January 19, 2025 • 42 mins
Dean says that the most dangerous thing of fire are embers as 90% of homes ignite because of the embers and not the fires on the Fireline. California building codes get updated every three years and there will be one this year that will reflect in 2026. Dean talks about Class A fire rating walls in your property and everything about it. Dean talks about how standard doors and glass doors are not an issue when it comes to safety during a fire but windows are a big issue. Dean goes down the list of his go-to materials that could help your house from catching fire by taking these recommendations into consideration
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisperer on demand on the iHeart radio app. You know,
this very program is the House Whisperer podcast that you
can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand. Hundreds of episodes
I've got for you. We've been doing this now we
(00:21):
are beginning our ninth season. Can you believe that hundreds
of episodes, all searchable by topic it is or could
be maybe should be your home improvement reference library. And
if you're thinking, hey, that's all great, but you know
what we really need is Dean and Tina in our
house to looking at our stuff telling us what to do, well,
(00:43):
you can do that too. You can book an in
home design consult with me and the tea who's sitting
right across the table from me here. You just go
to house Whisperer dot design. Okay, we are having a
very serious conversation about fire hardening your home, one that
I want you to listen very carefully too, because it
is sane and rational, and I want you to be
(01:05):
able to discern and assess the needs of your home
and not just go with kind of the fire hardening
frenzy that's already begun on in standard media, traditional media,
and especially on social media right now, and we are
talking this is I'm going to move on from this.
But the first and foremost threat to homes in any
(01:27):
kind of fire condition are the embers that are flying
off the fire line the fire. Nowhere near your home,
nowhere near your home, but embers that can fly up
to two miles away and actually start structure fire. Now,
how often did that happen?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I mean, come on, realistically, yeah, realistically, ninety percent of
the homes that ignite in a wildfire event ignite because
of embers not on the fire line, do you hear me?
And that is why I have my very special guest
on the line with me right now, Kelly Berkampas who
(02:06):
is the vice president and co founder of brand Guard Vents,
which is my number one recommendation for you for your
enber proof vents. Kelly, We're going to go one extra
segment here because I still have a couple of questions
for you.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Number one, I'm going to start off with this.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I want everybody to realize this, and Kelly is going
to lead into our next quick conversation here.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Whether you know it or not. Most homeowners wouldn't know this.
Why would you?
Speaker 1 (02:32):
But the California Building Code is updated triannually every three years.
Every three years we gather together all the things that
are going to be the updates to the building code
and then they are affected in those years. Twenty twenty five,
this year that we are in right now is on
that three year cycle. That means that this year things
are going into the California Building Code that will be
(02:55):
applicable and effective as of January first, twoy twenty Okay,
this is the year, and we already know, Kelly knows,
I know, we already know that for all new construction
and for major remodels all across the state of California,
that fire resistant EMBER resistant venting is a from now
(03:21):
on in the history of California, a requirement. Just like
in earthquakes, earthquake retrofitting, a requirement, ember resist in venting,
now a building requirement in the building code. So, okay, Dean,
that's fine. That applies to you, know, you know, people
who are building new and who are doing a major remodel.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
That's not me.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
What does it have to do with me? Well, you've
been listening to the news at all. You've been hearing
the ongoing conversation that these very, very costly, the most
costly fires in US history, are creating for insurance company
and insurance coverage out Let me just say this. I
don't want to get into the politics of it at all.
(04:03):
That's not what I do. But I will tell you this,
if the California Insurance Commissioner pulls off the miracle of
keeping or requiring insurers to offer fire insurance for California residents,
if he successfully pulls that off, I guarantee you that
(04:27):
one of the variables will simply be but you don't
have to ensure a home that doesn't have a certain
level of regulated fire hardening by code, and that will
include I guarantee you it will include amber proof vents. Kelly,
what have you heard along those lines?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeahan, I mean that's correct, You're totally spot on about everything.
And in fact, some insurance company is already actually mandate
mber resistant. I mean we get calls from homeowners all
the time. Over the past I mean some started doing it,
you know, as much as ten years ago, but especially
(05:10):
over the past year or two, we've seen an uptick
for sure where insurance companies are mandating, as a condition
of binding a policy or as a condition of renewal,
that you have to install ember resistant vents. I think
it's what this fire has done is now it's probably
going to make it more at a larger scale with
(05:33):
more companies.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I think, yeah, wow, Okay, So Kelly, before I let
you go as succinctly as you can so that we
all understand it and remember it. All right, I'm convinced.
