After a seemingly endless summer, the Bay Area is finally getting some authentic autumn weather, with cooler temperatures and rain on the horizon. As we close out a year marked by extreme weather, it’s anyone’s guess what winter will bring, which is why residents should be prepared for anything, including excessively cold and wet conditions. If you’re a homeowner, this means making sure your home is in adequate shape to withstand such conditions. To learn more, we’ve asked six Diamond Certified Expert Contributors to provide their insights on how to prepare a home exterior for winter weather. Read more

Since California began its COVID-19 lockdown in March, many holidays and traditions have looked different this year. Graduation ceremonies were held online, Independence Day passed without local fireworks and baseball games were held in near-empty stadiums. Now, Halloween is just around the corner, and festivities promise to be more subdued than usual. While COVID-19 cases remain steady in California, they’re climbing rapidly in other parts of the country. State health officials still recommend wearing a mask when you’re outside your home, staying at least six feet away from others and washing your hands frequently. Read more

Here in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, we don’t often suffer the extreme weather conditions experienced elsewhere in the United States. However, we do see our share of hot and cold weather, and unlike the rest of the country, our homes typically aren’t built to ward off either. Few homes in the Bay Area have central air conditioning, so when hot weather strikes, there isn’t much we can do but sweat it out.

One reliable way to beat the heat is to invest in home improvement measures that lower heat gain and increase energy efficiency. Some measures are more costly and intensive than others, but all of them can make your home more comfortable during hot weather.  Read more

While ticks can be found year-round, they’re most prevalent during the warm summer months, which brings an increased risk for Bay Area residents who enjoy spending time outdoors. To protect yourself and your family from these pervasive pests and the health threats they present, consider the following tick prevention tips: Read more

After being hit particularly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, California seems due for a summer reprieve. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be the case. Not only are many areas of the state seeing a resurgence of novel Coronavirus cases, we now face another, more familiar yet equally concerning issue: wildfire season. Each summer, wildfires destroy thousands of acres and homes throughout California, and this year looks to be no exception. That’s why residents (particularly those situated in the wildland-urban interface) must be vigilant about maintaining fire-safe conditions on their properties. Consider the following advice for defending your home against wildfires. Read more

With wet weather around the corner, now is the time for homeowners to do a thorough inspection of their homes and yards. After months of dry weather, sudden rains can lead to unexpected damage. Use this checklist to address the areas of your property that tend to be vulnerable during rain events. Read more

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy long walks and hikes in different parts of the Bay Area. However, there are three things that detract from my enjoyment: poison oak, snakes and ticks. I’ve learned to spot poison oak and can usually avoid it. Snakes have predictable patterns and I’ve only seen a couple of harmless ones in the past few years. Ticks scare me the most because they’re so small and difficult to detect (the bites are painless), and they also may carry Lyme and other diseases. Read more