One of our jobs here at Red Roof is to handle the maintenance and repair requests that come in on a daily basis, such as:
- Plumbing – sewer line back-ups, leaks under sinks, plugged toilets, water heater problems, broken garbage disposals
- Electrical – dead wall outlets, broken wall heaters, failed circuit breakers, outlets & switches
- Appliances – burned out stove elements, refrigerator ice-ups & dishwasher problems
Jeff isn’t afraid of a little work.
Dealing with my own rental properties for many years has sharpened my problem solving skills AND our maintenance man Jerry is one of the BEST problem solvers I have ever met! For serious issues we do call in licensed professionals to handle the situation, but for many of the smaller day-to-day problems we seek to resolve problems correctly and inexpensively.
You can see from the photo here that I, the company owner, am not afraid to clean up after a toilet overflow. Why make that poor renter wait until the cleaning lady can get to it tomorrow… I wouldn’t tolerate that so why should the renter? They shouldn’t!
Maintenance man Jerry has solved some very curious problems in simple and efficient ways that have saved the property owners HUNDRED and HUNDREDS of dollars:
Complaint: Inadequate hot water. Owner said replace tank.
Possible costs: Plumber – removal & replacement – $650 labor & material
Solution: We replaced both elements & both thermostats
Charge to owner: $40 labor + $60 materials
Result: OWNER SAVED $550 !Complaint: No hot water to the kitchen sink faucet. Owner said run a new hot water line from the tank to the sink
Possible costs: Plumber – about $500
Solution: Jerry crawled underneath the house, removed and replaced an old hot water line repair that looked suspicious and found a MARBLE in the line!
Charge to owner: $60
Result: OWNER SAVED $440 !Complaint: Toilet overflowed onto floor – sewage coming up in bath tub. We couldn’t reach the owner for a decision.
Possible costs: Roto-Rooter – $150 PLUS $40 for cleaning lady
Solution: Jerry & I went to the property… Jerry cleared the main line thru the clean-out with a garden hose while I cleaned and sanitized the bathroom.
Charge to owner: zero! I bought Jerry lunch and we charged the owner nothing.
Result: OWNER SAVED $190 !
But wait… THERE’S MORE!
Complaint: No heat coming from the floor vents – furnace breaker tripped off
Possible costs: Appliance service call – $100
Solution: Replaced totally clogged furnace air filters – 2 in the furnace… AND 1 hidden in the air return!
Charge to owner: $30
Result: OWNER SAVED $70 !Complaint: Dishwasher won’t drain dirty water out
Possible costs: Replace dishwasher – $375
Solution: Cleaned totally plugged filter screen in bottom of dishwasher.
Charge to owner: $35
Result: OWNER SAVED $340 !Complaint: Refrigerator has water dripping inside & pooling in bottom
Possible costs: Appliance service call – $100
Solution: Disassemble freezer to access and blow debris out of drain line from freezer to evaporation pan underneath.
Charge to owner: $45
Result: OWNER SAVED $55 !
All in all you can see that we are mindful about getting things done correctly and inexpensively! That is what I want for myself on my own rentals and so that is what our customers get.
And just so you know, the only thing Red Roof makes on any service call that comes in to us for maintenance or repair is a $20 fee added to each invoice for our oversight and admin. costs.
Red Roof is committed to NOT “nickel-and-diming” our valued property owners!