Rental Biz - A Landlord's Life

Best Cockroach Trap - Cheap and Effective

2010-11-23T11:36:00.004+08:00

Cockroach or roach infestation in your apartment unit is something you definitely need to worry about. They say that for every single roach you find crawling on your apartment's kitchen floor, six others are hiding in your cabinets, closets and walls. Roaches have been on earth for eons and that tells you how resilient they can be.

So how do you get rid of them? Generally, sanitation in the apartment building plays a big role to preventing an infestation. Of course, there needs to be a concerted effort among the building tenants to make sure this happens.

Getting Rid of Roaches

But there are several ways to kill cockroaches already existing in your apartment unit. Nowadays there are plenty of cockroach poisoned baits available in the supermarket. One type that I find particularly effective are the bait gels that come in syringe-applicator tubes. These can be a bit expensive though. Another way of ridding roaches is by trapping them.

Effective Trap to Eliminate Roaches

I recently discovered an effective way to trap cockroaches. No, it isn't another DIY project for you to do around the apartment. In fact, other than buying and enjoying a refreshing big cup of your favorite frappuccino, you don't have to spend a single cent. And you don't have to do anything extra either, other than positioning the trap.

Here's what you do. After finishing the big cup of frappuccino, save the empty container with its plastic transparent dome. Throw away the straw. Don't crush the empty container or even wash it.

Position the empty container in an area frequented by roaches. This could be somewhere in your pantry, inside kitchen cabinets, under lavatories or near drains. It is important that the empty container is standing up. Ensure the hole at the top of the transparent dome is not blocked.

Leave the container undisturbed. The following morning you'd find cockroaches inside the the roach trap. Many of them will be dead or close to dying. If you're a bit queasy in killing those still alive, you can mix a few drops of Joy liquid detergent in water, shake it up in a bottle and pour it inside the roach trap. The roaches will eventually die.

How the Improvised Roach Trap Works

The remaining frappuccino cream inside the empty container will be the bait for the cockroaches. Apparently, roaches cannot resist the sweet tasting remaining drops of frappuccino at the rim of the transparent plastic dome. Wanting more, they'll crawl inside the dome hole and fall.

Some of those that drop fall on their backs and stick to the bottom. Others, once inside, cannot crawl back out. The inside surface of the transparent plastic dome is much too slippery even for their legs and they continue to fall to the bottom of the cup.

Be sure to dispose of the improvised cockroach traps as needed. You don't want rats to smell the frappuccino bait and come in to your apartment. Then you might have a rat problem to solve.

Homemade Rat Poison Bait Dish

2010-11-22T08:13:00.007+08:00

In an apartment building, there's one thing you definitely share with other tenants and that's general sanitation in the apartment building. Even if you keep your eating and cooking quarters immaculately clean, there's no saying how other tenants dispose of kitchen or dinner trash. And when sanitation is a problem in the apartment building, you may be having rodents - that's rats and mice - passing through or visiting your apartment unit.

Cats to Catch Rats and Mice

If you're lucky to have an aggressive cat, then rat infestation may not be a big problem for you. That's assuming your landlord even allows pets as some landlords have a "no pets" policy. But then there may be other areas around the apartment that are accessible to rats, but not to cats. Mice, for instance are smaller and nimbler than rats and can easily pass through small entryways, crevices and high narrow ledges.

Rat Poison, Baits and Traps

There are plenty of rat poison, baits and traps in the supermarket. I particularly don't like rat traps that don't kill rats though since I'd don't like disposing of live rats. Poison in the form of tracking powder that stick to rats can be messy in the long run. Also, it may not be a good idea if you have a pet.

For these reasons, I prefer the rat bait poison that you put in bait receptacles for the rats and mice to feed on. There are several brands in the market with each touting their rat-eliminating properties. There's one that causes rats to become blind therefore forcing them to go outside. Mice won't die trapped inside your closets or cabinets. Another has chemicals that cause dehydration therefore minimizing foul odors. And still another claims anti-bait shyness so rats (highly intelligent creatures, by the way) don't suspect what's killing them. Others have a combination of these properties.

Rat poisoned baits, properly placed in an container or a dish can be effective and mess free. Here's an inexpensive homemade rat poison dish that you can make.

How to Make a Rat Bait Dish

Here's a homemade rat poison dish with bait (colored blue) that is placed on a ledge and secured to the window grill.

Materials

Transparent plastic cup - 1 pc (can be bought in the kitchen section of the supermarket)
Twist ties - 2 pcs, 3 inches long.
Scissors
Small nail

Procedure

With a pair of scissors, cut the top part off from the transparent plastic cup, leaving a portion of the cup that is 1 inch high from the base.
Punch a couple of holes on the remaining plastic cup. Use a small nail to punch these holes. Position these holes so they are 1/4 inch from the top and 3/4 inch from each other.
Slide a couple of twist ties through the punched holes.
Secure the rat poisoned bait dish by tying it to a window grill as shown in the above photo.

Advantages of the Homemade Rat Poison Dish

Easy to monitor
The transparent material allows you to see through the dish and tells you if there are mice feeding. It also tells you when to replenish the rat poison bait. This is especially helpful if the rat dish is located on a ledge that's above eye level.
Stable and secured
Rats and mice fidget when feeding and can be messy eaters. The rat dish is high enough so the poisoned bait doesn't spill out. But it is also secured so it doesn't topple easily. You can double-sided tapes to further secure the dish or when there's nothing to tie it to.
Durable
The plastic dish is inexpensive yet waterproof and can last a long time.

Securing an Antenna Cable Outside the Apartment

2010-11-20T12:03:00.012+08:00

After installing an outdoor antenna for your apartment, you have to find a way to secure the antenna cable coming from the antenna. You wouldn't want the cable dangling all the way from the top of the antenna pole all the way to its connection to your TV set inside your apartment unit.

A dangling cable isn't only unsightly, it's generally unsafe. People could easily trip over cable wires on the ground. Bringing tall items like ladders for instance could catch and snag the cable, pulling the antenna out of position or worse, result in an injury to you or other tenants. Check with your landlord if you have doubts on how to secure the cable.

Fastening the Cable to the Antenna Pole

If the antenna pole is high, as in most cases, you may want to fasten the cable to the pole. The easiest way to do this is by using an electical tape or duct tape to fasten the antenna cable. You could also use plastic locking ties for more secure fastening. Depending on the length of the antenna pole, you may need to fasten the cable at a few points along the pole.

Fasteners to Secure Cable Wire on Building Structures

It's easier to secure cables to wooden structures. Typically, you would just need wire staples to tack the cable in place. You could also use screw-in hooks or nails if you only need to secure the cable temporarily.

Concrete structures, however are a bit more complicated. In my experience, plastic hooks that have small pins for nailing are the best. The photo below shows one of these hooks with the four metal pins hammered in to a sufficient depth.

This plastic hook does not require drilling like screw-in hooks. You only need a hammer to set it. The trick is to hammer all the small metal pins simultaneously. Unlike hooks with adhesive strips, these plastic hooks are stronger and can carry more weight. They're also sturdy enough to withstand the outside elements. The downside though is they could be very difficult to remove.

You may need several of these plastic hooks to fasten the cable wire around the building. I prefer to run the antenna cable around the building until it reaches a window nearest to the TV set. Bringing the antenna cable in through the nearest window may save you cable wire but it will also result in doors not closing properly or not at all.

Here's the plastic hook holding the antenna cable securely on a concrete ledge.

What to do with Excess Cable Wire

When you have a long enough cable wire, it may be just best to coil it rather than cut the excess off. Keep the coiled part of the cable wire indoors rather than outside as there's no sense exposing it to the elements.

