What clogs rental drains between tenants? 4 make-ready checks

Question

Between tenants on Orange County long-term rentals, these are the drain habits that show up most often:

• Cooking grease poured into a running kitchen sink (it hardens in the line)
• "Flushable" wipes that don't break down like toilet paper
• Hair packed into bathroom traps
• Skip the guesswork: run a make-ready plumbing check on every drain, and leave a one-page sink care card at move-in

Cooking grease poured into a running kitchen sink (it hardens in the line)

"Flushable" wipes that don't break down like toilet paper

Hair packed into bathroom traps

Skip the guesswork: run a make-ready plumbing check on every drain, and leave a one-page sink care card at move-in

What would you add to a turnover plumbing checklist?

Leo Stein · Answer

Patrick, thanks for adding these. Dry P-traps on vacant floor drains and basement sinks are an easy one to miss, and a sewer smell in the first week can make a new tenant think something is broken. Running water in every drain before showings and again before move-in is a simple habit to build in. Knowing where the main cleanout is and keeping it accessible is a great point too, and the lint catcher on the washer hose is a cheap upgrade. Do you note the cleanout location in the unit file so a vendor can find it right away on a weekend call?

Patrick O'Sullivan · Answer

Floor drains, basement sinks, and showers in spare bathrooms can dry out while a unit sits vacant, and a dry trap lets sewer gas into the house. A new tenant smelling sewage in the first week usually assumes something is broken. Running water into every drain right before showings and again before move-in avoids that.

I’d also confirm where the main cleanout is and make sure it’s accessible, not buried under landscaping or blocked by stored items. When a main line backs up on a weekend, a plumber who can’t find the cleanout is billing you for the search. If there’s a washer hookup, a lint catcher on the discharge hose is worth adding too, since lint builds up in laundry lines the same way hair does in a tub.

Leo Stein · Answer

Ming and Marc, thank you both. Ming, running fixtures for a few minutes instead of ten seconds is a good point, and the mesh hair catchers are a cheap fix for the midnight calls. Marc, a welcome kit with a plunger and a hair-pulling strip is a friendly way to stop small clogs early. Ming, have you found the endoscope camera worth it on units with repeat clogs, or only on the older ones?

Marc Winter · Answer

The list above is good. We go a step further--provide the new tenant with 'welcome gifts'. They consist of a new toilet plunger, and one of those plastic zip strips that can easily pull hair out of drains. See your local bigbox store.

Ming Yi · Answer

Solid list. The one I'd add is running every fixture at full blast for a few minutes, not just a quick on-off. Slow drains don't show themselves in ten seconds. Fill the tub, let it drain, and watch. Same with the kitchen sink while the disposal runs, since disposal vibration shakes loose buildup that a gentle flow hides. If a unit has had repeat clogs, a cheap endoscope camera down the cleanout before turnover is worth it, roots and broken pipe sections don't care about your new tenant's schedule. Also check the P-traps under every sink for corrosion while you're in there, and put mesh hair catchers in every tub and shower as standard. They're a dollar each and they prevent most of the hair clogs that generate midnight calls.

Matthew Tregoning · Answer

On that sink care card, I’d include what to do when the drain starts slowing down, not just what shouldn’t go into it. Give them a simple way to report it and ask them to mention any products they’ve already used. That gives the plumber useful information and makes it easier for someone to raise a small issue before it becomes a completely blocked sink.

Leo Stein · Answer

James, Richard and Matthew, these are all useful. Running every fixture at once to catch a backing-up main line while the house is empty, and documenting the 30-second sink and tub test with a dated photo or video, both turn a guess into a record. Matthew, I like adding a 'what to do when it starts slowing' line to the sink care card, plus a simple way to report it and mention any products already tried. James, when you find a main line issue at turnover, do you bring the owner in before or after the plumber's quote?

Richard (Ryszard) Cieplechowicz · Answer

I would turn this into a test, not a look. Before the old tenant's walk-through closes, run every sink and tub for 30 seconds and flush each toilet twice. A slow drain then gets charged to the tenant who caused it, not to the next one. Hair in tub drains and wipes in toilets belong on the list next to grease. Date-stamped photo or short video of the test goes in the file.

James Jones · Answer

At 236 doors I add one check above the drains themselves: run every fixture at once at turnover and watch the lowest drain in the house. A slow kitchen line is a cleaning item. A main line that backs up when the tub and washer drain together is a different bill, and I want it found while the house is empty, not in week two with a tenant in place. On older Memphis houses I also budget plumbing as a real rehab line, not a hope — water heater, fixtures, and supply repairs are in my standard scope before a house ever rents. Turnover is the cheapest time to learn what the sewer is actually doing. Pay for the check empty. It costs multiples more occupied.

Leo Stein · Answer

Daniel, the timed water test is a great addition, because a slow drain is far easier to catch while the unit is empty. Photos in the turnover file also make it easy to show what condition each drain was in. Do you run the test before or after the final clean, and has it ever caught a slow drain you would have missed by eye?

What clogs rental drains between tenants? 4 make-ready checks

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