About 25 or so years ago we had a wind driven wildfire go through a fairly rural subdivision South of Spokane. With lots of dry Ponderosa Pine trees around the houses, most of the houses were totally destroyed. I drove through the area a few days later and almost all the houses were nothing more than burned out foundations, with occasional chimneys remaining. But right in the middle of the burned area was a house that appeared to have no damage at all, other than some scorching of one end of the wood deck. I noticed that the undamaged house had a regular 3-tab composition roof, and the roof was simple, with no places to catch pine needles and debris.
It turned out that the surviving house had been built before the rest of the subdivision went in. When they formed the subdivision, they established a covenant that all homeowners and builders were supposed to abide with. And part of that covenant was that all buildings were supposed to have split cedar shake roofs.
I later talked to the owner of the surviving house. He said he had been given quite a bit of crap about his "ugly cheap roof" over the years, but ALL of his neighbors" houses were lost and his "ugly cheap roof" had saved his house.
When the subdivision was rebuilt, split cedar shake roofs were no longer required, and in fact, might have been banned unless they were specially treated to be fire resistant. I see lots of composition roofs on the houses that replaced the burned ones.
I like the look of a hand split cedar shake roof, and if properly constructed, a cedar roof will last a very long time. But in an area where there might be wind driven wildfires, a cedar shake roof is a really stupid choice. It is like covering the top of your house with kindling.
I don"t think much of covenants either. I don"t think my neighbors should have much, if any control over my property. And that is one of the reasons I refuse to live in a subdivision. I also don"t like to have neighbors that close.
My house now has a 3-tab composition roof. When that needs to be replaced, I intend to put on sheet metal, which I think is even better protection than composition. And snow can slide off metal, but that is another topic.
Living in an area that has hazards make it a good idea to plan to deal with those potential hazards. If there is a covenant that has STUPID restrictions, then changing the restrictions or building somewhere else is the only thing that makes sense. being told that you have to have a roof that will burn fairly easily in an area that might very well have wildfires is ridiculous.
Tile roofs look to me like wind driven sparks could go under or around tiles and ignite the wood structure underneath. But I have no experience with tile. Composite or sheet metal seems to work well even in bad wind, assuming it is in good shape and was properly applied.
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Today's Featured Article - A Lifetime of Farm Machinery - by Joe Michaels. I am a mechanical engineer by profession, specializing in powerplant work. I worked as a machinist and engine erector, with time spent overseas. I have always had a love for machinery, and an appreciation for farming and farm machinery. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Not a place one would associate with farms or farm machinery. I credit my parents for instilling a lot of good values, a respect for learning, a knowledge of various skills and a little knowledge of farming in me, amo
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