Dean convinced me. Dean and Kelly, you've convinced me. We
got to get mber proof fence from my house. How
do I begin? What's the process? What happens?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Well? The process is extremely straightforward and easy. If you
were a do it yourself for you know this is
not rocket science. You can call us, go to our website.
You can order the events. You can call us go
to your go to our website. You can tell us
what sizes you need, will ship you just events. If
you don't mind getting on a roof, or you don't
(06:16):
mind doing it yourself. However, if you need help with
the installation portion of it, give us a call. We
have a whole network of professional installers throughout the state
of California and even further east that we will then
help you coordinate to send to your house. They'll come out,
(06:36):
they'll take measurements, we'll get you a quote, and then
you can have them installed. I mean, installation is like
I said, it's very easy, very non intrusive. It does
not affect the home you're not going to you know,
we're not going to be breaking up your stucco or
cutting into the sidewalls or even cutting into your roof
at all. So it's extremely easy and you just need
(06:57):
to give us a call or go to our website
and request an estimate, and we got you covered, whether
you're a do it yourselfer or whether you need help
with the installation through a contractor right on.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
All right, Kelly, here's your big shot. Uh who uh?
Where do people go to get a hold of you?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
So you can go to our website, which is brand
guard vents dot com. Brand guard vents dot com. You
can also give us a call. We're there Monday through Friday,
all day long. The phone number is nine four nine
three zero five eight zero five nine.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
All right, repeat it one more time for us real quick.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
It's area code nine four nine three zero five eight,
zero five nine, and we will pick up the phone
and help you right away.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Fantastic, Kelly, I think thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I promised our listeners that I would not only be
explaining the vulnerability of their home and explaining the rat
sane way to fire harden it, but also handing out
resources and everybody who's listening to me Kelly at brand
Guard Vents here in southern California, this is your number
one house whisper recommended resource, so call them. Go to
(08:15):
brand Guardvents dot com. Kelly, thank you so much for
your time this morning, and good luck with everything that
lies ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Thank you, Dean, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
All Right, y'all, we're going to move on to the
next phase of fire hardening your home. We've talked about
when the fire is near and the threat of embers.
Now let's turn our attention towards when the flames are here,
and what part or parts of your home do we
really need to focus on and why we'll discuss all
(08:48):
of that.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
I don't take our show very seriously, thank goodness, but
I take you in your home very seriously, and today,
because everybody is still in the place where you're thinking
about the LA wildfires, I am taking yet another weekend
to talk to you very honestly, very forthrightly about how
(09:16):
to properly assess your home so you can figure out
how to harden it. There's all sorts of stuff. Please
don't lead out, lead with what you and I are
talking about right now. Don't lead out with stuff you're
seeing randomly on social media or even in mainstream traditional
media formats on TV. And so there's a certain amount
(09:37):
of sensationalism that tends to win the day in those places,
and with it comes lack of attention to what's actually
actually on the ground happening. Okay, So I'm here to
tell you that when it comes to assessing your home
for fireheartening, we're using a very very simple formula. Two
(09:59):
phases when the fire is near, and then phase two
when the flames are here. Okay, Now we've spent the
first part of the show talking with my very special guest,
Kelly Bercompas from Brand Guard Events, about when the fire
is near and how that is statistically actually the greatest
(10:19):
threat to your home because that's what ninety percent of
homes actually ignite in a wildfire event. But but let's
not ignore the fact that flames reach homes. Okay, that's simply,
you know, against all of our wishes. That's the truth.
So now let's turn and spend a little time talking
(10:40):
about when the fire is here. Now, what is the
first thing that I want to explain to you. Let's
talk about Class A fire rating exterior surfaces. Okay, A
Class A fire rated surface is anything that has been
approved by the California Building Code cal Fire and the
(11:07):
Uniform Building Code as a material and or a surface
that can resist direct contact with heat and flame for
an hour one hour burn through time. Okay, it is.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
It is not.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
It's not exactly the same as a one hour fire rating.
And I'm not going to get into the differential details there,
but just kind of go with that. Now you're like, well, great,
that's the best. Yes, that's the best. Okay, so we're
all toast. No, No, you're not, okay, And here's why.