What I do is to use twist ties to coil it neatly and then hang it somewhere near the back of the TV set. By coiling the excess cable and hanging it, this minimizes it collecting dust from the floor in your apartment.

Installing an Outdoor Antenna for your Apartment

2010-11-17T07:28:00.016+08:00

As a tenant, you may encounter several restrictions on your lease contract pertaining to installation of outdoor structures like an antenna. Cable TV isn't a viable alternative for a tenant on a budget. So an oudoor antenna for the home TV may be your only choice for inexpensive entertainment in the apartment.

A rooftop antenna is the probably the best and cheapest way to get good TV reception. Some landlords though may not cherish the idea of having structures on the apartment's roof that utlizes antenna poles, guy wires and antenna cables. Check your lease contract and with your landlord for alternatives.

When the Apartment's Roof is not an Option

Sometimes the landlord would agree to a TV antenna being installed at the following;

Perimeter fence of the apartment
Posts near the apartment's front gate
Railing in tall apartment buildings
Freestanding outside structures like the apartment's water tank

As much as possible, the antenna pole's bottom needs to be elevated from the ground. One reason is to achieve a good height for the antenna. Another, is to keep water from filling inside the antenna pole (when using a steel pipe). A steel pipe stuck to the soil, in particular, will collect rainwater inside it. You'd need a specially fitted cap at the top of the pole to cover the hole and prevent rain water from filling it.

How to Bind the Antenna Pole to Existing Structures

In the example below, an antenna pole is attached to the steel ladder of a concrete water tank. To get the maximum height, the pole will need to rest on a horizontal steel pipe at the bottom of the ladder.

There is no welding required here. The antenna pole can be repositioned or brought down as needed. The pole's bottom needs to be secured well though on the steel pipe. There is a risk that with the antenna pole's height and weight, it could inadvertantly slide out of its position.

The procedures below discuss how to create a mounting base for the antenna pole and how to secure the pole to the ladder's vertical steel rod.

Materials:

Insulated Solid Copper Wire
20 foot 3/4" Steel Pipe
PVC Pipe Tee regular straight tee A common type of pipe tee is the STRAIGHT tee, which has a straight-through portion and a 90-degree takeoff on one side. All three openings of the straight tee are of the same size.
Hack Saw
Flat File
Pliers with Wire Cutting Tool

Procedures:

Steps to Prepare the Mounting Base for the Antenna

Measure the outside diameter of the horizontal steel pipe.
Mark the measurement for the entire length of the bottom of PVC Pipe Tee's straight-through portion.
With a hack saw, make shallow scratches on the PVC Pipe Tee on both ends of the Tee fitting's straight-through portion. These will serve as pilot cuts so it will be easy to saw a straight line.
Proceed to saw off the bottom slot as shown below.

You may need something to hold the the PVC Pipe Tee fitting in place while sawing it. I used an an inverted rubber tile to grip the PVC. The idea is that when this bottom part is cut off, a a bottom slot is created. The horizontal steel pipe will then slide into this slot.
Cut away the entire "arm" of one side of the PVC Tee fitting, so the "T" fitting now becomes an "L".
File all rough edges of the cut parts using the flat file. This final product will be the antenna's mounting base.
Position the mounting base so the horizontal steel pipe slides through the bottom slot.
Push the mounting base so it is flush against the vertical steel rod.
With the wire cutting tool of the pliers, cut an 8-inch insulated copper wire.
Tie the mounting base against the vertical steel rod with the pliers as shown below.

Steps to Secure the Antenna Pole to the Vertical Rod

Connect the antenna to the antenna pole.
With an assistant, raise the antenna pole and position the bottom part into mounting base. The antenna pole's bottom should now be secured in the mounting base.
Cut 10-inch long insulated copper wires for each rung of the ladder.
Turn the antenna pole and stop when you find the best TV reception.
Tie the antenna pole to the vertical steel rod with the insulated copper wires. Shown below is the bottom part of the antenna pole secured in the mounting base.

Also shown is the insulated copper wire securing the antenna pole to the vertical steel rod at the first rung of the ladder.

After installing the antenna pole, the next step is to secure the antenna cable. Check your lease agreement or talk to your landlord with regards to installing outdoor TV antennas and their cables. TV-watching may still be the cheapest form of entertainment for apartment living.

Inexpensive Homemade Stools for Apartment Living

2010-11-14T10:47:00.004+08:00

If you're a tenant on a budget and with limited space in your apartment, seating furniture can sometimes be a problem. This is especially so, if you have unexpected guests dropping by your apartment unit. An easy solution to this is to have stools to augment your apartment's limited number of chairs.

Here's an easy to do project requiring just a few used materials and some construction adhesive.

The main body used for this do-it-yourself (DIY) project is a used plastic electrical cable spool. This big plastic spool is that used by communications or power utility companies for ther wires and cables.

How to Make the Stool

Materials:

Used Cable Spool - 1 pc.
Old Puzzle Mat Tile (also called Interlocking Floor Mats) - 1 pc.
Construction Adhesive
Pencil
Heavy Duty Scissors

Procedure:

Clean the used spool thoroughly. Use an old toothbrush, scrubbing pads, soap and water to clean out dirt from all nooks and crannies of the spool.
Lay the puzzle mat tile on the floor. Take the seating side of the spool and place this on the puzzle mat tile.
Pressing the spool firmly against the mat tile, trace the seating side's shape with a pencil on the puzzle mat tile.
Cut the traced circle on the puzzle mat with a pair of heavy duty scissors. Smoothen out the rough edges of the cut circle with the scissors. You may need to do several passes around the circle. Ensure the cut circle fits on the seating side of the spool.
Identify which areas of the seating side of the plastic spool will be in direct contact (touching) the cut mat.
Thinly spread construction adhesive on the identified areas of the seating side.
Carefully position the smoother side of the cut mat on the seating side of the spool (with the adhesive). Putting the smoother side of the cut mat on the construction adhesive will ensure a stronger bond.
Lay the matted seating side of the spool on a flat surface, like the floor - so the stool is inverted.
On the top (the spool's bottom), carefully place some heavy weight to press the construction adhesive as it cures and dries.

Here are a couple of homemade stools I assembled out of used electrical cable spools and foam rubber puzzle mats.

Load Capacity of the Homemade Stool

I cannot attest to the seating load capacity of this stool so this is just word of caution. This homemade stool is not for the overweight. People with big butts may not feel comfortable in sitting on one stool as it may be inadequate.

Because the spool has essentially only one foot, it is not as stable as a four-legged stool. Do not step or stand on it.

Advantages of using the Homemade Stool

Durable
Puzzle mat tiles are typically made of high density EVA foam for impact sports and recreation. They can take a lot of beating yet remain comfortable to sit on. The spool is made of heavy duty plastic and doesn't crack easily.
Waterproof
The materials used for the stool are all waterproof which makes it easy to clean and brush the stool with just a scrubbing pad, soap and water. Although the stool's parts are waterproof, avoid storing them outside the apartment for extended time. The mat's color could easily fade under the sun.
Easy to store away
Because the spool has a flat top and bottom, you could stack them on top of another. Put them in a quiet place in the apartment that isn't busy to foot traffic. You can stack them up near posts or corners of your apartment.
Extremely light and portable
Made out of plastic and foam rubber, a child could carry the stool anywhere. You could even bring and use them for picnics or any outdoor activity. I bring my homemade stools to a memorial park on All Souls' Day for the kids to use.

Apartment living doesn't need to feel lacking when it comes seating furniture. These small, portable homemade stools are inexpensive and easy to assemble. Your guests and friends will find multiple uses for it, in or outside the apartment.

Readjust Kitchen Cabinet Concealed Hinges - 3

2010-04-25T19:51:00.005+08:00

This is the continuation of the previous post on using wood epoxy as a wood filler.

