches, has allowed me to do a good deal of plumbing to date (Changing vanities and shower mixers, installing wastes, plumbing in a dishwasher.) The one thing I have learnt the hard way: You cannot use too much threadseal tape.

Of late, my most invaluable tool has been my car, which has a towbar. Without the towbar, moving furniture and building supplies would have been high on impossible.

Paul.

[Perry]

To Wire or Not to Wire

A point about electrical work.

Although I cannot quote the exact rule on this, I am pretty
certain that there are strict restrictions on what a landlord
can do at a rented property, more so than in his own
house.

The relevant section is this:

ELECTRICITY ACT 1992
110. Exemption for domestic electrical work-

(1) Notwithstanding anything in section 108 of this Act,
the owner of any premises that are occupied or
intended to be occupied by that person as a residence
for that person, or for that person and members of his
or her family, may do any electrical wiring work, or
assist in doing any electrical wiring work, in relation
to those premises, if, (etc., which references the
Regulations, in which is the following)

ELECTRICITY REGULATIONS 1997
47. Home-owners' electrical wiring work—

(1) For the purposes of section 110 of the Act, any person to
whom that section applies may do or assist in doing the
following work on low voltage electrical installations:
(a) Remove and replace any of the following kinds of
fittings, where the work does not involve work on any
switchboard:
(i) Switches:
(ii) Socket outlets:
(iii) Permanent connection units:
(iv) Light fittings:
(v) Batten holders:
(vi) Cord grip lampholders:
(vii) Ceiling roses:
(viii) Flexible cords connected to any permanent connection
unit, ceiling rose, or cord grip lampholder:
(ix) Water heater switches:
(x) Thermostats:
(xi) Elements:
(b) Remove and replace fuse links:
(c) Connect and disconnect fixed wired appliances:
(d) Relocate existing switches, socket outlets, and lighting
outlets that are supplied with electricity by tough-plastic-
sheathed cables:

Depending on whatever stretch one wants to give to
"intended to be occupied," there may be scope. I also
wonder if, were a range of tasks necessary, that it would be
OK for a DIY to do the job and get a registered sparky in to
issue a CCC (Code Compliance Certificate) if any
switchboard tweaking is required.

[SuperDad]

Thanks for providing that info, Perry. It's very useful.

[manic_mansions]

Re the above posts about tools, a pair of sheet metal cutters is vital. 'Fuller' make a good metal cutter and the Warehouse sell it for under $30. Its like a super-reinforced pair of scissors.

I've used that cutter to cut: carpet, those infuriatingly strong plastic packagings on various goods, spouting, wire, wood, the tops of glue and No More Gaps and All Clear and those kind of squeeze tube products, nails, the excess bits of cable-ties...everything in fact that is narrow enough to fit between the blades.

With cleaning, my method is towels. The Warehouse sell little clumps of towels consisting of 2 bathtowels, 2 handtowels and 2 facecloths for $5. The face cloths clean up all the oven and kitchen grease they can then go in the rubbish. The hand and bath towels clean up after a dousing of Mr Muscle but only to a point where its tricky to find an undirtied spot on them. I avoid over dirtying the towels so they don't start adding as much dirt as they remove. Then the towels go in the washing machine at the property. This method depends on the power being on. I don't worry about drying the towels as the moisture is useful. You can never have too many towels.

[xris]

Thank you for that reference Perry.

I therefore assume that if you do not live in or intend to live in a house then you are not allowed to do any of the jobs in the list - in other words very little can be done by the landlord at a rental.

xris

[whitt]

Nice thread team. Some great ideas.

[revdev]

You can never have too many towels.

Or drop sheets!

G

[Daisy]

... or $11/hr student job search students

[Josko]

Thanks for that Perry having just replaced all my light fittings it is good to know that I didn't cross the line. Interestingly I found the grounding wire on one of the fittings to be connected to the positive slot for the light, not sure why it worked, but my dad tells me that if any water came into contact with the wire it would have been a disaster.