If you know how fires burn and how they move,
(11:45):
especially how they move through neighborhoods, you know, a fire
moves past your home or could move it theoretically past
your home relatively quickly. The idea of a flame just
there burning for an hour on one location, on one
(12:06):
bit of fuel, on one surface. There's a reason why
Class A fire rating is in fact a Class A
fire rating. It's because that is an unlikely event. So
now the big question is this, how much of this
Class A fire rating do you have on your home already? Okay, well,
(12:26):
let me tell you. If you've got wood siding on
your home, you do not have a Class A fire
rated wall, okay, And I'm not going to tell you
to tear off your wood siding. I am going to
tell you that we need to make that a Class
A fire rated surface by using a Class A fire
(12:48):
rated coating on top of that wood siding.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
There are paints out there that will take the undersides
of decks, structures, decking material wood decking materials themselves, and
wood sighting, all exterior kinds of woods and protect them
with a Class A fire rated protection service. Now, it
(13:13):
will require maintenance as the years roll on, but they
are there and they actually work. If though you live
in a typical southern California home and with a typical
southern California stucco exterior and a typical southern California asphalt
(13:34):
composition roof. And I say typical because about eighty percent
of the homes in Southern California fall into those categories.
Then you are living in a structure that is covered
in a class A fire rated surface. All right, one
inch thick stucco is concrete on the outside of your wall.
Can fire burn through it?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Absolutely right. If you take a look at the power
and the eaten fire destruction, you don't see stucco walls
standing in place when everything else is gone. But does
it burn through quickly?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
No? No, it does not.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Will it withstand flame in a you know, in an
ideal situation while the fuel that it's using on the
ground is exhausted.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yes? Likely?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Okay, So do I need you to go to heroic
measures to wet the surface of your house when it's
a stucco house painted in exterior weather proof paint, which
by definition precludes the stucco getting soaked with moisture. It's
not a really the most important thing for you to do.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
So the stucco is an adequate surface, fire hardened surface,
you're roofing material. I know you've seen countless, countless video
of roofs burning. Let me tell you how that happens.
Roofs burn from the attic out, just like we were
talking with Kelly Bercompass at Brand Guard Vents about. They
(15:12):
burn most likely from the underside of those rafters up
through the roofing material, not usually the other way around. Okay,
an asphalt composition roof, any asphalt composition roof that you
have purchased or has been purchased and installed on your
roof in the last thirty plus years, is a class
(15:36):
A fire rated roof simply unless you bought it off
the black market somewhere in Indonesia and smuggled it into
the United States illegally.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
The fact of the matter is the manufacturers of these
roofs are required to produce this roofing material in this way.
If you've got a Spanish tile roof or a lightweight
concrete roof, all the more so. Okay, you have a
roof that is already ember protected in that sense and
flame protected as reasonably as possible. All right, So think
(16:06):
of the outside of your house, the envelope of your house.
What's left if the walls are Class A. If the
roof is Class A number one, we don't have to
go to heroic measures to keep them all wet. Okay,
number two, what's left? What's left is any exposed wood
sticking out from the side of your house aka your
(16:29):
roof eves, the underneath side of your roof eves. You
look underneath your eaves, it's wood up there. Now, if
you've got enclosed eves, meaning that the stucco runs up
and closes over the then great, fantastic, Okay, But most
people don't. Most people have exposed rafters. And I say rafters.
Those tails sticking out of your house, those are the
(16:51):
rafters that are holding up your roof. They are a
and when they ignite, they climb right into your attic space.
So the roof eve area is a highly vulnerable area.
It's vulnerable for embers to get up in there. That's
why we're changing out the vents. But if the flame
has arrived at your house, it's vulnerable because the flame
is right down at the base of your wall, burning
(17:14):
up heat, embers, sparks and flame. And guess what's right
directly above it the roof eve catching it all. Okay,
this is how these areas catch on fire. So now
the question is if that's a vulnerable area, then we
should give that attention. We should give that attention before
(17:35):
we spend money with limited funds, as we all have,
on areas that are already Class A fire rated. I'm
not saying if you've got an unlimited budget that you
shouldn't just coat your dip your whole house in fireproof substances. Great,
But if you are like me and you have a
limited budget, then we have to address the holes in
(17:58):
the boat. Okay, not just it's thick in the hole,
but we have to actually patch the holes in the
boat if we don't want to sink.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
All right, you're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Dean Sharp the house whisper. That's me.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
We're talking about fire hardening your home, sanely, affordably, rationally,
fire hardening your home. For everyone who is listening to me,
I don't care if you don't live right next to
an open space, if you don't consider your home as
a threat from wildfires. Here's the fact that we've already
established earlier today, after these mega expensive wildfires. Insurance fire
(18:43):
insurance for any home anywhere in the state of California,
it's up for grabs right now. It really, truly is
a big question mark. I know a lot of people
are saying a lot of things, but it is a thing.