After preparing the wood epoxy and filling it into the screw holes, you have to work fast enough to ensure that the screws are in place BEFORE the epoxy completely hardens. Otherwise, the epoxy becomes hard and doesn't bond the screw with the wood. Read the curing times of the epoxy and be aware of them as you work.

Prepare the new set of screws. The new screws should be a bit longer than the old ones. The new screws are 3/4" long (shown below, left) while the old screws are 1/2" long (shown below, right). The new screw length is about right because the kitchen cabinet wall is 3/4" plywood. Any screw that is longer may protrude to the other side.
With the epoxy still damp, position the kitchen cabinet door. Get an assistant to lift and hold the door while you position the concealed hinge to the readjusted position. For a sagging kitchen cabinet door, that means raising the hinge a bit to the original correct position. You'll notice that when you correctly position the concealed hinge, the gap between door and cabinet is straight and uniform again.

Although the screw holes have been covered with epoxy, the new screw will still find its way in. Because the screw is longer, you'll find new wood to drive the screw in. Be sure not to overtorque as this will damage the threading and weaken the screw grip.
Drive the topmost screw into the old screw hole. Drive only two screws first - the top one of the top concealed hinge and the other is the top screw of the bottom hinge. While carefully holding the door, close and reopen the cabinet door ensuring it is aligned correctly and the door edge (hinge side) does not bind and has a good fit.
Find some items to support and position the door without having anyone hold it. I used a small box and a flat screwdriver (green) to wedge the bottom of the kitchen cabinet door as shown below.
With the Phillips-type screwdriver, drive the rest of the screws in. Keep the kitchen cabinet door secured and supported by the wedge until the epoxy completely cures and hardens. This could be up to 24 hours, so again, be sure to read the label on the wood epoxy.

Here's how one of the concealed hinges has been readjusted. From the heavily scratched paint, you'll notice the old position of the hinge as it was dislodge from its correct position. The concealed hinge is now readjusted to its original and correct position as shown below.

With the concealed hinges now correctly in place, you'll see how the door now correctly lines up. You'll see the uniform gap on both sided edges of the kitchen cabinet door from top to bottom.

By being familiar with kitchen cabinet hardware and how they work, you'll easily solve problems like these without having to spend much on handyman labor costs.

Readjust Kitchen Cabinet Concealed Hinges - 2

2010-04-25T19:50:00.005+08:00

In a previous post, I discussed the usual problems with kitchen cabinet doors and that's vulnerability of the concealed hinges getting pulled out. In most cases, the problem manifests itself with the hinge screws getting loose and the kitchen cabinet door misaligning from the cabinet and sagging.

Here are the procedures to readjust the cabinet part of the concealed hinges and effectively reattach them to the cabinet. The kitchen cabinet door being described by the procedures below is the right door (door swings right)

With a Phillips-type screwdriver, completely remove the hinge screws in the cabinet part of the concealed hinges. Do this for both of the concealed hinges. Usually, the screws of the door part of the concealed hinge don't easily come off so there's no need to unscrew them.

You'll notice how one of the concealed hinges has loosened. The scratched paint on the cabinet wood resulted from the constant wiggling of the metal loose hinge in its place. You'll also notice how the door sags by the misaligment of the door edge relative to the cabinet. The gap between door and cabinet appears wider at the top.
Prepare a dish or tray with water just enough to dip your fingers in it.
Mix the two parts of the wood epoxy just enough for fill in the screw holes. Alternatively, you can use a wood filler for this purpose.

The wood epoxy I use comes in a tube as shown below. As in most epoxies which have hardener and adhesive, the tube type epoxy also has two parts. One part of the epoxy is inside (colored white) while the other part is on the outside (colored pink).

Using this kind of epoxy is convenient. You only need to cut or slice with a putty knife the amount you need. The piece would automatically have the right amounts of hardener (part A) and adhesive (part B).
Dip your fingers in the water to moisten them as needed. Doing so will prevent the epoxy from sticking.
Force the mixed epoxy into the screw holes. You can do this by pushing epoxy in them. When the epoxy spreads out on the wood surface, scratch the material back to to where the screw hole is located and push again. See below.
Do this repeatedly until there is little epoxy that spreads on the surface, meaning, much of the epoxy has entered and filled the hole. You only have a few minutes before the epoxy hardens so act quickly. Be sure to read the epoxy label for curing times. There is no need to keep the epoxy material flush to the surface as this will be covered by the concealed hinge. Also, epoxy material will still come out when the screws are placed in.

Notice the scratched paint at the edge of the kitchen cabinet door. This resulted from its constant banging on the cabinet frame because of the loose hinges.

The next post will discuss the correct placement of the concealed hinges and securing them with the new screws.

Readjust Kitchen Cabinet Concealed Hinges

2010-04-25T16:20:00.012+08:00

The most common items requiring repairs whenever tenants leave are the kitchen cabinet doors. The typical problems are sagging doors, doors that don't close, pulled out cabinet door hinges or any combination of these.

Concealed Hinges for Kitchen Cabinets

The hinges used for the cabinet doors are called concealed hinges, sometimes called european hinges. Unlike the traditional butt or mortise hinges, concealed hinges can be seen inside the kitchen cabinet only. They give a neater appearance for the kitchen cabinet doors on the outside.

There are three type of concealed hinges: inset, full overlay and half overlay. The type of kitchen cabinet door hinges we have is the half overlay like the one shown below.

With forceful closing and opening of kitchen cabinet doors, sometimes the screws of the kitchen cabinet door hinges loosen and eventually get pulled out. Usually, this loosening of the door hinge screws happens on the cabinet side of the concealed hinge rather on the door side.

An installed concealed hinge is shown below. The part of the hinge that attaches to the kitchen cabinet door is on the left. The other part is on the kitchen cabinet itself.

Re-screwing the screws back in works, but only temporarily. This is because hinge screw holes have become bigger that the screws have lost grip on the wood. Actually, this is already the situation when the kitchen door hinges have completely detached from the cabinet itself.

One solution to this problem of worn out screw holes is to relocate the hinges to another part of the wood (cabinet and door), but for concealed hinges, that would entail two things:

Reinstalling the kitchen cabinet door hinges and chiselling new wood out from the cabinet door to fit the door part of the concealed hinges.
Resurfacing the unsightly hinge screw holes and hinge marks left in the old location of the concealed hinges. You will also need considerable wood filler to cover the hole left by door part of the concealed hinge.

A Better Alternative

A better and cheaper solution to this problem without having to relocate the cabinet door hinges to other areas of the wood is to replace the old hinge screws with longer screws and, additionally, use epoxy to glue the screws in.

The longer screws will grip into newer wood in the kitchen cabinet. The wood epoxy does two things. One, it acts as a wood filler, and two, it bonds the screws to the wood.

This solution, by the way, works for other kitchen cabinet hardware that use wood screws to attach to the wood. These include kitchen cabinet hardware like door handles and door knobs.

For this DIY project, you need the following materials and tools:

Wood Epoxy
Dish or tray of water
Putty knife
Phillips-type Screwdriver
Stackable items (that can wedge the door in place while the epoxy cures)

The next post will discuss the detailed procedures to readjust the concealed hinges.

How to Refurbish a Damaged PVC Door

2010-04-19T15:10:00.000+08:00

While waiting for the wood block's adhesive and finishing to completely dry as mentioned in the previous post, you can do a bit of refurbishing on the other side of the damage - and that is the PVC door itself. With the door now detached, you can easily work on it by resting it on the side where door knob is installed.

The refurbishing required on the PVC door is basically covering the unsightly screw holes that remained after the PVC door hinge was relocated. I decided against putting another block of wood on this one because the door's construction and material seem stronger than that of the PVC door jamb.

