Why it is good to have good tradies on speed dial...

Discussion in 'Repairs & Maintenance' started by wylie, 3rd Jan, 2017.

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  1. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I thought it was time for a good news story and why it is great to have a stable of reliable tradies on speed dial.

    This morning at 8.26am I got an email with photos of water pouring from what looked like a blocked gutter and a detached down pipe at one of our IPs in the big rain event we copped last night.

    I didn't see the email until after 9am and immediately forwarded the photos to the plumber's wife at 9.30am. I emailed the tenant saying we would sort it out.

    At 12.36pm my plumber sent me a photo of a cricket ball and said the ball was blocking the pipe plus lots of palm fronds. All removed, gutters now clear and he is going to another IP now to measure up for some flashing that needs replacing.

    How good is that?
     
    wylie, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  2. KayTea

    KayTea Well-Known Member

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    Just out of interest, did you have to foot the bill? It wasn't a defect or maintenance issue with the house, but perhaps the tenants not looking after the property fully/correctly? Interested to know.
     
    KayTea, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  3. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Who threw the cricket ball (& didn’t retrieve it)?
     
    Last edited: 3rd Jan, 2017
    Scott No Mates, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  4. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    These are new tenants. No kids. No idea who threw the cricket ball. Probably kids in the street?

    I've thanked these tenants for letting me know and asked that they let me know anything else that they find needs fixing.

    My cost.
     
    wylie, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  5. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Get a wire cowl installed to stop it happening again
     
    Scott No Mates, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  6. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    Exactly. I had tenants like this. They reported water leaking in the bathroom. It was actually under the vanity, so no big deal for them. Some investigating revealed the shower was leaking into an external cavity wall, soaking the wood in the cavity. It was a simple but important fix. Had the wood rotted away, the shower would have to have been gutted, new supports, board, tiling etc... it would have cost thousands of dollars to repair the damage. One text from my tenants saved all that hassle
     
    Perthguy, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  7. Bran

    Bran Well-Known Member

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    Better than him telling you should bulldoze the house like when he came to my house ;)
     
    Bran, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  8. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    LOL :D

    I don't know if he told you but he has just (a year ago) moved from a house older than either your house or mine, and I think he is enjoying (for the first time in 35 years) having a "new" house. Although, his "new" house is older than his old house but has been almost totally rebuilt. So it is like living in a brand new, modern house.

    He'll miss the old house one day, but not yet... :p. He's too busy fishing and tossing crab pots into the water when he isn't plumbing.
     
    wylie, 3rd Jan, 2017
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  9. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    Something similar happened to me yesterday @wylie. I just got a property condition report back from a new tenant. One issue noted on the report was that the evaporative aircon wasn't very cool. At the same time I wanted to measure up to repair the sewer inspection point that was damaged when the back of the block was recently cleared.

    I sent my investment partner to check out the a/c while I measured up the sewer pipe, which turned out to be completely blocked. Not good for a Friday lunch time. I called Lightning Plumbing to see if they could fix today. Guy wasn't sure but I booked him in case. He was there in under 3 hours, which is fantastic for a Friday afternoon. Young guy did a great job at a reasonable price. Very happy.

    In the meantime it turned out the a/c pump was burned out so we replaced that and got the a/c working properly. Then we bought the parts from Bunnings to repair the sewer inspection pipe. While we were there we did a couple of other small jobs around the house.

    All problems solved by 4pm Friday. I always like to have faults rectified same day where possible.
     
    Perthguy, 7th Jan, 2017
    #9
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