Fire season is still raging through Southern California, threatening lives and properties. Preparing your home can reduce the risk turning your hard work into a pile of embers and broken dreams during a fire. Here are some important ways to protect your property if a fire springs up in your area.
1. Create a "defensible space" by clearing out flammable debris from around your home. This is one of the most effective projects for a homeowner: make a clearing of about 30 feet (zone 1) from the house. Then 70 feet (zone 2) from that point, you should cut or mow grass down, and create spacing between shrubs and trees. If you have a wood deck or wood fence around the house, take those into account and clear around them as well.
2. Secure the vents and eaves (the part of the roof that meets or overhangs the walls of the building) to prevent embers from entering your house and burning it from the inside out. Keep your gutters clean to protect the eaves from so vulnerable.
3. Use non-combustible roofing like tile, asphalt shingles and steel. Having a low or non-combustible underlay also improves your home's fire resistance.
4. Upgrade your windows, intense heat can go right through the glass and catch your drapes and furniture on fire. Smaller tempered window units are more stable that bigger windows, you can install outside non-combustible shutters on the bigger windows that can be quickly shut in emergencies.
We know most of these tips cost a bit of money, but there is at least one that is doable this week. Stay safe and call us at (866)424-8782 if you need a free quote for your dwelling/homeowner's insurance.
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