Winning Repeat Sealant Work From Landlords

Most homeowner sealant jobs are one-offs: the bath gets resealed and you may not hear from them again for years. Landlords and letting agents are different. They look after houses and flats that change hands every year or two, and each change brings the same list: mouldy silicone round the bath, a gap behind the kitchen worktop, a shower tray that has started to leak. Do the first job well and the second one often comes straight to you.

This guide is for applicators who want more of that steady rented-property work.

Why rented homes need sealant so often

Shared houses and family lets get heavy use, and tenants rarely report a failing joint until water shows through a ceiling. When a property empties, the landlord or agent usually walks round it with a checklist, and tired silicone is one of the easiest things to spot. They want it fixed before the next tenants arrive, which means short notice and a fixed window to do it in.

A landlord with four houses, or an agent managing many more, needs the same job done again and again. They are not looking for the cheapest quote each time. They are looking for someone who turns up, does it properly and does not make them chase.

Make your first claim easy to approve

A letting agent often has to get the landlord's approval before booking anything, so your claim message has to work on its own. You have up to 800 characters, and the people reading it may forward it unchanged.

• Say exactly what you will do: cut out the old silicone, clean and dry the joints, and reseal the bath, shower and basin, for example.
• Give a guide price for the job as posted, and say what could change it, such as rotten boards behind a panel.
• Say how soon you can do it and how long it takes, including how long the silicone needs before the shower is used.

Example: "Can do this Thursday or Friday while the house is empty. Remove all old silicone from bath, basin and kitchen worktop, treat and dry, reseal in white sanitary silicone. About half a day. Shower usable after 24 hours. Guide price [your price], fixed unless I find damage behind the bath panel, which I would photograph and tell you about first."

Our guide to writing claim messages that win work has more on the wording.

Fit the work around the empty dates

Void periods are short, and cleaners, decorators and inventory clerks are often booked in the same few days. Ask for the dates the property is empty, how you collect and return the keys, and whether anyone else will be working there. Then do the sealant early enough that it has cured before the cleaners finish and the new tenants move in.

If something stops you on the day, such as no water or no access, tell the agent at once with a photo.

Leave a record the agent can file

Agents keep paperwork for every property, so give them something to keep.

1. Take a photo of each joint before you start and again when you finish, in the same light and from the same angle.
2. Send a short note with the photos: which joints you did, the type of sealant and colour, and when the bath or shower can be used.
3. List anything you noticed that is not a sealant job, such as a loose tile, a dripping trap or an extractor fan that does not run.

It takes five minutes and saves the agent a phone call.

Be honest about what sealant will not fix

Rented bathrooms often have black mould that comes back because the room never dries out. New silicone will look good for a few weeks and then go the same way if there is no working extractor or window. Say so. The same goes for a cracked shower tray, a waste that leaks under the bath or tiles that move when you press them. Sealing over the problem gets you paid once. Telling the landlord about it is what gets you asked back.

Keep the work coming

• Answer quickly. An agent with a property to relet will often book whoever replies first with a clear plan.
• Cover the area where they manage homes. Set your base postcode and radius to take in the streets where the agent works, and add whole postcode areas if their properties are spread out. Our guide to choosing your work area explains how.
• Watch for their next post. Landlords and agents can post every job here for free, and email alerts tell you when a matching job goes up near you. Keep your alerts switched on.

No site can promise a set number of jobs, and rented-property work comes in waves around the end of tenancies and the student year. But applicators who are easy to book, leave a clear record and give straight advice tend to find the same names in their job feed again.