Preventative Maintenance is important in minimizing issues that could cause damage to your rental home. Please use the guide below for best practices on maintaining your property.  If you do have a maintenance issue, see if you can find an answer in our Maintenance Troubleshooting guide or you can Submit a Maintenance Request.

1. Air Conditioners (window, central, split)
   • For window a/c and split a/c units remove and clean air conditioning filter once per month.
   • For central a/c units replace your filters once per month from the supply provided.
2. Dishwasher
• DAILY – To prevent clogs and bacteria, scrape food from the dishes and pre-rinse and dried food before loading them in the dishwasher
• WEEKLY – Be sure to run the dishwasher at least once a week, even if it is empty, to prevent any clogs in the drain line. This is especially important if you have a garbage disposal.
• BEST PRACTICES:
• If you are in a property without a water softener, add 2 cups of white distilled vinegar every few months to dissolve hard water deposits
• DON’T overload the dishwasher – this will prevent it from cleaning well.
• DON’T use liquid dish soap or gel soap – they will over suds or gunk up the system
3. Drains
• Be careful to keep foreign objects from going down the drain
• Consider placing removable strainers on each of your kitchen drains – these will easily capture anything that is not supposed to go down the drain and can easily be cleaned
• Check out this great trick to prevent clogs from hair, food, and oil – Pour 1 Tbs of table salt and 1 Tbs of baking soda down the drain. Next, pour in  1/4 cup of white vinegar and step back – it’ll start bubbling and fizzing. Wait about 20 minutes and pour in 2 quarts of HOT water. If you are treating Kitchen drains or Garbage Disposals, use COLD water.
4. Garbage Disposal
• During normal use, make sure to use a strong flow of cold water while your disposal is running and for a few seconds after you stop the disposal.
• Periodically clean your disposal by grinding 1 cup of ice and a few slices of lemon or orange. This will fight odors as well.
• Put very few things down the disposal – you should scrape pieces of food, etc, into the trash before rinsing the dishes and using the disposal.
• NEVER put grease or oil down the disposal and do not try to grind bones or pits. Also keep foods with a lot of fibers out of the disposal, including artichokes, banana peels, celery, and corn husks.
5. Smoke Detectors
• Smoke detectors should be checked regularly. There are many types on the market – check the operation manual for your detector. This info can often be readily found on the internet.
• Change batteries at least once a year. Most systems will chirp to alert you that the battery is low.
• If your smoke detector does not work properly after changing the battery, submit a maintenance request.
6. Termites- Notify Century 21 Sweyer Rentals immediately if you notice any indication of termites in your home. Signs of termites may include:
   • Appearance or “swarm” of winged termites, especially around windows or doorways.
   • Small “mud trails” on side of house or fence
   • Small piles of tiny black balls of sand-like material
7. Toilets
• Don’t flush anything except toilet tissue – things like paper towels, diapers, napkins, sanitary napkins, tampons, balls of hair, Q-tips, and rags will cause problems.
• Do not use hangers or snakes to unclog a toilet, they may cause damage to the porcelain bowl.
8. Fireplaces
• Open flue/vent before starting fire.  If smoke comes out of fireplace, put fire out immediately.
• Do not use softwoods in fireplaces, such as pine, fir, redwood, or purchased logs, such as Duralogs, Duraflames, etc.  These woods and logs cause a coating in the flue, which can cause fires.  Use hard woods such as oak, almond, walnut, etc..
• When removing coals from fireplace, coals should be cold. NEVER put hot or warm coals in container such as a garbage can.

Residents Will Be Responsible For Following Charges:

• If there is a service call and breaker is tripped.
• Sewer stoppage caused by placement of debris in line (toys, tools, diapers,rags, sanitary napkins, tampons, excessive toilet paper, cat litter, etc.)
• If Resident (or their pet) causes damage to the property, in any area.
• If Resident reports a repair which does not require service.
• If Resident fails to replace battery for smoke detector or remote door opener and causes a service call for only battery replacement.
• For damage caused by a break in, unless police report is provided.
• For carpet cleaning while living at the property.

This list is an example and is not complete, tenants will be charged for damage to property cause by resident or their guests, and any service call when no problem is found.

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL TENANTS TO REPORT MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS. FAILURE TO DO SO CAN CAUSE TENANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGES.