Protect Your Property: Replace Roofing with Fire-Resistant Materials
What You Can Do
Fire protection can involve a variety of changes to your house and property --
changes that can vary in complexity and cost. You may be able to make some
types of changes yourself. But complicated or large-scale changes and those
that affect the structure of your house or its electrical wiring and plumbing
should be carried out only by a professional contractor licensed to work in
your state, county, or city. One example of fire protection is replacing
flammable roofing materials with fire-resistant materials. This is something
that most homeowners would probably hire a contractor to do.
Replace Roofing with Fire-Resistant Materials
Some roofing materials, including asphalt shingles and especially wood shakes,
are less resistant to fire than others. When wildfires and brush fires spread
to houses, it is often because burning branches, leaves, and other debris
buoyed by the heated air and carried by the wind fall on roofs. If the roof of
your house is covered with wood or asphalt shingles, you should consider
replacing them with fire-resistant materials.
As shown in the figure, you can replace your existing roofing materials with
slate, terra cotta or other types of tile, or standing-seam metal roofing.
Replacing roofing materials is difficult and dangerous work. Unless you are
skilled in roofing and have all the necessary tools and equipment, you will
probably want to hire a roofing contractor to do the work. Also a roofing
contractor can advise you on the relative advantages and disadvantages of
various fire-resistant roofing materials.
Tips
Keep these points in mind if you plan to have your existing roofing materials
replaced:
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Tile, metal, and slate are more expensive roofing materials, but if you need to
replace your roofing anyway, it may be worthwhile to pay a little more for the
added protection these materials provide.
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Slate and tile can be much heavier than asphalt shingles or wood shingles. If
you are considering switching to one of these heavier coverings, your roofing
contractor should determine whether the framing of your roof is strong enough
to support them.
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If you live in an area where snow loads are a problem, consider switching to a
modern standing-seam metal roof, which will usually shed snow efficiently.
Estimated Cost
If you hire a contractor to replace your existing roof covering, you can expect
to pay about $4 per square foot of roof area for tile or metal roofing and
about $7 per square foot of roof area for slate. For example, a house measuring
60 feet by 30 feet will have about 1,800 square feet of roof area. So for this
house, tile or metal roofing would cost about $7,200 and slate would cost about
$12,600.
Other Sources of Information
"Five Hot Tips for Homeowners on the Edge," by Herbert McLean, in American
Forest, vol. 99, no. 5-6, 1993
Guide to Landscaping for Fire Safety, 2nd. Ed., University of California, 1992
"Firescaping: Ways To Keep Your House and Garden from Going up in Smoke," by
Joan Boulton in Horticulture, The Magazine of American Gardening, vol. 69, no.
8, 1991
Protecting Residences from Wildfires: A Guide for Homeowners, Lawmakers, and
Planners, Technical Report No. 50, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1981
Information is also available from the National Roofing Contractors
Association, at 1-800-323-9545.