If by some miracle we push through and may the
right to have fire coverage on your home, you can
(19:04):
be guaranteed that those insurance companies are going to be
requiring certain things be in place for a home to
get and receive fire insurance. So hardening and the steps
that we're talking about today, not the heroic kind of
crazy stuff that you see on DIY and social media
right now, but the stuff we're talking about this is
the stuff that will enable you to move down that
(19:27):
pathway for the future. So we are at this place
now where we're talking about when the fire is here,
and I'm talking about plugging holes, Okay, metaphorically and literally,
what we're about to talk about holes in the boat
as it were. In other words, your roof with Class
A fire rated material on it is not a hole
(19:48):
in your boat. Neither is the stucco on the outside
of your house. But the roof eves the over lap
the overhang of exposed wood. That's a hole. It can
be treated, doesn't have to be all just cut off.
It doesn't have to be covered in stucco. It can
be treated with a fire resistant fireproof coatings like fireproof paints. Now,
(20:13):
should I just paint the whole house, Dean, Well, you shouldn't,
certainly could. But the stuff that I'm recommending that you
use that has again to use this word again into
messin qualities to it, Okay, into messin properties. The stuff
I recommend you're going to find it from reputable companies
(20:34):
at about four hundred dollars for a five gallon jug.
Yeah you heard me right. I didn't say forty. I
said four hundred dollars. So here's the thing. Very few
of us feel comfortable buying enough to cover our entire
home in that material. And what I'm pointing out to
(20:56):
you today is the stucco is okay as it is,
so is the roof, But the eve. I would encourage
you to invest in enough of that material to treat
your eve because it's the hole in the boat, okay,
that will bring you at least up to snuff on
that that class a fire resistance on the outside of
(21:19):
the house. So don't think about the whole house. Think
about the eves, think about those vulnerable wood overhangs, think
about your wood decks, and and so on. You get me,
You feel me? All right, let's talk about the other holes.
Doors and windows. Doors are not an issue if you
have a legal house in southern California. Exterior doors, by definition,
(21:40):
are class A fire rated exterior doors. Excuse me, Sliding
glass doors are by definition class A fire rated doors.
They have tempered glass in them, not just because they
were done that way for fire purposes. They have tempered
glass in them a sliding glass door, or because the
(22:01):
Building Code states universally across the planet that any glass
that occurs in your house, glazed surfaces below eighteen inches
off the floor are in the kick zone, right, I
mean where your feet are running around smashing into things,
and so that glass can't be standard annealed glass. It
(22:21):
has to be tempered glass strong enough to withstand you
kicking it with your foot and it not shattering. So
sliding glass doors not a problem. Standard exterior doors not
a problem. The problem is windows. Windows are standard annealed
glass unless otherwise specified. What do we want from our windows. Ideally,
(22:46):
this is the most expensive way to go. But ideally
we want fire rated windows. Now, what is a fire
rated window. It's a big ugly thing. No, it's just
your window with tempered glass in it as a part
to standard annealed glass. Tempered glass is I explained this
last week. I'll do it really quick again. The problem
(23:08):
is that when the heat of a flame from a
fire gets on the outside of that window, it raises
the temperature to an extreme several hundred degrees, if not
over one thousand degrees, depending on the conditions on the
inside your seventy degree house.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The temperature differential from the outside of that glass to
the inside of that glass causes it to expand unevenly
and it shatters. And when it shatters, it falls out
of the window sash and leaves a hole. Now in
your home, an open door, an open window literally for
the flames to start intruding into the interior of the house. Okay,
(23:52):
so the tempered glass. Tempered glass is manufactured at five
thousand degrees fahrenheit. All right, Tempered glass does not get
about the heat of a wildfire brushing up against it
because it was manufactured at almost three and a half
times the temperature that that wildfire can produce. Therefore, fire
(24:14):
rated windows understood. Okay, Now, if you do not have
in your budget to replace all the windows of your
home or the side that faces the open, vulnerable space,
you've heard me say, there are some coatings, tinting films,
films like you know, tinting your windows on your car,
window films by very reputable corporation like three M. Three
(24:39):
M produces some fantastic fire rated window films. Now, let
me be clear on this. The windows are going to shatter.
