PlumbingBossPro Blog — Property Managers & Commercial

Yearly Water Heater Flushes Across a Landlord's Rental Portfolio

Tenants do not flush water heaters. Most landlords do not either. So the water heaters in rental houses tend to go years without anyone draining the sediment, checking the T&P valve or looking at the anode rod, until one day a tenant calls about no hot water or a puddle in the garage. A yearly flush across the portfolio is one of the simplest recurring services a plumbing company can offer a landlord.

Start With What You Know

The equipment records described in Equipment Records Per Unit and Per Building for Commercial Plumbing Accounts are what make this service easy to sell. Once you have the water heaters on file, you can show the landlord exactly what they own: how many tank heaters, how many tankless, gas or electric, and the year each was installed.

A landlord looking at a list of eight water heaters, several of them installed around the same time, does not need a sales pitch. They can see the budget problem coming.

What the Yearly Visit Covers

Keep the visit practical and consistent from house to house. A typical yearly water heater visit in a rental includes:

• Draining and flushing sediment from the tank.
• Testing the T&P valve.
• Checking the anode rod when it is reachable.
• Checking the temperature setting and hot water at the tap.
• Looking at venting, connections and the area around the heater for leaks.
• Noting the age and overall condition.

On the PlumbingBossPro tech app, the inspection checklist covers these items and more, with readings for water heater setting, hot water at the tap, sediment drained and water heater age, plus a condition of Good, Needs attention or Repair recommended. While the tech is there, it takes only a few minutes to also check water pressure, look under sinks and test the main shut-off.

Setting It Up as Recurring Work

In PlumbingBossPro, recurring work is set by minimum days between visits. For a yearly flush, that is 365. Put the plan on each rental address under the landlord's client.

From then on, each house comes due on its own. The Waiting List shows them on a live map with pins colored not due yet, due now, and overdue past a 7-day grace. Because rentals are often spread across town, the office can wait until several in one area are due and send one van through them on a single morning.

Tankless units can go on the same plan. They need their own kind of maintenance, and the equipment record tells the tech which kind of heater is at each house before the van arrives.

If the landlord would rather do all their houses in one week, start every plan on the same week and they will come due together each year after.

Working Around Tenants

The flush happens inside the tenant's home, often in a garage, closet or utility room. Access notes on each address carry what the tech needs: “Tenant works days, lockbox on the side door,” “Water heater in the hall closet, tenant stores boxes in front of it,” “Call tenant 30 minutes ahead.”

Have the landlord give tenants notice in whatever way their leases require. Your office can confirm the date with the landlord by two-way text so they can pass it on. Getting in the door is covered in more detail in Tenant Access and Keys: Getting Into Rental Units for Plumbing Work.

Reporting Back to the Landlord

The real product of a yearly flush is information. After each visit, the office can print a Plumbing Inspection Report showing the checklist, readings, condition and recommendations. Before-and-after photos from the tech's phone are saved with the job.

Over a year, the landlord ends up with a report for every house. That is how they decide which heater to replace this spring and which can wait, instead of finding out from an angry tenant. When a heater is marked Repair recommended, send an estimate. The landlord approves online, and the new heater's details carry from the estimate to the job and back onto the house record.

Billing the Flushes

Add the flush to your service list once with your own price, such as a $129 water heater flush. Each visit picks up that line. A landlord set to Monthly gets one statement that month with each flushed house on its own labeled line. A landlord on card on file is charged as each job is completed.

Some landlords will want to sign up through the customer app for a yearly flush plan. Others will just say yes on the phone. Either way, the visits keep coming due without anyone remembering them.

For more on landlord, property manager and commercial accounts, visit the PlumbingBossPro commercial plumbing software page.