It is necessary to replace the carpet in your Dr. Phillips rental home every few years, though few landlords enjoy it. Have you contemplated removing the carpet from your rental property once and for all? More rental property owners are switching from wall-to-wall carpeting to hard-surface flooring. If this concept feels too radical, think about the reasons why fully removing the carpet is beneficial for landlords and tenants.
Carpets may harbor dirt and odor
One of the hardest things about having carpet in a rental home is ensuring it stays clean. Even if you have the carpets professionally cleaned between tenants, they might not keep them up during their occupancy. When tenants stay for several years, those carpets might accumulate dirt and grime for years.
Carpet fibers are well known for trapping bad odors, particularly when not cleaned regularly and thoroughly. Even when tenants clean the carpet, they probably want to avoid the expense of hiring someone or the time to do it themselves.
Alternatively, hard-surface flooring, including laminate or tile, is easy to keep clean. These floors can be scrubbed to shine in a few minutes and as often as tenants wish, ensuring no unpleasant stains or smells. Hard-surface flooring is far more sanitary than carpet for young children and those with respiratory or other health issues.
Avoid soaked carpets in case of a flood
Another reason to consider ditching carpets is the hassle of cleaning them after water leaks and floods. Even a minor plumbing problem can result in significant flooding in a rental, and wet carpets can become a serious issue.
Wet carpets must be pulled up, and the subflooring, pad, and carpeting should be thoroughly dried to prevent mold growth. If the carpet can’t be dried, it needs to be replaced. If you fail to address a flooding situation promptly and correctly, you could risk your residents’ health and face serious liability.
Most hard-surface flooring, aside from natural hardwood, is much easier to deal with in a flood. Properly installed laminate and vinyl are highly water-resistant and can be dried efficiently. This means expensive restoration services or flooring replacement won’t be needed, just some focused clean-up.
Hardwood floors have a longer lifespan
Everyone knows that carpets should be replaced every five years. Some landlords try to stretch this to seven years or longer—generally to their disadvantage. Most tenants aren’t keen on living with old, worn, or stained carpets. If carpets are not replaced regularly, tenants might think about moving out.
Old carpets look unattractive and can be dangerous. As carpet ages, tacks can come up from underneath and hurt people walking on them. Cheap carpets, in particular, don’t endure more than a few years in rental properties.
Conversely, hard-surface flooring has a significantly longer lifespan. Though there are ways a tenant could damage a hard-surface floor, most tile or laminate flooring lasts ten to twenty years or more. Laminate flooring is priced similarly to carpet but doesn’t need to be replaced as often, making it a better rental choice.
Ditch the outdated look of carpets
Lastly, wall-to-wall carpeting can sometimes give a rental property an outdated appearance. In newer homes, carpet is often kept to a minimum, perhaps only in bedrooms or not at all.
To modernize your rental, think about installing attractive laminate or tile flooring in the main living areas instead of carpet. Unlike carpet, which tenants can’t change, hard-surface flooring allows tenants to add rugs or décor to customize the space while maintaining cleanliness and durability.
Modern laminate tile is available in various sizes, colors, and patterns, including wood-look tiles that can upgrade your rental without the cost and hassle of natural hardwood.
Learn about the benefits of hard-surface flooring for rental properties. Get in touch with Real Property Management South Orlando at 407-982-2000 or online for tips on creating cost-effective, appealing interiors that tenants will love. Our property managers in Dr. Phillips are experts in reducing maintenance costs without sacrificing tenant appeal.
Originally Published on May 7, 2021
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