I know there's no such thing as "fireproof", but I'm trying to reduce the risk.  My house is brick but the second floor rear of the house has wood which I plan on replacing with hardi-board.

I'm getting a new roof so I plan on getting fire resistant shingles (Wife demands asphalt only, couldn't talk her into metal ).  Landscaping is another future battle.

My backyard fence is also getting restained.  A friend mentioned a fire-resistant base coat and this product in particular: http://www.flameseal.com/wood-fire-retardants/wood_seal_class_a_fire_retardant/.  I have no clue is it's a waste of money or not, but in theory it seems like a good idea.

Thoughts on the fence coating?

Keep trees away from your house, especially tall trees.
Steel roof helps keep embers from starting roof fires from other fires.

The best way to protect your property from fire is to keep it cleaned up and mowed.

Seems like your focused on external ignition sources.  Any particular reason?  

As a former property adjuster I can tell you that most of the fires I went to were caused by internal ignition sources. Ie.  grease fires and electrical fires.  

My recommendation is a central station monitored fire alarm system with several smoke detectors.  Make sure you have plenty of extinguishers stashed around the house.  Maintain your house.  Mice or roaches can get into open electrical wires and panels and cause a fire.  Control where combustible items are stored and keep them away from ignition sources.  Basic stuff like don't stack those wood pallets next to your house, etc.

I'm in N Texas, which is basically a tinderbox 70% of the year.  A while back some jackass with a cig started a brush fire that took our very small FD two days to put out.  I'm trying to protect myself from the stray ember.

Wish I could ship you some of our rain in the SE US.  Tired of it here.  The pollen is really starting to come out.  

Watch the brush around your house.  If you are in a rural area find a way to have an adequate water supply to fight fires.  I go out to farms in rural areas a lot.  I've heard a sad story several times.  "The local fire department ran out of water to fight the fire..... The suction hose to the pond collapsed.....we watched our house burn to the ground in no time."  Good luck

the last thing on my mind when it comes to fire retardant would be my fence. i would worry more about the interior and exterior than a fence. i would go with hardy fire resistance plants, gravel/stone around the house instead of a traditional "flower bed" and again with the plants that are known to be resistant to fire. if you are that worried about an external fire causing damage to your house then you could always invest in one of the residential CAFS systems. they aint cheap but if its that big of a concern that you want to fireproof your fence then they might be an option.

I would look at putting screens on your roof vents.

believe that a lot of houses burn because of embers getting inside the roof.

CA code....

http://firecenter.berkeley.edu/bwmg/vents-2.html

Red

They do make metal roof "shingles" they're a little pricey but might fit what you need.

Look up "defendable space" and you'll find lots of great information.

I live on desert property myself and have a spigot on each corner of my house, I have four hoses with sprinklers that stick in the ground I can place and bugout if need be. This all runs off my private well so it would go until power is lost or I can hook the generator up to it. Having that cleared defendable space though is key and needs to constantly be kept up.

Also, you should be just as concerned with the interior of your house. Don't leave candles unattended and I never suggest even using them unless they are on a fire resistant surface like granite top with nothing around. Don't leave things turned on when leaving the house, example coffee maker or hair curler. The list can go on and on but being mindful of all this will no doubt help avoid ever going through the nightmare of loosing a house to fire!

Much of the Electrical code involves locating receptacles to eliminate the use of extension cords. Extension cords are a common cause of residential fires.

True CAFS systems are nice but even a Pressure Washer with a vortex nozzle and soap injector can make a difference.

Metal roof covering > asphalt.  It's worth investigating further.  In any event, it doesn't matter at all if your gutters are full of dry leaves, so keep them clean.  Screening soffit, gable, and ridge vents to keep flying embers out shouldn't be too hard and will give one less avenue for fire to find a way in.

If you have a defensible space around your house and the fence is far enough away, I wouldn't waste any money on fire retardant coatings.

your wife obviously doesn't love you. If she wanted you to be safe you would have a metal roof. I have seen so many houses burned to the ground and the one next to it with a metal or tile roof intact. if she doesn't want one that looks like metal they make him look like slate. the other thing is closed soffits, embers get up underneath  if they're open and there goes the house.

I pushed back the underbrush farther than when this picture was taken. Its all pine trees and Palmetto. I also cut through an escape route to the fire break on the right side of the picture. I had a perfectly good asphalt shingle roof but covered it with 5 V crimp galvalume. it not only got me lower insurance but lowered my electric bill.

Metal roofs don't have to look metal. link

Hardi board are nice to keep the fires away.

Keep the fuel away from your house as well.

Yes to metal roofs. No way would I ever go back to 'fire resistant' shingles.


Yep the retardant paint may have a quite limited effectiveness, especially when exposed to the elements. Think abt it, a thin coating that covers the surface of a flammable material that might be easily penetrated by fire.


One thing we did when I was a kid was to treat the Christmas tree with sodium silicate [water-glass] to make it somewhat fire-resistant.

It's cheap and might be something to consider.

Great reason to get a pool, a portable pump, 150' of 1 1/2" hose and a solid stream nozzle

http://www.firewise.org/wildfire-preparedness/wui-home-ignition-research/the-jack-cohen-files.aspx?sso=0

This video makes the point a little quicker:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p0iR8o54hDU
http://youtu.be/p0iR8o54hDU

If an asphalt (ie, flammable) roof is a must, then might look into roof sprinkler systems. They can be as simple or complicated as desired, and can be home-made as well as the commercially-available systems. They can also be laid out to cover not just the roof, but to help create somewhat of a perimeter around the entire house as well. If danger of freeze is a concern, they can have a simple, ground-accessible drain valve to empty the lines in the winter.



A side benefit is that on hot summer afternoons, you can run the sprinklers for even just a few minutes, drastically reducing the temperature of your roof and positively impacting your cooling bills. We don't have a roof sprinkler largely because even though our roof is shingle (for cosmetic & 'wife' reasons), the house structure it sets on is steel. So while the roof could possibly burn off, the structure won't burn down. In the summer, I'll sometimes go out with a hose and spray the roof. On a hot, sunny day, it will take literally 2-3 minutes before any water runs off; initially it steams off, the roof gets so hot. And when the water does finally start to run off, it's hotter than what comes out of the water heater - literally scalding. Just a few minutes of water-spraying removes a HUGE number of btu's.

Good post!

If you plan a DIY roof system, look into Rain Bird's agricultural line. You want low flow, even coverage, and maximum distance, which residential lawn sprinklers probably won't do.

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