But the point is this, the film will not dissipate
and fail you when the flame is licking up against
it and the film, despite the fact that your standard
window glass will shatter, the film holds the glass in
(25:02):
place and therefore the opening does not open. Okay, that's
the theory behind it. Is it ideal? No, the fire
raided window is better by far. But again we've been
talking about all sorts of levels of what you can do,
because I'd rather have you do something than nothing. Fire
raided window film doesn't have to darken the house, doesn't
(25:24):
have to tint the house or anything like that. It
can just simply be there, like safety glass is on
your car windshield. You know your car windshield. The safety glass,
if you've ever seen one get smashed in, it doesn't
shatter and just fall to bits all of a sudden,
It just kind of pushed in there. That's because there
is a film in between two layers of glass on
your car windshield that holds all the glass in place.
(25:46):
That's what we're talking about you. For these window films,
they can be applied by di wires and there are
plenty of companies out there that will tint and work
your windows for you. The point is there is some
price point where you can invest in your home and
increase its fire hardness. Okay, decking materials, I've already kind
(26:07):
of covered. That's where we're going with all these soap
Let me well, okay, I'm going to back up one
thing here. I don't want to jump over this. I've
heard a lot of talk this week about people who
are like, yeah, and what we've also decided to do
is zero escape our landscape. In other words, we're just
going to desertify our landscape like we did in the drought.
(26:30):
I'm going to cut all my trees down, I'm going
to just clear it all out because I don't want
anything fallen on my house. Well, that's a qualified no
on my part. I'll tell you why. Number One, Clearly,
I do not want palm trees, eucalyptus trees, and pine
trees sitting right next to your house and hanging over
(26:53):
your home because these trees, by definition, by the way,
non native to this area. Most of those trees full
of resins, highly flammable trees. If you've ever seen a
palm tree go up in a fire, it is nothing
but an ember hydrant, Okay, just blowing embers everywhere in
(27:13):
extreme So I don't want them right next to your house,
and I don't want them hanging over your roof. But
what about out on the perimeter of your property. So
here's the problem that I've heard commented on by several
fire experts and fire officials. Number One, the more, and
you've heard me talk about this on landscaping shows, the
more we remove green coverage from our cities, the hotter
(27:38):
our cities get, the drier they become, okay, and the
more fire prone they become. The second thing, just in
all practicality, is this clear out all the trees and
shrubs from your property. And you know what you've just created.
You've created a bowling alley for fire. Just you might
(28:01):
as well just invite everything in anything, because there's nothing
to stop anything. So I'll ask you this, would you
rather have your house being flooded with embers or a
tree that's sixty seventy feet away from your house catching
them as they come in, the fact of the matter
(28:21):
is that you don't. Now, we can argue about this
all day long, but I'm just saying that there are
just as many good arguments for keeping and I think
more for keeping the trees around your home than eliminating them.
So just don't automatically buy into that stuff. But if
you've got trees, highly flammable trees hanging over your roofline
(28:45):
where they could literally just fall upon your house and
deliver all sorts of flammable materials on your house, then yeah,
let's get serious about that. Otherwise, don't just clear your
yard out. Okay, we're only making the problem worse in
the in the long run. Okay, when we return before
some closing thoughts for you today, I'm going to run
(29:07):
down a ten point checklist for a sane fire hardened
home based on everything that we've talked about today. Now
that you understand the essential structure of your home and
how it reacts, I'm going to go down my list.
You're going to hear it all from me. We'll do
that right after.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Tina wanted me to make you aware that I was
on Fox eleven News earlier this week. The video of
that is up on our social media right now. What
is it on dabe, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok which has
had a reprieve from the moment, so you can go
(29:52):
check that out at Home with Dean on those and
what else? Did you want to remind me of what
else is going on up there?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Nothing? Something? Just that? Was it? Just that?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Catch this show again if they missed anything on.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
The oh the podcast? Yeah, yeah again, if you've yeah,
if you've forgotten any details or missed any details of
what we've been talking about today. Of course, about an
hour after we go off the air. Uh. This program
in all of our episodes are translated into podcast form
and live there in perpetuity wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
All right, let's finish up.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Uh. We have been talking about the sane rational ways
of fire hardening your home, approaching it in ways that
I that I want you to be encouraged you can
actually do. Okay, So I told you at the end
here I was going to leave you with a ten
point checklist for a sane fire hardened home.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Is this a.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Guarantee that your home will not be damaged or destroyed
in a fire?
