I just read a post from a good neighbor imagining the cost of doing Zone 0, without experience of it himself. I am not quite done with mine, but I have done most of mine (about 85%). I thought I would share actual numbers, so as to put a bit of realism in the discussion.
My house has a rather large footprint, and is on somewhat of a slope. Unfortunately, I made the mistake, 20 years ago, to landscape very close to the house. So my house perimeter was about 70% surrounded with shrubbery (much more than the average home), with the exception of the garage door and one side void of vegetation.
- I cut about 35 small shrubs myself and put them in my green bin, over several months. Cost: $0
- I transplanted a few shrubs last December, with about 30% success rate. Cost: $0.
- I had an arborist cut 8-10 large shrubs or trees (persimmon, fig, several camellias and rhododendrons). I used a chipper day appointment to get rid of the greenery. Cost: $600
- I had a day laborer weed my zone 0, one day labor. Cost $200
- I ordered 16 cubic yards of red lava 5/16"from Acapulco, with delivery, cost $1,600 (covered MUCH more than zone 0 btw, way into zone 1)
- I hired 2 day laborers for a day to spread it around my house, cost $400. Having experience of landscape fabric, I decided not to use any this time.
What I still have to do:
- replace two gates. I found replacements for $600 for two gates plus another $1,000 concrete installation (such as, for instance, this one: XCEL - Black Steel Anti-Rust Fence Gate - 4ft W x 5ft H - Easy Installation Kit, for Residential, Outdoor, Yard, Patio, Entry Way, 3-Rail Metal Gate - Amazon.com) but I will likely go higher-end for about $5,000 including install. It is my choice to pay more, though: as my son expresses it— “First World choices…”
- cut another 5-6 shrubs, for which I am waiting a bit longer because I don’t have the heart to cut them now. Cost: $0.
Total cost necessary: $4,400. Total I will probably pay: $7,800, because I want it to look really good. I should add that my neighborhood group offers defensible space visits to the neighborhood. I have been a part of 58 so far. I think that my house is among the top 10% in terms of cost, because I had so much to remove, two attached gates, and a large perimeter.
As for the speculative costs that some neighbors are concerned about, here are my thoughts for my house, based on what I have evidence for (how it looks, largely post zone 0 treatment):
- Being able to see the result, I think that my house lost no resale value due to less curb appeal
- I think that my house will have gained resale value because it is zone 0 (and zone 1) compliant. Also, I understand that some Berkeley Hills sales these days fall through because insurance is hard to get for the buyer—this will also help.
- I am likely to have an easier time keeping the house insured
- I understand that, soon enough, at the state level, real estate agents will have to disclose if a house is not defensible space compliant. What will be the likely effect on house price of not doing the work?
These are hard numbers. not imaginary—feel free to DM me if you want to actually see it. In the end—the cost is not zero, but it is certainly not ridiculously high, like some fear, and it could be DIY by someone in better shape than me. Good luck to all.