AAA House Manager Blog

This post has been updated to better address the added challenges of managing the dangers of wildfire season at a time when communities are already impacted by COVID-19.

At this point, we've been through enough wildfires to be familiar with the myriad ways our lungs take a beating when the air quality outside is poor — including increased risk of asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, COPD, and heart failure. 

What we aren’t used to: fewer firefighters, shortages of N95 masks, an increased number of individuals already suffering from respiratory problems related to the pandemic, and emotional and mental fatigue from already spending months cooped up indoors. We can also add to that list rolling blackouts and PG&E’s calls to reduce energy consumption. 

A couple weeks ago we sat down with Susanne Stadler, executive director of the Bay Area organization At Home with Growing Older, who told us that, when it comes to getting a home ready to age in place, she recommends starting with the bathroom and entryway. For that reason, we decided to take a closer look at these two areas of the home (as well as a few others) to find easy, inexpensive fixes and upgrades you can do yourself. And, if you want to take it a step further, how AAA House Manager can help.

We’re a little over a week away from the night most kids have been looking forward to for months, Halloween. They’re counting down the minutes until they can score what they hope will be their biggest loot of candy ever. But to get the candy, they’ll need to walk door to door for blocks, maybe even miles. So it’s important that their pathway remain safe. Here are five tips to ensure your home is ready for an influx of trick-or-treaters.

Decks are beautiful and functional, but they come with their share of risks and costs. The biggest: dry rot. While certain woods — redwood, mahogany, cypress, cedar, and pressure treated wood — are less likely to rot to begin with, anyone with a deck or aspirations to build one needs to be versed in the warning signs and mitigation strategies for dry rot. Here are your must-knows:

Although AAA is no longer forecasting Labor Day travel, traditionally, around 35 million people drive or fly at least 50 miles from home. That’s 35 million homes sitting empty for the long weekend. Because the last thing you want to do on vacation is worry about what’s going on at your home while you’re not there, here are a few tasks to check off your list before you head out of town. 

It’s almost the end of August — and that means it’s time to crack open those textbooks and go back to school. For college-bound students, this can mean the start of a new chapter with newfound freedoms and responsibilities, like having your own living space. While it may be fun to decorate and personalize your dorm, it is also important to prioritize your safety. So before you start packing, make sure you’re well prepared and informed. 

We asked UC Berkeley Housing to help us create a list of the do's and don'ts for dorm room safety. That being said, these tips are applicable to all residents living in dorm rooms or student housing. Here are our top 6 dorm room safety tips:

For the past two years, California has experienced its single most destructive wildfire in state history. First, with the Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County, which burned 38,807 acres, killed 22 people and destroyed more than 5,600 structures at a cost of $1.3 billion. Then came last November’s Camp Fire. An astonishing 153,336 acres of Butte County burned, 86 lives were lost, and nearly 19,000 structures decimated at a cost $16.5 billion.  

In response to the increase of devastating wildfires in California over the last two years, PG&E has committed to boosting its Community Wildfire Safety Program. That includes Public Safety Power Shutoff events. On days when fire danger is high, PG&E will preventatively cut electricity to customers, leaving them without power until the threat has subsided.