Speaker 2 (30:56):
No?
Speaker 1 (30:57):
No reasonable honest person is with any kind of home
building or firefighting experience, is going to tell you that.
Zero zero people who are being honest with you are
going to tell you that. But does this give you
a fighting chance? Absolutely? No question. And as I've been
saying throughout the program, are these measures your best bet
(31:21):
of actually being able to obtain fire insurance from this
point forward?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Absolutely? Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So this is the doorway that you're going to need
to walk through no matter where you are in southern California.
If you want to ensure your house against fire, then
these are the things that you should seriously consider. So
here the ten point checklist for a sane fire hardened home.
Number one ember resistant vents. What is your resource for this?
(31:47):
I want you to go to brand guard Vents dot
com brand br a n D brand Guard like Guard
gu ar d Vents dot com brand guard vents dot
com for an ember resistant event.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
And I didn't.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I'm just gonna say real quickly, I didn't talk today
about the OP. The other alternative, the far more expensive
alternative to getting fire resistant events, and that is if
you are doing a new construction build or a major remodel,
then you need to have a conversation with your designer,
your architect, or your builder about building the house with
(32:23):
a ventless conditioned attic space where the attic is a
part of the conditioned air in the home. Why is
that because in those conditions there are no events, zero
events in the house, nothing, no open doorways leading into
the attic space because technically it's part of the interior
of the house. So that's another discussion. I actually did
(32:45):
this as an episode last year. You can find in
last year's episodes. The New Attic I believe is the
name of that show. You should go and check it out.
Number two Class A fire rated sighting. Sighting is a
technical term that I'm using uh in the code. Sighting
means whatever is attached to the outside of your walls
of your house. Stucco is technically sighting, citing what you
(33:09):
think of as sighting as sighting siding siding the outside
of your house. Class A fire rated materials or codings
on top of vulnerable materials. Number three Class A fire
rated roofing. That's a given. It's a given. Uh, make
sure your roof is in good shape. Make sure it
doesn't need replacement, make sure there aren't holes, so on
(33:30):
and so forth. Number four Class A fire rated doors.
This is also a given if your house is built
to code, because exterior doors have by code fall into
those categories Class A. Number five Class A fire rated windows,
which we just discussed, or Class A fire rated window
films attached two standard windows and your resource for that,
(33:54):
I'm just going to send you to three M dot com.
Go there first, find the film films, the finest films.
Don't go for some off brand films claiming this or that.
The three end films have been they've been ul tested
and verified. Go there first, and then find installers who
are capable of installing those films for you. Number six
(34:19):
in two messent exterior codings for roof overhangs and eves
and so on. Here is a source firefree dot Com
fire free dot com for those code the best of
those codings. Number seven Class A fire rated decking materials
or fire retardant deck codings. I talk all the time
(34:42):
about fire resistant decking materials. Let's just talk about what
you've got, uh and putting a coding on it. Find
that at r d R Technologies dot Com. R d
R Technologies dot Com Number eight fire retardant coding for
ex exposed deck structures. Also RDR Technologies dot Com number
(35:05):
nine Clear your defensible space, Get flammable things away from
your home.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
That's what that means, okay.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
And number ten Interior sprinkler fire suppression systems by licensed
Cowfire approved Fire Marshal approved contractors. Interior fire sprinklers. Okay,
not the ones on the roof, not the claims of
you know, the ones out in the yard. Interior fire sprinklers.
(35:36):
They are code for all new construction and major remodels
in California now and they can be retrofit into your
home at not an unbelievably high cost. Take a look
at them, Get serious about them, because if fire does
penetrate into the interior of your home, those interior fire
sprinklers do an excellent job of suppressing if there's water
(35:59):
in this if there's water in the system. Okay, that's
the ten point checklist for a sane fire hardened home.
I hope you can appreciate this approach.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Again.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Our approach is very simple, two phases. When the fire
is near, what are we doing? That's ember resistance? And
when the flames are here, what are we looking at.
We're looking at Class A fire rated surfaces. The outside walls,
the roof usually are handled. The eve overhangs those are vulnerable.
