Renting a house or condo in Thailand? Renting is a great option for people who don’t want to deal with the hassles of buying a house, but that doesn’t mean you are completely off the hook when it comes to taking care of your home.
You could live in the most luxurious house or condo in Thailand, but if your landlord is (or you, if you are an owner) at all neglectful, you could end up being responsible for some damages due to a lack of very simple maintenance. Things aren’t always so straightforward in Thailand, especially with rentals so it’ll work in your favor to watch out for these three things that are easy to take care of and will prevent you from dealing with some possibly major problems.
Air conditioning leakage
In a hot climate like Thailand, you probably have your air conditioning on at least a couple of hours per day and depending on how much time you spend at home you could have the thing running all day long. Air conditioning is often taken for granted here in this climate, especially for foreigners, which can translate into a neglectful attitude. Leaving an air conditioner running all the time (or even for an hour a day) will accumulate a lot of dust and dirty water. If too much of it collects in the unit, it will start to drip.
Most air conditioners in somewhat modern buildings in Thailand are mounted near the ceiling, which means that they have ample space to drip down and possibly destroy your wall. It’s common to see wall paper peeling below air con units and even more so to see brown drip stains on the wall.
Your landlord may or may not tell you when you sign your contract that you are responsible for changing the filter at least once during your residency. If they don’t tell you, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. You really should do it anyways to avoid destroying the wall, and avoid unfair extractions from your security deposit.
Gas appliances need checking
Many stove tops in Thailand are gas, which can be quite dangerous if the appliance is not maintained. A gas appliance needs prevention maintenance, because you don’t want to wait until it’s too late (with a fire or a gas leak) that could be very harmful to the property and everyone inside of it.
Your landlord may tell you that you need to check up on the gas appliances, but even if he or she doesn’t you owe it to yourself to have it checked out. If a repair is needed, your landlord should take care of the expenses for you, but the point is don’t let him or her be the leader in getting it checked out if you think it’s been a long time since it has been serviced.
Prevent Drainage Problems
A clogged drain isn’t the worst thing that could happen to a home, but it sure is annoying, messy and often times smelly. Prevent needing to have a repair person or serviceman need to check it out at all by keeping it as clean as possible. If it’s in the bathroom and someone in the property has long hair, always make sure to keep them out of the drains, because they tend to get stuck. For the kitchen sink, make sure you have a strainer over the drain and never intentionally stuff food down there assuming that is a disposal. Chances are in Thailand, it’s just a regular ole’ drain.
What do you do to keep your rental property fresh and repair-free? Have you ever been refused your security deposit back?
