The structure itself
☐ Roof — the single biggest factor
A Class A fire-rated roof (composition shingle, tile with birdstops, metal) is the foundation of every hardening story. Wood shake in a brush zone is the opposite. Clear all debris from the roof surface and valleys. How carriers see each roof type →
☐ Vents — ember doorways
Attic, eave, crawlspace, and gable vents are where embers enter. Retrofit with ember-resistant vents or fine metal mesh per current standards. This is one of the cheapest, highest-leverage items on the list.
☐ Eaves, gutters, and edges
Enclosed (boxed) eaves resist ember catch; open eaves collect them. Install gutter guards or keep gutters bare of leaves through fire season. Metal drip edges and bird-stops close small gaps.
☐ Windows and openings
Dual-pane windows (tempered exterior pane where exposed) resist radiant heat far better than single-pane. Weather-seal garage doors — embers ride the gaps.
Zone 0: the first few feet
The area immediately against your walls is the highest-stakes real estate on the property. Carriers and fire scientists now converge on the same guidance: keep it ember-resistant.
☐ Nothing combustible against the house
No bark mulch, no firewood stacks, no stored lumber, no brooms and doormats made of bristle, no junipers hugging the foundation. Hardscape — gravel, pavers, concrete — is the friend of the first few feet. Move firewood and fuel well away from structures.
☐ Decks and attachments
Decks, gates, and fences that touch the house behave like fuses. Screen or enclose the under-deck area and keep it empty; where a wood fence meets the wall, a short metal or masonry section breaks the fuse. Combustible gates directly attached to siding are a classic finding on inspection reports.
Defensible space, working outward
Beyond Zone 0, think in bands that get progressively less strict as they get farther from the structure. Close in: lean, clean, and green — irrigated, maintained plantings with generous spacing, no dead material, tree limbs raised so ground fire can't ladder into canopies. Farther out: thin brush, break up continuous fuel beds, and keep grasses down through the dry months. Slopes deserve extra margin — fire moves faster uphill, so homes above slopes need deeper treated space on the downhill side. Your local fire authority's guidance controls the specifics for your parcel; the underwriting story is the same everywhere: interrupted fuel paths, maintained continuously.
Turn work into placement
Mitigation changes which carriers will quote you. Let's find out who.
Four minutes to an indication, then a broker who knows which markets credit which improvements. No fee, no obligation.
Get a pricing indication →Documentation: the step everyone skips
Undocumented mitigation doesn't exist at quote time. Build the file as you work: dated photos of the roof, vents, Zone 0, and cleared space (retake annually — this is a maintenance record, not a one-time album); receipts and permits for the re-roof, vent retrofit, and tree work; inspection reports from any community program or fire-authority assessment. Send the packet to your broker before remarketing — it feeds carrier questionnaires and Safer from Wildfires credits with participating carriers, and it's your evidence if an aerial image is outdated or wrong.
Frequently asked
Which single item should I do first?
If the roof is sound: vents and Zone 0 — cheap, fast, and directly aimed at ember entry. If the roof is old or wood shake, everything else waits behind it. The roof-age math →
Will this get me a discount?
With participating carriers, documented hardening can earn credits — structures vary by carrier and filing, so we won't promise percentages. The bigger prize is often eligibility itself: hardened homes get quoted by markets that decline their neighbors. How appetite works now →
Does the FAIR Plan care about mitigation?
Documentation always helps your file, and the goal for many FAIR-placed homes is exiting back to admitted markets — which is exactly where the hardening record pays off. The FAIR Plan →