(36:34):
The windows, those are vulnerable. If you were to follow
through and button up these ten points on this checklist,
then you know what you would be, as fire hardened
as any home could rationally be expected to be, and
you've got a really good chance of doing well in
(36:55):
the next fire event. Let me also say, very quickly,
it was pointed out to me, I want to make
a delineation about vegetation in your yard. Dead vegetation needs
to go, period. Okay, live vegetation, good, live and green, good,
dead and dry gone.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
I'm actually shocked that we made it through all of
that and we've got just a couple of minutes left,
and I'm going to get myself sort of set up
here because we're going to make a little video of
this as well, which I didn't do ahead of time
on the break Tina to do this. So let me
(37:38):
raise this up and turn on the thing, do the
whole thing.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Here we go. I have sorry about that. I've got
a closing thought for you today.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
We like to make it available on social media after
the fact, so takes me a half second to.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Get it set up here. So let me do it.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
And are we going? I think we are. We're gonna
give it our best shot.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
All right. I ran a card. This is not me.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
This is not my thing today. This is something that
the team actually pointed out to me.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
This morning.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Gosh, dang it, hang on, you know, it's fine. It's fine.
It's live radio. It's what we do, okay. A beautiful
Instagram post from former Disney imagineer Joe Rhad who last
week this last week saw his old home burning. While
(38:53):
watching it on the news, he wrote this, and I
love this. He said, this was our first house from
night a bit after starting at Disney Imagineering. That big
window there is our bedroom and I was just writing
about this house in an essay about the origins of
the Adventures Club at Walt Disney World. This is where
(39:15):
it started in this house. The Quirky Immersive Theater Club
is gone, of course, and now so is its birthplace.
So what are we to do? Well, he writes, we
don't just live at the tail end of history. We
live within history. Right now people are looking back at
(39:35):
all that has been lost a lot. But in the
future people will look back at all that was done
in the aftermath of this disaster. This point in time
will be subsumed in other points to come, just as
creative work is subsumed into later newer works of art.
San Francisco was destroyed in an earthquake, and yet San
(39:55):
Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Tokyo, Berlin,
Mexico City, Chicago, Rome, Deli, all built back from the
ashes of some other version of themselves that is gone.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
Now.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Critics can say what they will about Los Angeles, but
it is a creative city, dynamic, diverse, open minded, always changing.
This is the city that invented the modern city and
in everything from the Internet. Yes, at UCLA's Arpinnet to
Barbie and hip hop, to electric guitars, to the modern
film industry, to the Mars Rover and the Space shuttle.
(40:35):
This is a city full of people who move here
from somewhere else so they can invent themselves, and they
are not going to do nothing as time moves forward.
As a creative person, one cannot help but think that
everything is always raw material. Creation is intimately tied to
the destruction of the status quo. Nothing has ever finished
(40:58):
as long as there is imagination in the world, and
what lies before us now is not nothing. It is
the raw material for what the people of Los Angeles
are going to do next. No one should minimize the
suffering that has been created. It is profound. Our children
lost the entire world they grew up in. Dozens of
(41:19):
friends lost everything. We all mourn for what we have lost,
and we understand that it will never return in the
form that it once had. But it is not the end.
It is the middle. It is always the middle, and
then it all burnt down. Is never the end of
(41:41):
a story. It is typically the end of just act one.
And to that I say true, Joe, very very true,
and thank you. And with that I'm going to send
you forward into the middle of your story, the middle,
and use it and get out there and get yourself busy,
build yourself.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
A beautiful life. We'll see you're right back here next week.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
This has been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty
every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time, and
every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisperer on demand on the iHeart radio app. You know,
this very program is the House Whisperer podcast that you
can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand. Hundreds of episodes
I've got for you. We've been doing this now we
(00:21):
are beginning our ninth season. Can you believe that hundreds
of episodes, all searchable by topic it is or could
be maybe should be your home improvement reference library. And
if you're thinking, hey, that's all great, but you know
what we really need is Dean and Tina in our
house to looking at our stuff telling us what to do, well,
(00:43):
you can do that too. You can book an in
home design consult with me and the tea who's sitting
right across the table from me here. You just go
to house Whisperer dot design. Okay, we are having a
very serious conversation about fire hardening your home, one that
I want you to listen very carefully too, because it
is sane and rational, and I want you to be
(01:05):
able to discern and assess the needs of your home
and not just go with kind of the fire hardening
frenzy that's already begun on in standard media, traditional media,
and especially on social media right now, and we are
talking this is I'm going to move on from this.
