Property maintenance plans

Maintenance is the work that stops the expensive jobs from happening. It is also the work that is easiest to postpone, because nothing is currently broken.

The arithmetic is unkind. A water heater flushed annually outlives one that is not, by years. A seal renewed for the cost of an hour prevents a bathroom floor that costs thousands. A slow drain cleared in spring is not a Christmas Eve backup. None of this is clever — it is just attention paid on a schedule instead of in an emergency.

Who this is for

Landlords and property managers running more than one property, who need the work done, the access coordinated and a record afterwards.

Owners who would rather have one number than five, and would rather not be the person who notices things.

Short-term rental hosts, where the rhythm is set by turnovers rather than the calendar — see Airbnb turnover maintenance.

Anyone who has had a small problem become a large one because it waited.

What a visit covers

We agree the list with you rather than selling a package. A typical visit includes:

• Plumbing across the property. Every fixture run and checked, traps and stops inspected, under-sink areas checked for the damp that precedes a leak.
• Water heater service. A flush, the relief valve checked, the expansion provision checked. In Miami-Dade’s hard water this is the single highest-value item on the list.
• Leak and seal work. Sealant around tubs, showers and countertops renewed before water gets behind it.
• Drains. Run under load, not at a trickle. A drain that is slowing is easier to deal with now.
• Doors, windows and furniture. Hinges, closers, locks and handles eased and adjusted.
• The small-repair list. Whatever has accumulated since last time.
• A look at what is coming. The things that are not faults yet but will be.

The British part

Three habits, and they are the reason this works:

It is written down before it is done. The same list every visit, so nothing gets quietly dropped and you can see what you are paying for.

It is written down after it is done. What was checked, what was found, what was done, what needs attention next. Written for forwarding — to an owner, an association or an insurer — without being rewritten.

Access is agreed first. Building management, a concierge, a lockbox, a tenant who needs notice. More maintenance visits are wasted on access than on anything else, so it is settled before the van is loaded rather than at the door.

And the thing that should not need saying: the property is left cleaner than we found it. Floors protected, dust contained, old parts taken away.

How the schedule works

One property, occupied. Two or three visits a year covers most of what matters, timed so one falls before hurricane season.

A portfolio. We work to an interval the properties justify, batching visits by building or area so you are not paying for travel time twice.

Short-term rentals. Driven by turnovers. Tell us the windows and we work inside them.

Between planned visits, reactive callouts are handled the same way as any other job — but there are fewer of them, which is the point.

All plumbing work is completed to the Florida Building Code, by a licensed Florida contractor, Lic. #CFC1433820.

What the report is actually for

Three things, and only one of them is about the work.

It tells you what you own. After two or three visits the reports become a history of the property: what has been replaced, what is ageing, what keeps needing attention. That is the difference between budgeting for a water heater and being surprised by one.

It settles arguments before they start. A dated record of what was checked and found is what turns “this was already like that” into a fact rather than a position. That matters with departing tenants, with associations, and with insurers.

It can be forwarded. Written for an owner or a board to read directly, without a manager having to translate it first. A report that needs rewriting before it can be sent is a report that does not get sent.

We would rather write one honest paragraph about something we are not sure about than a tidy line that implies we checked something properly when we did not.

What affects the cost

• How many properties, and how close together. Batching cuts travel.
• Visit frequency, and how long each visit needs.
• What is on the list. A plumbing-only check is not a full property visit.
• Property type and age. An older Coral Gables house has more to look at than a five-year-old Doral townhouse.
• Access requirements. Buildings with insurance certificates, booked elevators and restricted hours take longer.

Plans are quoted in writing, with what is included and what is not stated plainly. No package pricing invented to look tidy.