In the picture below, you can see 2 sets (not just 1) of screw holes in the previous location of the hinge.

I could only assume that the contractor did a hit-or-miss on this bathroom door installation. My guess is that the contractor made a mistake in aligning the hinge guide (etched dotted line on the hinge) with the PVC door edge. So the contractor pulled out the screws and moved the hinge slightly outwards so the line and the edge would align. Of course I didn't see this.

It was only when I raised the hinge further up did I see the screw up (pun intended!) with the two sets of screw holes instead of one.

Covering the Screw Holes

With a sealant in a caulking gun, position the tip of caulking gun's nozzle INSIDE the screw hole.

Attempt to pump in as much sealant as you can until excess sealant oozes out of the screw hole. Move on to the next screw hole and do the same thing.

Smear the excess sealant in and around the burrs of the screw holes. The burrs are the rough edges of the holes.

Do the above procedures to the screw holes for the rest of the hinges.

Let all the sealant dry.

Finishing the Patched Holes

With a flat screwdriver, spatula or putty knife, scrape away excess sealant material that has dried on the PVC surface. The PVC surface is very smooth and this sealant scrapes away easily.

Lightly sand the remaining bumps and rough edges with a sandpapaer as shown below.

As was done on the door jamb, paint the worked area with white paint and let it completely dry.

When the white paint has dried, clean the door by brushing and washing it with soap and water. It's easier to clean the door prior to reinstallation.

Reinstalling the PVC Door

When both work on the PVC Door Jamb and PVC Door have been completed, you'll need an assistant to put back the PVC door into the jamb.

Have the assistant lift and bring the door close to the door jamb. While holding the door edge, match the 2 parts of the hinges (male and female) together. Ensure the hinge guides are properly aligned with the door and jamb edges. If misaligned, the hinge and the pins may likely be deformed when the door is swung.

Bring the uninstalled hinge closer to the jamb and mark the hinge holes. Using a Phillips-type screwdriver, work the screws in as shown below.

After reinstalling, test the door hinges by swinging the door. Apart from the swiveling parts of the hinges, no other parts should be moving unnaturally. Any jerky or popping movement will likely damage the hinge.

Finally, fully close the door to ensure that the latchbolt correctly engages with the strike plate. Adjust the strike plate's position as needed.

Shown below at the right is the opened PVC bathroom door with the newly installed hinges.

Install a Wood Block in a PVC Door Jamb

2010-04-19T15:00:00.003+08:00

In the previous post, I stated the problem I had with the PVC bathroom door. The solution I mentioned was to remove the damaged part of the PVC door jamb and replace it with a block of wood.

In this post, I'll discuss the materials, tools and procedures required to replace the damaged part.

Materials and Tools

Block of wood to fit into the damaged area. In this case, the block measures 3" x 1 1/4" x 1/2". Optionally, you can treat it with a termite-proofing solution. Prepare this beforehand.
Construction adhesive or glue. I used Selley's Liquid Nails.
Sealant or Glazing Putty
Quick Dry Paint (White, oil-based)
Paintbrush (3/4")
Sandpaper (#80 - 100)
Pencil
Ruler
Sharp Cutter or Razor Blade
Phillips type Screwdriver
Flat Screwdriver or Spatula

Removing the Damaged PVC Material

Decide on the amount of PVC material to remove. In my case, because of the extent of the damage and the aforementioned reasons in the first post, the area in the PVC door jamb measures 3" x 1 1/4".

With a pencil and ruler, mark out this area on the PVC door jamb.

With a sharp cutter or razor blade, cut out this area as shown below.

After cutting the marked outline on the PVC, use the cutter or flat screwdriver to pry out the cut piece. This PVC material is actually brittle and is easy to break off. Turned on its side, you can see how thin the PVC material really is.

Attaching the Wood Block

Removing the PVC strip will leave a rectangular hole in the PVC door jamb where you will position and glue the wood block.

After preparing the appropriate sized wood block, apply a strong construction adhesive or glue on 3 sides of the wood block. This will be on the back side and the left and right sides. Essentially, all sides of the wood block that will make contact with any material inside the jamb will need to be glued.

Smear the adhesive liberally on all 3 sides for a sure bond. Any excess can be removed later.

Carefully position the wood block inside the rectangular hole, making sure that all the sides of the wood bond with the rest of the material inside the PVC door jamb.

With your finger, push in adhesive into any obvious gaps in the sides of the wood block. Remove all other excess adhesive with a rag,

When the construction adhesive had dried, use glazing putty or some sealant to finish the exposed face of the wood block. I simply used my finger to spread white colored sealant and fill in any more gaps. Spread lightly on the entire exposed face of the wood block.

Wait until the construction adhesive AND the glazing putty (or sealant) have reasonably cured and dried. Depending on the material you used, this may be up to a couple of days. Read the labels to be sure.

Finishing the Exposed Face of the Wood Block

After the bond has hardened, use a flat screwdriver or spatula to scrape excess adhesive or putty material that has settled on the PVC material outside of the wood block. The PVC material's surface is very smooth and this excess adhesive can be easily scraped off.

Rub sandpaper lightly on the exposed face of the wood block to smooth out any rough areas. Remember, the finishing of the wood doesn't have to be very smooth. After all, this area will be painted and covered with the metal hinge later on.

When the wood face is reasonably smooth, use a paintbrush and paint the wood face white.

The next post on this series will discuss steps you can do refurbish the PVC door itself.

How to Replace a Damaged Area of a PVC Door Jamb

2010-04-18T09:24:00.007+08:00

Many of the bathroom doors nowadays are made of PVC material. Yes, these are PVC doors for bathrooms. Gone are the days of wooden doors that ultimately warp or rot due to the inherent moisture of bathrooms. This is especially if the bathrooms aren't big to start with, and water gets splashed around frequently.

The plastic door is certainly waterproof and the problems associated with wood doors are now non-existent.

Durability is, however, another story.

One of the our PVC doors wasn't as durable as we thought. The PVC door now binds to the PVC door jamb at the latchbolt side. When opened, the door drops slightly to an angle, and when you close it you have to lift the door knob a bit so the PVC door fits into the PVC door frame.

Problem with the PVC Door

What has happened is that the screws in the hinges have detached from the PVC door jamb. Rescrewing them works, but then they get pulled out detach again after just a few days. With the original screw holes deformed, I attempted to relocate the 3 PVC door hinges along the PVC door jamb. I lowered 2 hinges and raised 1 of them along the jamb.

Pictured above is the PVC door jamb next to the pink bathroom tiles. You'll notice the 2 sets of screw holes that have been made for one the hinges.

The PVC plastic material of jambs where the the hinges were installed wasn't just thick or durable enough. The contractor probably used an inferior brand of PVC door frame which comes with the PVC door as a package. The pvc door jamb was essentially hollow, but it could've had a few layers of PVC material inside so the screws could've gripped the jamb better.

Solution to Replace the Damaged PVC Door

One way around this problem is to replace the damaged part of the PVC door jamb. This is specifically the area where the door hinges are located. As seen from the picture above, the damaged and worn area is rather large and a hardening compound like a wood filler to cover it all is not enough. A block of wood to fill this piece is a better feasible option.

Although the area taken by the hinge is really just around 1 1/4" x 1 1/4", it is better to replace the area that has been damaged and worn. This is for the following:

Cleaner Appearance. By taking out the entire worn area, you eliminate having to deal with the worn out and damaged set of holes.
Stronger Adhesion. By having a wider area to glue the block of wood, its adhesion will be much stronger.
Stronger Jamb. Because the wider area will be replaced by wood, you could move the hinge to another part of the stronger wood in the future, if necessary.

