Boston Property Management just wanted to start you guys off with some small DO IT YOURSELF tricks. We do not expect that all of you are qualified maintenance workers or anything, but there are some things that you should be aware of how to fix on your own. Some of you may already know this stuff, but if this is your first off campus apartment I would read through all of these items. Our maintenance team is very busy and so if you could try and fix some of these small minor things before making a maintenance request it will save a lot of time back logging our maintenance team for things like changing light bulbs and loose door knobs. It is our job to maintain the apartments inside and outside to habitable condition, but it is your responsibility to learn how things work inside your own apartment as grown adults whom will be living in your own apartments / houses either rented or purchased most likely for the rest of your lives. So take these tricks with you in the future as well:
SMOKE & CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS: If you have a smoke or carbon monoxide detector that is beeping (not due to Fire or Smoke); it is beeping because the batteries need to be changed. It is your responsibility as a tenant to replace the batteries in the smoke detectors inside your apartment. They always take either double A's or 9 Volt batteries. I will make sure that they get new ones when you move in, but please replace them during the year instead of taking them down.
If one in the common area is beeping please contact your PM.
OUTLETS: If you have an outlet which is not working – please try to hit the reset button in the middle of the outlet (if there is one). If there are multiple outlets out in one area of the house then you most likely tripped a fuse (see electrical for fixing). If you have an outlet which is a little bit loose…most likely you need a flat head screwdriver to tighten the small screw on the plate to tighten it up. If it is hanging off the wall and not attached at all then please email or text your PM.
ELECTRICAL: If you have a power outage (some of or the entire apartment) you most likely tripped a fuse. The electrical panels for each unit are either inside the apartment or in the basement (labeled with apartment numbers). The box is a larger gray door about one foot by one foot and should be at eye level on the walls. Open the box and if any of the black knobs are facing a different direction then the rest – that is the one that is tripped. So turn it off and on a couple of times (face it the same direction as all of the others) and it should work. If not please send an email or text to your PM.
GARBAGE DISPOSALS: Please be sure to always run water while using the garbage disposal, as the water helps wash down what is inside the disposal. Also, try to use the sink trap provided so that nothing gets down into the disposal that you don't want down there. If your garbage disposal is not working or the sink is clogged – please make sure that there is nothing stuck down in the disposal (when it is turned off). 90% of the time there is a fork or bottle cap or something stuck in there. Please try not to put anything rough in them like meat or vegetable cores, etc. The disposals are low energy disposals and cannot handle very heavy material. If there is nothing in the disposal then reach our hand along the bottom of the disposal (big black circular thing under the sink) and there is a small round reset button, push it in. Then try and turn the disposal back on. If this does not work after trying these things please email or text your PM.
DISHWASHERS: Please scrap and pre-rinse the dishes clean of any food debris. If you put the dishes into the dishwasher and they are covered in dish soap ….you will get crazy bubbles which may even cause an overflow of water from the dishwasher. Be sure to only use the allotted dish soap for dishwashers and not regular dish soap, as it could possibly break the dishwasher. If your dishes keep coming out not perfectly clean please empty the trap on the bottom back right corner of the dishwasher (under the bottom rack) of all food and debris. Sometimes there is food stuck it in and therefore the dishes are not getting fully cleaned.
WASHERS / DRYERS: Please do small loads only. The more clothes that you put into the washer the longest it is going to take in the dryer. So if you stuff the washer then you are going to have to do 2 cycles to dry. It is actually most cost effective to do smaller loads. And I wouldn't recommend trying to wash comforters or sneakers or anything besides regular clothes in the machines. Also, be sure to empty out the lint trap in between each drying load.
LIGHT FIXTURES: If you have a light out – please try and change the light bulb if you can stand on something to reach the fixture. There are a couple of different types of fixtures. There is one that has a little cap in the middle of the globe which you unscrew (while holding the glass piece) and the entire thing comes off. There is one that has screws on the sides of it which hold in the glass fixture and you do the same thing as above (be sure to put all screws back when replacing. There is one with long tube looking bulbs which you need to email or text your PM to replace.
LOOSE DOORKNOBS: Please use a screw driver to tighten the screws on either side of the doorknob while holding the opposite side of the knob tightly to the door. If the screws are stripped or missing let me know and I can drop some off to you.
CLOGGED TOILET / DRAINS: Every single apartment should own a plunger for their toilet(s). If the toilet starts to clog please flush it as many times as necessary. If it is going to overflow please turn off the water by reaching behind the toilet and turning the knob on the pipes to off & then call me. Please do NOT FLUSH anything except toilet paper down the toilets…they are all low flow water saving toilets and cannot handle anything else especially feminine products. If you have a clogged bathroom sink or tub drain please try 1 bottle of Drano (reading the instructions on the product and following them exactly). If none of these tricks work than please email or text your PM.
HEAT: It takes at least 3-4 hours to get the heat started the first time that you turn it on. Just be aware of this. If the heat does not come on within that time period please call your PM.
HOT WATER TANKS: So your hot water tanks are located in the basement. They are the very large round white tanks and most of them are labeled with the apartment numbers if you look closely enough. If you do not have hot water at all please go to the basement and see if your tank is leaking – if so call me immediately. If your hot water is not getting that hot then you can turn up the temperature on your water tank. It ranges from vacation mode to warm to hot. It should stay somewhere between warm and hot depending on your preference. The hotter you keep the water the higher your gas bill (keep that in mind).
WATER IN BASEMENT: If you ever see a large amount of water in the basement either near the furnaces, the water tanks or the laundry facilities please call your PM immediately! Not a small amount of wet ground water, but a huge pool / puddle of water.
If you have any questions about any of these things please feel free to contact your PM. Please don't try and fix anything related to electrical, plumbing or heating yourself. We have no problem fixing what is broken and necessary to fix. We just want you to learn the small stuff so that maintenance has more time for the big stuff. If you have any issues with anything in the common space like dirty hallways, garbage in yard or light bulbs missing in the common areas please send your PM an email and we will take care of it. Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.
1243 Commonwealth Ave.