Replacing the carpet in your Gainesville rental home every few years is an important expense, however, it is true that very few rental property owners enjoy it. Conversely, have you ever contemplated taking away the carpet in your rental for good? Now, more and more, rental property owners are opting to not apply wall-to-wall carpeting and installing hard-surface flooring in their properties instead. If this looks to be a bit too far out there for you, take time to give thought to these reasons why letting go of carpet totally is a good idea for Gainesville rental property owners and their tenants.
Reason #1: Cleanliness
One of the harder components of having carpet in a rental home is keeping it clean. Even supposing you may have the carpets professionally cleaned between each tenant, the tenants may not be doing it themselves. If your tenants have lived there for numerous years (or more), that could suggest that those carpets have been accumulating dirt and gunk for years. Carpet fibers are well known for absorbing terrible smells, which is particularly true if the carpet isn’t being cleaned properly and regularly. Granting that your tenant does have the carpet cleaned, they likely don’t enjoy the expense of hiring someone to do it or the time it takes to do it themselves.
But in contrast, hard-surface flooring, such as laminate or tile, is easy to clean. In fact, most of these kinds of flooring can be cleaned and scrubbed to shine in only just a few minutes and as oftentimes as the tenant wants to make sure that there are no unpleasant stains or smells. And unlike carpet, hard-surface flooring is also definitely a lot more sanitary for young children and individuals with respiratory or other health issues.
Reason #2: Flooding
Another consideration you may think about when giving up carpet for good is the annoyance of cleaning up carpets that get soaked from water leaks and floods. Even one small plumbing issue can cause major flooding inside a rental house, and if carpets are wet, they can immediately turn out to be a major burden. Soaked carpets must be pulled up, and the subflooring, pad, and carpeting dried out quickly and completely to prevent dangerous mold from growing underneath. If drying the carpet isn’t possible at that point, it will have to be replaced. If you don’t take proper charge of a flooding situation promptly, you could put your residents’ health at risk and open yourself up to a lot of serious liability.
Many varieties of hard-surface flooring (other than real hardwood) are much simpler to manage in a flooding situation. As long as it has been properly installed, numerous kinds of laminate and vinyl are very water-resistant and can be dried out rather efficiently. This means that there will be no need for expensive restoration services or flooring replacement, only some focused clean-up.
Reason #3: Longevity
It’s widely understood that the carpet needs to be replaced every five years or so. A lot of landlords will aim to stretch that out to seven years or even longer – usually to their harm and detriment. Residents do not quite prefer living on top of old, threadbare, or even stained carpets and will usually leave a rental if the carpet isn’t replaced as regularly as they would like. Old carpeting looks disgusting and is oftentimes quite dangerous too. As carpet ages, carpet tack can start to emerge from underneath and cause people to trip while walking on it. Also be aware that cheap carpet, especially, doesn’t really last more than a couple of years under rental property conditions.
Hard-surface flooring, on the contrary though, is proven to have far better longevity. Conceding that there are many ways indeed that a tenant could probably damage a hard-surface floor, most tiles or laminate flooring should be able to last you for at least ten to twenty years or more even. Laminate flooring costs about the same as carpet, but since it does not actually need to be replaced repeatedly, it can be a far better choice for rental properties.
Reason #4: Modern Look
One last thing, wall-to-wall carpeting can, in several cases, make a rental property’s interior look outdated. Newer homes these days often keep carpet to a minimum, likely only in the bedrooms or not at all. To give your rental a more modern look, think about adding some gorgeous laminate flooring or tile instead of carpet in the main living areas. Unlike carpet, which a tenant cannot change, hard-surface flooring allows tenants to add rugs or some décor items they like to personalize the area without compromising on cleanliness or longevity. Modern laminate tile comes in a wide range of sizes, colors, and patterns, including wood-look tiles that can really add an upgraded feel to your rental without the price tag and hassle of real hardwood.
With multiple benefits of hard-surface flooring, it’s not really that difficult at all to see why most rental property owners are choosing to leave carpet behind for good! Would you like more information about how to design awesome, yet long-lasting rental home interiors that tenants will like best while saving you money? Give Real Property Management Diversified a call quickly at 352-854-2221 Our team of Gainesville property managers works with rental property owners like you to lower your maintenance and repairs costs without making your rental any less captivating for tenants.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