The next post on this series will discuss the materials and procedures to replace the damaged part of the door jamb.

Free Trash Bags

2010-03-11T17:37:00.006+08:00

In a preceding entry, I wrote some considerations on the use of plastic grocery bags as trash bags. I've devised a way where you could have the convenience of using ordinary plastic grocery bags as effective trash can liners.

Plastic grocery bags nowadays have tabs or "ears" by the sides of the plastic bag. The purpose of these tabs is to allow grocery baggers to easily close the contents of the grocery bags by tying them together instead of the grocery bag handles.

The photo below shows a plastic grocery bag's handles and tabs.

It's these parts of an ordinary plastic grocery bag that will allow you to secure the opening of the bag to the trash can's opening and ensure the bag's always open.

How big a plastic bag do you need? Well, you can practically use any grocery bag whose handles can be stretched all the way to the narrow sides of a regular waste basket with a rectangular opening (more on this later). It is important though that the plastic bag has the tabs as mentioned above.

The nice thing about a plastic grocery bag is that, eventually, you throw it out with the rest of the trash that it holds. You always get a steady supply of these plastic bags, and best of all, they're free!

How to use Plastic Grocery Bags as Cheap Trash Bags

For this DIY project, you'll be able to convert an ordinary trash can so it is able to secure a plastic grocery bag as its trash liner.

Materials Needed:

Trash can or Waste basket. I use the regular ones for office use with a rectangular opening and rounded corners. Mine's colored black (can't find any other color) and is 13.5 inches tall. The inside opening along the longer side measures 13.5 inches while the inside width is 8 inches. I bought this for Php 189.75 or less than $4.
Adhesive Square Hooks. The ones I have are made of metal and are supposedly rated at 300 gms (carrying capacity). There are adhesive hooks made of plastic but tend to be thicker. 4 pieces of these adhesive metal square hooks in a pack cost Php 79.75 or less than $2.
Plastic Grocery Bag. Use the ones with tabs along the sides. Choose the biodegradable ones. Free.

Procedures:

Peel off the backing of the hook so the adhesive is exposed. Position the hook in the middle of the long side of the trash receptacle's opening. It should be outside, just below the trash can's rim. Be sure the hook is INVERTED, pointing DOWNWARDS and not up. Press firmly on the trash can surface.
Do the same for all the three other points of the trash can's opening as shown below.
Place the plastic bag inside the trash can.
Pull the bag's handles outward and slip them over to the two opposing hooks as shown below.
With the plastic bag handles securely hooked, pull the bag's tabs outward towards the opposing hooks.
Let the metal hook pierce the outstretched tab as shown below and do for both sides. The tabs should be taut when pierced by the hooks.

This trash receptacle is now ready to accept trash. Once the receptacle is full, simply unhook the handles and tabs of the plastic trash bag and then tie them together.

Cheap Plastic Trash Bags for the Apartment

In my experience, the tenants in the building which had the most ants and probably other pests were the ones who used plastic bags as door knob bags.

I'd probably suggest this simple DIY project to this tenant. Or I could probably invest on this cheap solution and provide trash receptacles with the hooks to all new tenants coming in.

Plastic Grocery Bags as Cheap Trash Bags

2010-03-10T19:07:00.032+08:00

One of the problems to getting rid of household trash is being able to transfer the trash from the trash can or trash receptacle to a trash bag quickly and cleanly. It is important that the trash doesn't spill out and, if wet, doesn't drip out of the trash bag.

Trash that isn't secured properly tend to invite flies, ants, rats and other pests you don't want to have in the apartment. And there is a way to dispose of trash without spending too much.

What do you use for Trash Bags?

Some people just do it the old way - use an ordinary plastic trash can, as is. When it's filled to the brim, they just pour the trash contents to a cheap trash bag, maybe a plastic grocery bag, and then tie up the trash bag. Trash, however, even if you call it "dry trash" usually isn't dry at all.

Think of used tetra pack cartons for juices or milk, or even soda from plastic bottles. Liquids from these containers can drip down into the the plastic trash receptacle and leave stains and odor. This, naturally, invites flies, ants and other insects that you'd most likely wash the trash receptacle occasionally.

Others use trash can liners whose tops can be secured to the rim of trash cans or waste baskets. These trash can liners are typically black plastic trash bags that are resistant to puncturing and tearing. They're quite convenient to use. They come in standard sizes to fit standard-sized trash cans. The downside is you need to have a steady supply and buy them from supermarkets.

Still, others are on the extreme end. They do away with the trash can liners AND the trash can. These folks simply use plastic grocery bags and hang them by the door knob. These door knob bags don't cost a cent because plastic grocery bags come free whenever you buy groceries. Some of them are now even biodegradable. It's a cheap way of getting rid of trash - if not, the cheapest.

There are, however, some drawbacks.

They're unsightly. Anything that hangs by the door knob, posing as a door knob bag but with a grocery name stamped on it, looks trashy. This is more so if the plastic grocery bag's bulging with trash.
Hard to use. An empty plastic grocery bag hanging at the door knob typically doesn't have its mouth open. You'd need to pull open open the bag's mouth with your other hand to put the trash in. This is unhygienic especially with semi-dry trash. When it comes to trash, the lesser you touch the trash receptacle's opening, the better.
Spillage. Plastic grocery bags are not puncture resistant and tear easily. A used barbecue stick at the bottom of the plastic bag can quickly create a hole when there's heavy enough trash above it. If the door knob trash bag bursts open, there's nothing that will catch all the trash, wet or dry, other than the floor.
Location. A trash receptacle that needs a door knob means it needs to be by the door or anywhere it can be hanged. That limits where I'd like to position the trash basket to where it's more convenient for me. I'd also rather have a trash basket that I can move around if I need to.

See part 2 of this article on how to effectively convert grocery bags into trash bags.

Clean-As-You-Paint Tip

2010-02-17T12:48:00.007+08:00

In a recent entry, I wrote what you could do to easily remove paint from your fingers when painting. This article addresses a very basic and straightforward problem and that is how to deal with smudges.

In painting jobs where you need to finish intricate parts, it is seldom where there won't be accidental smudges. This is especially so if you mistakenly used a bigger paintbrush for the job.

When to Wipe Paint Smudges

The best time to wipe clean these paint smudges or smears is as soon as they happen. It is so easy to miss several spots if cleaning up is done after a long painting job. The longer the paint smudge is left uncleaned, the harder it will be to remove. Left long enough, the paint dries thoroughly and may be impossible to remove.

A spot here, a spot there, the paint job isn't really finished if you, as the painter, missed a spot. You may have unnoticed it, when cleaning up, but these smudges are hardly invisible to a casual observer.

In the example below, sets of windows were being painted with quick-dry enamel paint.

To do the clean-as-you-paint tip:

Dip a small rag into the suitable paint thinner.
Always carry the wet rag as you paint.
When a smudge happens, cover a finger with the rag and wipe clean as shown below.

After finishing a window pane or two, briefly scan the painted area before moving to the next.

The key is to wipe-clean the smudge as it happens. By doing so, you'll be sure there won't be any missed spots.

Motorcycle in the Pathway

2009-09-19T06:15:00.007+08:00

One of our tenants had an old motorbike. But since they had a car, they were already taking a parking slot. And there are only a few limited slots in the parking area.

With no place else to put the motorbike, they parked it in front of a vacant unit. This vacant unit is adjacent to theirs. Unfortunately, we were using this vacant temporarily for our personal stuff. The front of the units is the pathway and is common to all the tenants.

Had that vacant unit been occupied by tenants, I would suppose the occupying tenants would complain since it really is an obstruction in the pathway. Here's where a clause in your lease similar to the one below would come in handy.

