8/17/2021

Everything You Need to Know About Building in Wildfire Country

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If you live in Washington, especially east of the Cascades in Chelan or Wenatchee, you know that the Evergreen State has five seasons; Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fire.

While the ash in the air and constant smell of smoke can be a nuisance, the reality is that more than 90,000 structures have been destroyed by wildfires since 2005. In addition to that, wildfire forecasters are predicting that both the frequency and intensity of wildfires will continue to grow in the coming years.

So as a homeowner, how do you protect your (likely) largest investment from nature? While you can’t control nature, there are several things you can do to mitigate the threat of a wildfire damaging your custom home.

First things first, get familiar with your construction site. Does it have a history of wildfires? How long ago was the last wildfire in the area? Is your build site generally windy? Are there trees, and if so are they healthy? All these preliminary questions can help determine what kind of risk you are taking on by building in that specific location. If you own property and are considering a few different places to build on, it is worth the time to weigh the pros and cons of each location and what vulnerabilities they may have to wildfire activity.

Second, when planning and designing your future home, think of the surface area and how likely different areas are to catch fire in the event of a wildfire. Roofs, decks, and exterior walls make up the vast majority of your home’s surface area, and all of the building materials you choose play an important role in the strength of your house. For roofing material, consider metal roofing or asphalt shingles as a way to mitigate airborne embers and debris from growing. For decks, consider composite or treated wood specially designed to resist fire. Exterior walls can be constructed with concrete for the best resistance but there are other great alternatives such as fiber cement boards, metal siding, and stone.

Finally, smart landscaping can make the difference between your house surviving a blaze or becoming a statistic. Fire mitigation experts have identified 3 zones around every house that need to be carefully considered when planning landscaping.

Zone 1 is considered the 5 feet immediately against your house. This zone is critical as any trees or tall plants that may lean against your house or have branches that extend over your roof can turn into an extreme hazard in the event that they catch fire. Consider limiting plants in this zone to low-growing, non-woody, well-watered plants with a hardscape such as pavers, gravel or other non-combustible material. Check out this guide specifically created for fire-resistant landscaping in the Wenatchee and Chelan areas.

Zone 2 includes 5 feet to 30 feet surrounding your home. This zone is considered the “green zone” where your best efforts are spent clearing dead and dry vegetation and separating potentially combustible materials away from each other.

Zone 3 is the 30 feet to 100 feet surrounding your house. This zone should be considered a buffer zone. In the event that a wildfire does approach this zone, regularly mowed grass, properly trimmed lower branches in trees, and reduced fuel will help to slow it down.

Wildfires are here to stay but with a little extra planning before and during the building process you can mitigate some of the dangers and prepare yourself for living in wildfire country.

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12/15/2018

5 Things to Consider when Choosing a Contractor

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There is a not-so-subtle artfulness in home-building. Houses may be going up left and right in our area but so few of them are really, truly homes. A house is where you live. A home is where life happens.

In the pursuit of building a home, partnering with a contractor that will take your vision and run with it is essential. While competent, professional contractors are found everywhere, not all of them will nurture your dream and push it forward to a successful completion.

So here are 5 things that you need to consider before choosing a contractor.

1) Communication

If you’ve ever built a house or known someone who has built a house, you know that the daily ins-and-outs of the jobsite are constantly changing. Communication is a two-way street. Open dialogue as the project progresses is essential. From appliance choice to rooflines, things will change. And when those changes are made, you want to be reassured that every detail has been gone over and every facet considered. We like to think of the contractor-client relationship as a short-term marriage. When you sign that contract and the work begins, you better hope that the marriage is built on strong communication.

2) References

As part of your pre-construction homework, you should be gathering references for contractors. If the people you talk to simply say, “they were great,” or “they were fine to work with”, you should run. If their past clients aren’t thrilled to talk at length about the experience, then that contractor most likely built them a house, not a home. Listen for words like, “artistic, passionate, detailed, thorough, patient, and personal.” Listen to how they talk about the enjoyable parts of the project but also ask them about how they dealt with the problems or difficulties. Because that is the measure of a great contractor; how they act through the hardest parts of the project.

3) Artfulness

Contractors are not engineers, they follow a plan but they also should be actively looking for ways to improve your design. Building homes for a living gives them an advantage of experience. They know what previous clients have hated and loved about their own designs. A contractor who is willing to go off-script so that they can create a custom, artistic change to the design, is a contractor who cares about the end-product and the vision.

4) Subcontractors

Something you should ask your potential contractor about is how they choose subcontractors. There are generally two ways that contractors choose subcontractors. Some contractors are only concerned about the bottom-line. They will use the cheapest subcontractors they can find in an effort to come in with the lowest bid. While this method of choosing subs could work in some industries, it can have long-reaching negative effects on your building project. The other way of selecting subcontractors is more relational. The contractor will have a list of subs they've used before and trust to do great work. This method builds more trust on the jobsite and allows for easier communication as everyone knows what the expectations are for each party involved. If something breaks or goes wrong, you want to be guaranteed that the general contractor will stand by the work that his subs did while also being willing to go to bat for you as the homeowner. A dedicated team of subcontractors who work together is vital for your project’s success.

5) Experience

While it is true that not all experienced contractors are especially great, great contractors are all very experienced. They have built hundreds of homes over the years and honed their craft to perfection. Building in different climates, with different materials, in different styles and sizes, giving them a wealth of knowledge that can be used on your next project. They know the process from start to finish and will help guide you along the way.

We hope that you consider these five things as you start or continue your building project. Building a home is an incredibly special, thrilling, scary, and exciting undertaking. Make sure that you are teaming up with the best possible contractor for the job. It will save you time, sweat, tears, and money.

For more information, contact us here.

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Everything You Need to Know About Building in Wildfire Country

5 Things to Consider when Choosing a Contractor

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