This edition of Dear Airby is based on Innovative Improvements, one of the 10 Steps found in
Master of Vacation Rentals.
“Dear Airby,
I live in a desert paradise but this past Winter we saw a lot of rain. I have very sought after mid-century modern architectural home. The problem with these homes is that they were built in 50’s or 60’s and have may issues including leaking roofs. In fact, in the run up to the 2nd series of rain storms this January there were 5 roofing trucks attending to roofs of 5 of the 30 of the homes on my long street – it’s not just my place with the problems but here comes the real issue.
We were able to get some emergency patching done and understand the root cause of the persistent leaking. The problem seems to be the way the A/C unit is on the roof and from what multiple experts tell me, I need to raise the current A/C with a crane and redo the whole roof. The quotes are still coming in but regardless, I don’t have the min 20 up to 30 or 40K to totally remedy the situation. It only is supposed to rain in my desert location 5 days per year so that’s why I have not been so keen or getting it totally fixed.
What do you recommend?”
– Priscilla in Palm Springs
Dear Priscilla,
You NEED to fix this for a multitude of reasons! I’m guessing that the leaking is noticed by guests who (unfortunately) stay during a storm. This must mean that you are giving partial refunds for the ‘inconvenience’ of the leak. You must be worried sick every time you see a dark cloud.
This can cause other issues of mold or fungus or other types of rot. Beg, borrow or (gasp), save to fix this. Since the rain happens in your busy season of Winter, use the slow Summer season to block time to get this all sorted out. Block your calendar now for a sufficient time period – build in a time buffer in case it becomes a pandora’s box of discovery of more work to do – have you ever had a job that came in before schedule or under budget. The summer is basically screaming 2 day bachelorette weekends with noise violation potential and high A/C bills from my recollection in Palm Springs so do it during Summer so next Winter your place is rain proof.
Prosper,
Airby
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