source: Amato Architecture through East Bay Magazine
This house, designed by Rebecca Amato, survived the great fire of 2017 that destroyed Lahaina.
This very interesting article just appeared in East Bay Magazine. East Bay Mag interviewed two leading architects to discuss fireproofing and home design trends in California’s fire-prone neighborhoods.
Rebecca Amato is the founder and principal architect at Amato Architecture in Emeryville. Courtney Miller is founder and principal at Ecobuild Architects in Oakland.
'“The more resistant your home is, the more you’ll be helping the entire block,” Amato says. “In homes in the East Bay hills, renovations are dictated by what’s already in the house. But things like affordable, durable concrete slab flooring can be installed and stained wonderful colors. I used steel railings in my home and interior walls. And cabinets can be made with chemical-free materials.” ’
‘“We have fires now in California with high, horizontal winds that just blast the side of the house,” says Miller. “More stringent exterior cladding like the metal shutters used in Australia; rock wall, 2-inch insulation that gives a thermal break behind the cladding; intumescent exterior paint over wood siding; and metal, clay or concrete tile roofs as opposed to asphalt, glass fiber shingles.”’
These are some of the actions recommended by these two architects when retrofitting your existing home to the new reality of wildfire in the Bay Area:
- remove wood fencing or gates close to the house
- eliminate wood mulch
- enclose roof eaves’ undersides with cement board siding or stucco
- install fire-rated, tempered glass doors and aluminum-clad windows
- build wooden decks with thick lumber treated with fire-resistance stains
Amato recommends homeowners investigate the site Wildfire Prepared Home | IBHS, by the insurance consortium that has funded much of fire research in the last 30 years.