"That the LESSEE shall not use the pathway of the building except as passageway to go in and out of the LEASED PREMISES;"

You can then point it out to the offending tenant.

Fortunately the motorbike is no longer there.

Garbage Disposal

2009-09-15T06:22:00.001+08:00

Many years ago when the apartment building was new, the first tenants thought of having a nice trash bin outside the apartment gate. It was essentially a metal drum cut in half with some short iron legs welded at the bottom. It was fine except it didn't have a cover. Since it was a bit low, sometimes stray cats and dogs would climb on it and gnaw on the plastic bags thus spilling the contents. Yuck.

But that was rare and the infrequency made it a bit tolerable. What was surprising though was that a couple of years later, the trash bin just disappeared! I must admit it became rusty and a bit dilapidated that the garbage haulers must've just dumped it in their truck along with the contents.

I felt the need to replace it and bought a used metal drum. So as to ensure that nobody takes it, I painted the apartment's address on the side of the drum. Well, that was the idea except that a couple of years later, it too, disappeared. I was almost convinced that some thief took it to sell as scrap.

Again, I bought another drum and secure it to the gate by tying it with a metal wire after painting the address on the side. I also asked the tenants to be more vigilant by keeping an eye on the trash bin and for suspicious characters around it - and help secure it. But it too suffered the same fate 3 years later. Three metal drums disappear and nobody exactly knows how.

Of course the tenants by now were requesting for another one because it was just so convenient for them to simply toss out garbage bags anytime they wish. But I simply told them I couldn't be spending more on trash bins when somebody steals them. Heck, I don't even have a trash bin outside of MY house! Why? Yeah, somebody will eventually steal that as well. So I just told them to do what I do and that is to keep the trash in secured plastic trash bags in the unit and then take them out when the garbage haulers come along.

So far, they managed without a trash bin outside.

Drummer Tenant Noise

2009-08-10T16:08:00.002+08:00

When one of my tenants was new in the apartment, I didn't realize that her sons were "musically-inclined".

Okay, some may consider drumming as music and some as noise. But apparently, her sons and their friends were into it. And these drums aren't little bongos but a whole drum set for a band.

How they managed to fit a drum set in such a tiny apartment still baffles me. The first time I heard it, I was appalled at the ruckus. At first I thought that maybe it was a passing, temporary thing. But in the next few weeks, we discovered it wasn't. We were at the apartment every weekend and every time, there were drums playing.

Finally, I texted the mom and gently reminded her that there were other tenants in the building who may have to wake up early each morning for work or school and that it's best to limit the playing and observe silence in the evenings. I no longer remember, but I think there was no more drumming thereafter.

I have a clause in my lease which is shown below.

"That the LESSEE shall not make or permit any disturbing noise within the LEASED PREMISES caused by himself or by persons under his control, nor permit anything to be done by himself or such other persons which will interfere with the rights, comfort or convenience of the other tenants. The LESSEE shall not play or suffer to be played in the LEASED PREMISES any musical instrument, stereo, radio, or loudspeaker, or install any machinery or device which may cause or tend to cause any noise which may be heard outside the LEASED PREMISES;"

You see I could've just pointed them out to the lease clause directly in my text but didn't. Instead, I just had to remind them of the possible consequences of the drum playing (noise, disturbance) to other tenants. Of course if push comes to shove, THEN I'll cite the lease contract.

No Pets Policy

2009-08-07T11:40:00.003+08:00

In my almost 10 years of landlording, I've only had to reject a potential tenant only once - because of pets. The applicant was actually a very amiable guy. He was a German mestizo working as a nurse. He came to the apartment riding a big bike - the Harley Davidson kind of a bike. No problem there, I thought. He could use one of the parking slots for the motorcycle which was too big to park in the walkway.

He wasn't renting with anybody else, but he had a big dog, a Labrador I think. The way he described it was it was very gentle. He could be right, but I'm sure there are some days when a dog's temper may not be pleasant. The scenario raised several of concerns in my mind:

The dog will be left alone when the tenant is out working. It will need to pee and poo. Who'll take care of the mess and the stink, meanwhile?
Damage to property. Some dogs scratch on doors and bite on other objects.
Danger of bites to other tenants. You can never be sure. There are small kids in the apartment who run and play within the compound.

It wasn't too hard to advise him though to look somewhere else since we do have a "no pets" condition in our lease which I'm reproducing below:

"That the LESSEE shall not keep any pet (like cats, dogs, snakes and the like) without the written consent of the LESSOR;"

Paying for a Vacant Unit's Utilities

2009-08-04T18:05:00.002+08:00

Maybe 5 years ago, I learned from a mistake and the hassle that went with it. I was asked by a tenant to come over to the apartment. We had a vacancy back then and has been vacant for quite a while. Upon reaching the apartment, we found the water meter of the vacant unit gone! Whoa! We later learned that the subdivision office confiscated the water meter since we've been remiss in paying for the vacancy's water bills for two months. Was the confiscation legal? I don't know. But it was certainly done to penalize our nonpayment. How did it come to this?

You see, the subdivision charges a monthly minimum amount for water - whether or not you consumed water. Yeah, bummer. The thing is, we do consume water in that vacancy, although minimally. Almost every week, we visit the apartment to water the small garden and therefore get water from the vacant unit. And we were always confident we could handle the monthly bills. Well, we didn't have problems with the amount. It's the frequency of paying that did us in. We would pay for 2 or 3 months at a time, because sometimes we'll be there on Sundays when there's no office. Honestly we didn't know the office would STILL go to that length of removing the meter even with a minimal amount. But hey, sh1t happens.

And so we had to pay for the re-installation fee to get the meter back. Lesson learned: be updated with your payments just as you expect your tenants to be updated with theirs.

Cigarette Butts on the Roof

2009-07-28T18:10:00.007+08:00

Just recently we had some parts of the roof repaired at the apartment. Imagine my dismay when I learned from Dods, my handyman, that one of the units had cigarette butts on the roof of the toilet. The toilet is on the first floor and my hunch is that the butts were thrown from the unit's second floor bedroom window and landed on the toilet's roof. Well it's either that or the butts have been tossed upwards from the laundry area onto the roof - which is rather unlikely.

This angered me and told the occupant about it. Only the dad was there visiting and apparently he didn't know about the smoking that was going on! He promised to relay the info. I later texted the mother about the problem just to reiterate.

This problem has a couple of serious issues:

Fire hazard. Smoking in the bedroom should be a definite no-no. Not a few fires started from a sleepy smoker forgetting a lighted cigarette.
Drainage problem. When butts get down the storm drain, you could imagine the potential clogging.

If I still catch this habit, I'll give them the final warning. And then off they go, if I catch them the third time. That's a lot of leeway, in my opinion.

No Power at the Apartment

2009-07-28T10:36:00.011+08:00

If you were a homeowner and you notice one day you turn the bulb switch and the light doesn't turn on. What do you do? Of course, you'd check first if there's no electricity or power. If there's none, you'd probably check if the neighborhood has no electricity. If there's none, you'd call the power company to report it. Maybe somebody else in the neighborhood has done it and that's okay. Your calling would serve as a followup to the power company nonetheless.

If you were a tenant, you may not be the property owner, but you'd still be the HOMEowner since the property is presently your HOME. When there's no power, do some investigation first. I may be the landlord or property manager, but I'm not a babysitter. Call the power company. Ask your neighbors, do some followups with the power company. The utility may be in my name, but it's you who's directly affected by the power interruption.

So as a landlord, what do you do when a tenant calls you and tells you there's no power at the apartment? You tell him to call the power company!

