Summer: Window AC & Storm Season

Window air conditioners

• Under the lease, window units are tenant-provided. (Where a unit has central air, we maintain that.)
• Install it like it could kill someone — because it could: the sash locked down on top of the unit, side panels extended, and the unit secured with a bracket or screws. Never balanced on a sill over a sidewalk, porch, or doorway.
• Tilt slightly toward the outside so condensation drips out, not into the wall.
• Plug it straight into the wall — no extension cords. If the breaker trips when it kicks on, stop and submit a work order instead of resetting it over and over.
• Take units out (or cover and seal them) before winter — an AC in the window in January is a pipe-freezing draft machine.

Storm season

• Before a big storm: bring in or tie down anything on porches and patios that can fly.
• Power goes out? Work the power outage checklist before calling anyone.
• See water coming in around a window, door, or ceiling during a storm — contain it, photograph it, and report it as urgent.

Basement dampness (a South Hills classic)

• After a heavy rain, give the basement a look. A musty smell or damp floor is worth reporting early — water finds the same path every time, and small fixes (regrading a downspout, sealing a crack) only stay small if we know.
• Don't store cardboard boxes directly on basement floors — plastic bins on a pallet or shelf survive what cardboard doesn't.
• Standing water or water actively flowing in: that's a call-the-office situation, not a form.

Grills

Use grills well away from siding, railings, and anything overhead — never on a covered porch or in a garage, and never store propane indoors (the lease's flammables rule applies). Coals go cold in a metal container, not the rubbish bin.