Hello everyone.

Last week I took a “vacation” at one on my vacation rental homes. The reason I put “vacation” in quotes? I think you know~ is there really any such thing as a real “vacation” when you visit your own vacation rental home? For me, no matter how much I try and how many times I say to myself, “I'm not going to do any work while I'm there.” I always end up doing some work.

When I arrived at my home, I did the first thing I always do: Go read through my guestbook. Unfortunately I could not find mine! I am so upset. My guestbook always has great feedback and wonderful stories from all the guests who stayed in my home. It's a real bummer when irreplaceable items show up missing. I would have rather they taken my TV than my guestbook. I suspect a child got their hands on it and either tore the pages out or spilled something on it. But I'm going to call my guests to see if just by chance someone took it home by mistake. I joked about even offering a reward.

Anyhow, while I was in my home, I noticed some things that needed attention. My toilets were leaking/running (inside the bowl), the deadbolt lock was broken, my sliding door screens needed to be rescreened, and the showerheads needed to be replaced.

I could have called a locksmith, a plumber and a screen company, but I know that they would have charged a fair amount of money for things that I could do with very little effort.

The first thing we tackled was the toilets (since they were driving me nuts trying to sleep-- hearing a toilet gurgle and run is very distracting!) We looked inside the toilet and went and bought the same type of fill valve as we had, which was the kind with a float ball, like the picture below from Fluidmaster.com. Let me say: Don't buy this kind. It was a pain to install and adjust. After fighting with it for about an hour and a half, we just gave up and went back to the hardware store and bought the other kind of repair kit (Complete Repair Kit, 400AK). The new repair kit took about 10 minutes to install, and is working great! After the fact, I noticed that the repair kit has a website address with a downloadable video instruction. Overall, I think this was a easy do-it-yourself project (when you buy the right parts). Cost was around $15 for the repair kit and required pliers and a screw driver.

The next thing we tackled was fixing the screens. Thankfully the screens were not ripped, they had just pulled away from the edges. This was a very easy quick fix. We bought a screen roller and my 14 year old son fixed it himself. It took him less than 10 minutes. Definitely worth a do-it-yourself fix, cost around $5 for the roller.

Replacing the showerheads was also a very easy task. We bought an $8 shower head, and unscrewed the old and screwed in the new. We replaced it because the water was spraying all over the place, not in a neat downward stream. This is a potential for water damage in the bathroom. When fixing, don't forget to make sure to put the washer in and use the plumbers tape that comes with the shower head. Yes, this is a do-it-yourself easy project, costs $8 and requires no tools.

Now onto the deadbolt. This was a much more difficult task. We had to take off the old deadbolt and door knob (because we had to have the door knob re-keyed so they both take the same key.) One of us had to stay in the house (because there were no locks on our door) while the other went to the store to buy a new lock. Installing the new lock was not difficult, it just took more time. The secret is to make sure that you get a new lock that is the same exact size as the old one so you don't need to do any new drilling. Anyhow, this task took around an hour and cost us around $40.

Also while I was there, I noticed some things in the area had changed that I would need to inform my renters about. There was a new bank built (landmarks for driving directions), we have a new beach service company, and I went to some different restaurants that I had never been to before. So as soon as I got home, I made sure to update all of my directions and local area information packets that I give to my renters. It's always good to keep this sort of information up-to-date.

Happy Renting!

Christine

If you're interested in hearing Christine speak at one of her upcoming seminars, visit the Seminar Schedule for more information.

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