Painting Tip to Easily Remove Paint from Fingers

2009-07-27T08:26:00.006+08:00

Ever had this problem of getting paint in the crevices of your fingers and fingernails and having too much difficulty getting it out? Of course after painting, you could always use paint thinner or some other solvents like WD-40. Soak a little into a rag and rub it on your fingers and fingernails. Or, you could simply wash it away with plain water!

The trick is initial preparation. Just before your painting job, get a few drops of some liquid hand soap. Liquid detergent is also okay. Rub thinly on your palms, back of the hands and wrists. Spread liberally in the crevices of your fingernails.

While letting the soap dry a little, you could do some other preparation work like stir the paint, lay newspapers for the paint drips, etc.

After painting, you might STILL need to use a little solvent, but your fingers and nails will be so much easier clean by simply washing with water.

When Leaky Roofs Remain Unattended

2009-07-25T09:26:00.003+08:00

A month ago, a tenant raised a concern about water trickling down the wall from the ceiling when it rains hard. One of my frustrations at the apartment is that some portions of the roof leak and I've no idea why. I've had a couple of workers do the roof (Bert and Gerry) at different times and apparently the problem persisted. I knew the vacancy at Unit D was the most affected.

Anyway, after the concern was aired, I asked Dods to put roof sealant (Shelby GutterSeal as he requested) on all the affected units. I asked the tenants to observe and monitor when it rains. Typhoon Feria came with heavy rains and after leaving, the tenants reported no problems. And so I asked Dods to come back, this time to fix the ceiling at Unit D that has long been unattended.

See how some parts of the ceiling plywood had rotted. It became brittle due to the constant rain-drenching and sun-drying.

Notice the watermarks left on the wooden spacers. A couple of these spacer have been waterlogged for some time. That orange thing is the plastic flexible pipe for the electrical wiring.

Dods added a thin piece of wood to splice the two waterlogged spacers before covering with a new panel of 1/4" thick marine plywood. And the new panel was repainted after that.

Fortunately, it was just one panel of the ceiling.

Browsing this Blog

2009-07-21T19:16:00.001+08:00

From recent developments, I realized that this blog is best viewed using a browser OTHER than Internet Explorer Version 8. Version 8 is the latest version of IE (Internet Explorer) as of this writing. You will not receive any errors when using IE8 to view this blog but you will not see the blog displayed correctly. The blog's sidebars don't appear on the main page and the posts are incomplete when browsing with IE8.

I've used Mozilla Firefox and have never had problems with it thus far. There are other browsers like Apple Safari and Google Chrome which I haven't tried. But for now, I would strongly suggest to avoid using Internet Explorer when viewing this blog.

If you're unsure, shown below are the icons of the above mentioned browsers:

Easy Method to Store Used Paintbrushes

2009-07-19T19:02:00.009+08:00

One of the maintenance activities for a landlord would invariably include some painting. The best way to store used paint brushes away is to clean them first. For brushes used in oil-based paints, you clean them with turpentine or paint thinner. For those used with latex paint, with water. If the paint job is just for a day or two, handymen would just dip the brushes in either water or paint thinner (whichever is appropriate) in between painting.

But there's one thing you can do to store away paint brushes without dipping them in solvents or water. Here's what to do:

After painting, ensure the paint brush has little paint left on it.
Wrap the paintbrush's bristles with a plastic sheet or insert the bristle end inside a small plastic bag. The plastic should be long enough to cover the handle's neck or that narrow portion of the handle near the metal ferrule.
Tie the plastic sheet tightly around paintbrush's neck twist tie or a thin wire. The wrapped paintbrush should look like the one in the photo below.
Put the wrapped paintbrush inside the refrigerator (yes, refrigerator!) where it's unlikely to be moved.
Tell all that you have a paintbrush inside the ref so nobody mistakes it for a popsicle!

When you're ready to use the paintbrush, simply take it out the ref and it's good to go! Don't forget about it though if you need to defrost the ref.

Simple Way to Thwart a Burglar

2009-07-16T08:40:00.009+08:00

If there's one thing that burglars and other malefactors don't want, it is CATCHING ATTENTION.

I had an incident at the apartment when the tenants discovered a burglary one morning. Some small appliance items were stolen in one of the units. One of the other tenants not burglarized said that in the middle of night before, she saw someone jumped over the front gate. This was around 1 to 2 am.

She didn't see the face because the guy wore a baseball cap. At first she thought it might have been one of the other tenants because of the guy's built. The guy, she assumed, probably just locked himself out.

But then it also crossed her mind that it might have been a burglar. She wanted to shout to catch the guy's attention. But the thought froze her. She was afraid that the burglar would recognize it's an old lady shouting, see her and somehow harm her. Not only that, being petrified, she probably wouldn't even have had the voice to shout in the first place.

And that gave me the thought of giving each of the tenants a whistle just like the one below.

Here are some advantages I can think of:

It's cheap. A plastic sports whistle costs something like Php15 to Php30 depending on the size.
It's handy. And with a lanyard, it can be hung just about anywhere. The bedroom would be a logical choice with the whistle by a table or hung at the closet or bedroom door.
Anybody can use it. You only need a good strong breath to make it work. You hold it, put it in the mouth and blow.
It's always ready to use. There are no batteries to charge and no switches to fumble just to turn it on. You can even operate it in the dark.
It easily grabs ATTENTION. A purposeful and determined whistle sound is a standard attention getter. People recognize it as coming from authority: police, security guard, nightwatch, etc. and that typically stops them in their tracks. And hopefully for a burglar, would be enough to change his mind and scoot.

There you have it. A cheap and hopefully effective solution. Happy landlording!

DIY Apartment Maintenance

2009-03-31T07:27:00.008+08:00

As a landlord or property manager, maintenance will ALWAYS be a priority for your property. And property maintenance has its headaches. To assess how hard or difficult maintenance can be, just multiply the number of potential headaches you will have for a unit and multiply that by the number of units. Some handyman tasks are fairly easy: patching up cracks, repainting window frames, replacing light switches, unclogging drains and so on.

So why do it yourself? The reason, is obvious – time and cost. Why pay a contractor big money to do a job you could do yourself, or find an inexpensive handyman to take care of, or even leave to the tenants? Doing it yourself will also save you stress from tenants if you can do the work quickly and efficiently.

However:

Does the idea of repairing something yourself turn you off?
Afraid to get your hands soiled with grease, dirt and oil?
Averse with power tools and other handyman tools?

Then hands-on apartment maintenance may not be for you. If you can't do this work yourself, then you’ll be better off finding a good handyman. A good handyman will go a long way towards apartment maintenance (and lesser headaches!).

Make Money While You Sleep

2009-03-24T09:03:00.009+08:00

"Make Money While You Sleep". Hmmm, this might as well be the title of this blog, don't you think? Or, in the context of this blog, make money while you and the city sleeps. Sounds really tempting to say such. I mean, my friends and co-workers, typically say that I've got it all too easy and that I only wait until the end of the month and, presto, moolah! Well, yes and no, actually.

"Yes" because as in most other streams of passive income, income is derived from the service. And that's given by way of the shelter provided. And most of the time, since this is property rented out, there's hardly anything that needs to be done on a DAY-TO-DAY basis - in other words, no "daily operations" as what other businesss would have. What's passive income, anyway? Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

Passive income is a rent received on a regular basis, with little effort required to maintain it.

Some examples of passive income are:
Repeated regular income, earned by a sales person, generated from the payment of a product or service that must be renewed on a regular basis, in order to continue receiving its benefits - also called residual income.
Rental from property;
Royalties from publishing a book or from licensing a patent or other form of intellectual property;
Earnings from internet advertisement on your websites;
Earnings from a business that does not require direct involvement from the owner or merchant;
Dividend and interest income from owning securities, such as stocks and bonds, are usually referred to as portfolio income, which can be considered a form of passive income;
Pensions.

So, from the examples given, passive income isn't just rent. We're all familiar with interest and dividend income. We practically don't do anything there. But rental property? Nope, and that's why I say "yes and no" to my friends - that I just wait for the end of the month for income to come in. There's a slew of activities that need to be done. There's contract management, property maintenance (biggie here), rent management, business licenses and permits, and actually, so much more!

Very Long Hiatus

2009-03-16T17:38:00.000+08:00

The last time I updated this blog was geez, a few years ago! Anyway, I'm now ready and raring to resume blogging. So, what's been keeping me away?

Until recently, work, work and more work.
Another thing that distracted me was my family's transition into our newly constructed house in December of last year. This meant packing, moving and finally settling in.
Until recently, I had flaky internet connection at home. I had to wake up really early to get a sure connection and then it was a slow one too. Arrgh! Now, I have a more stable connection at home after the DSL was finally installed last March 13. This after repeated follow-ups to the phone company for 3 weeks.

Now that I'm more certain of the months ahead, I'm now more comfortable in my situation as a blogger. And with this the belief that I can give an (almost) undivided attention this blog deserves. So there you have it. The long hiatus is now over and it's now "back to your regular programming."

Easy Gardening at the Apartment - Part 1

2006-04-13T10:27:00.005+08:00

I must admit, many find the apartment pretty. But really, the "curb appeal" that most see is attributable to a small but colorful garden that we religiously maintain every weekend.

Watering the Plants

I don't know of many other landlords who visit their property as regularly as I do. In fact, many ask me why I bother to visit the apartment every weekend. There is a bunch of reasons why I choose to do so, but one of these is that we want to see and water the plants at least once a week. We've had tenants who volunteer to water the plants in the plant boxes of their units. I guess some fancy themselves as gardeners or 'green thumbs' of sort and are well meaning. Generally, we let and thank them if they do want to water the plants. And they do water them - for a few weeks, that is. The motivation generally wanes and so we don't rely on tenants to do the watering themselves. At most, that chore will be spotty.

The challenge to watering the planst happens when the apartment is full (all units occupied). The apartment doesn't have an external faucet outside. We intentionally didn't have one installed for fear that tenants would frivolously use it to wash their cars. So what we do is to bring our own water. Friends ask us why don't we just tap into one of the units' faucet with a long hose. Sure, we could do that but that means a couple of negatives for the tenant who we tap into:

It's a hassle and inconvenience. It would require us to enter the unit and secure the hose into the faucet at the laundry area. Corz, this won't be possible at all if the tenant is using the faucet.
It can be messy. Where there's usage of water, leaks and spills may occur. Droplets of water on the floor may not mean a lot but for the tenant, it may result into slips and accidents.

We carry water in a couple of carboys or huge plastic containers. At the apartment, we transfer the water into a pail and use a dipper (tabo) to water the plants. It's simple, but takes some effort loading and unloading the carboys into the back of the car.

Red Flags from Apartment Hunters

2006-04-11T10:25:00.005+08:00

Yes, we've all seen them. Some landlords would include pet peeves. Red flags are those indicators that immediately require a double take. They're warning signs that we see, hear or feel from potential tenants. They're negative hunches and you'd have to be ultra sensitive for these. You'd have to be some sort of a person reader to be good at looking for these signs. Ultimately, they may make or break a tenant's application. So here they are. These are the signs that makes me raise an eyebrow or two when dealing with apartment hunters:

Applicant is arrogant.

This one DEMANDS for stuff. This person has no modicum of courtesy or politeness. Why bother with this person? I've no time for control freaks or those who think they practically own the property. If an apartment hunter shows me the attitude, then sorry, I won't be showing the unit!
Kids are very unruly.

This may be a discipline issue on the side of the parent (having it and giving it). And on the side of the kid? Well, it may mean crayon writings on the walls, broken faucets, flushing trash in the toilet bowl and more "unruly kidstuff"
Applicant is in a hurry to move.

Why? Do you just automatically assume you CAN move in an apartment anytime (at the last minute, it seems) you like? Assume that with other landlords, not this one. Some would even bring out their wallets and flash the cash for the downpayment. Yeah right, these folks probly think landlords are desperate for money. Well, okay fine, "in need of money" but not desperate.
Too secretive.

Does not answer questions like where they live, what they do for a living, where they work (like it's only they who COULD ask questions). I don't do hard sells on the apartment. I don't force nor pressure anybody. It's really up to the apartment hunter. But I do try to highlight the apartment's features which I believe will interest them coz these are unique to the apartment or are just really favorable to the tenants. And I do that for two reasons: I take pride on these features and I believe these help the apartment hunter in their decision-making.
Unable to "comprehend" simple instructions.

I have simple text messages when it comes to stating my requirements. In spite of this, there are apartment hunters who totally ignore what my requirements are. For instance, I explicitly require for a checking account. They say they have it. When I get there to show the unit, they ask if they could just pay in CASH. Gee, what was it about my short and simple sms message that was so totally unclear to you?
Smokers.

I'm biased. I used to smoke before. Generally speaking, smokers are bad with their butts, cigarette butts that is. They flick them anywhere they please. I've had smoking tenants who simply threw their butts in the plant boxes. Getting these smelly, soggy butts out of the plant boxes is a PAIN. I've no evidence but what really prevents these miscreants from throwing and flushing their butts in the toilet bowl? Nothing really.
Unreasonably late.

Simple. Is this how you give a first impression? My impression is if you'll be unreasonably late (like you had to do your nails FIRST), then that only tells me how you'll deal with me in business - unbusinesslike and late.

Cellphones - A Boon for Property Management

2006-04-07T13:16:00.002+08:00

Nowadays, cellphones are becoming a necessity. This necessity, plus the resulting demand has made cellphones even cheaper. In my landlording experience, there are two real instances where cellphones are particularly effective.

Showing the Units
Applicants who are apartment hunting are typically of the profile who can afford cellphones. When they look at the apartment site and decide that it's a possible find, they'd usually yank out their cellphones and inquire or ask to see it. Now, I normally wouldn't just run over to the site and show the units. I'd rather want to know more about these applicants first. A mandatory requirement is them having a ready checking bank account. Corz, if I get to learn more, all the better. If I hear or read via sms text how arrogant they are by the way they communicate, then that's a peek into their personality. It's easy to identify red flags in many cases. It is convenient for them to just call me, as it is convenient for me to quickly weed out undesirables. With this quick communication, where I may be reached virtually anywhere, I could easily determine if its worth my while to run over and show the units.

Apartment Maintenance
How I wished that ALL people had cellphones INCLUDING contractors. By contractors, I refer to carpenters, welders, electricians, plumbers and all handymen.

In hindsight, this particular idea or article may even be rendered "irrelevant" as cellphones become commonplace and will simply just be THE defacto manner to communicate with anybody.

Demanding Apartment Hunters

2006-04-06T17:16:00.004+08:00

A mistake I made prior to showing the units is not asking if the applicant has a checking bank account. This is especially if you only accept checks for rent payments.

A behavior often displayed by applicants is that once they see the property, they WANT to see the inside A.S.A.P. This must be some sort of a norm among apartment hunters. And that is to see the apartment units interior PRONTO! The reason they'd immediately give for wanting to see the apartment unit is: "Because we're already here!" as if demanding that I better be there for them.

In my early years of being a landlord, I was just excited to show the units. I basically had a great script all figured out and all I had to do was dazzle them with the apartment units' features. And with one couple who called me, I did just that - only to find out much later that they didn't have a checking account.

How could I have avoided all this inconvenience of going to the apartment for nothing? Well, I could've asked more probing questions via cellpone text - BEFORE even agreeing to go there and show the units. Don't be too excited to show the units at the drop of a hat.