But the first and foremost threat to homes in any
(01:27):
kind of fire condition are the embers that are flying
off the fire line the fire. Nowhere near your home,
nowhere near your home, but embers that can fly up
to two miles away and actually start structure fire. Now,
how often did that happen?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
I mean, come on, realistically, yeah, realistically, ninety percent of
the homes that ignite in a wildfire event ignite because
of embers not on the fire line, do you hear me?
And that is why I have my very special guest
on the line with me right now, Kelly Berkampas who
(02:06):
is the vice president and co founder of brand Guard Vents,
which is my number one recommendation for you for your
enber proof vents. Kelly, We're going to go one extra
segment here because I still have a couple of questions
for you.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Number one, I'm going to start off with this.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I want everybody to realize this, and Kelly is going
to lead into our next quick conversation here.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Whether you know it or not. Most homeowners wouldn't know this.
Why would you?
Speaker 1 (02:32):
But the California Building Code is updated triannually every three years.
Every three years we gather together all the things that
are going to be the updates to the building code
and then they are affected in those years. Twenty twenty five,
this year that we are in right now is on
that three year cycle. That means that this year things
are going into the California Building Code that will be
(02:55):
applicable and effective as of January first, twoy twenty Okay,
this is the year, and we already know, Kelly knows,
I know, we already know that for all new construction
and for major remodels all across the state of California,
that fire resistant EMBER resistant venting is a from now
(03:21):
on in the history of California, a requirement. Just like
in earthquakes, earthquake retrofitting, a requirement, ember resist in venting,
now a building requirement in the building code. So, okay, Dean,
that's fine. That applies to you, know, you know, people
who are building new and who are doing a major remodel.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
That's not me.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
What does it have to do with me? Well, you've
been listening to the news at all. You've been hearing
the ongoing conversation that these very, very costly, the most
costly fires in US history, are creating for insurance company
and insurance coverage out Let me just say this. I
don't want to get into the politics of it at all.
(04:03):
That's not what I do. But I will tell you this,
if the California Insurance Commissioner pulls off the miracle of
keeping or requiring insurers to offer fire insurance for California residents,
if he successfully pulls that off, I guarantee you that
(04:27):
one of the variables will simply be but you don't
have to ensure a home that doesn't have a certain
level of regulated fire hardening by code, and that will
include I guarantee you it will include amber proof vents. Kelly,
what have you heard along those lines?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeahan, I mean that's correct, You're totally spot on about everything.
And in fact, some insurance company is already actually mandate
mber resistant. I mean we get calls from homeowners all
the time. Over the past I mean some started doing it,
you know, as much as ten years ago, but especially
(05:10):
over the past year or two, we've seen an uptick
for sure where insurance companies are mandating, as a condition
of binding a policy or as a condition of renewal,
that you have to install ember resistant vents. I think
it's what this fire has done is now it's probably
going to make it more at a larger scale with
(05:33):
more companies.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I think, yeah, wow, Okay, So Kelly, before I let
you go as succinctly as you can so that we
all understand it and remember it. All right, I'm convinced.
Dean convinced me. Dean and Kelly, you've convinced me. We
got to get mber proof fence from my house. How
do I begin? What's the process? What happens?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Well? The process is extremely straightforward and easy. If you
were a do it yourself for you know this is
not rocket science. You can call us, go to our website.
You can order the events. You can call us go
to your go to our website. You can tell us
what sizes you need, will ship you just events. If
you don't mind getting on a roof, or you don't
(06:16):
mind doing it yourself. However, if you need help with
the installation portion of it, give us a call. We
have a whole network of professional installers throughout the state
of California and even further east that we will then
help you coordinate to send to your house. They'll come out,
(06:36):
they'll take measurements, we'll get you a quote, and then
you can have them installed. I mean, installation is like
I said, it's very easy, very non intrusive. It does
not affect the home you're not going to you know,
we're not going to be breaking up your stucco or
cutting into the sidewalls or even cutting into your roof
at all. So it's extremely easy and you just need
(06:57):
to give us a call or go to our website
and request an estimate, and we got you covered, whether
you're a do it yourselfer or whether you need help
with the installation through a contractor right on.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
All right, Kelly, here's your big shot. Uh who uh?
Where do people go to get a hold of you?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
So you can go to our website, which is brand
guard vents dot com. Brand guard vents dot com. You
can also give us a call. We're there Monday through Friday,
all day long. The phone number is nine four nine
three zero five eight zero five nine.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
All right, repeat it one more time for us real quick.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
It's area code nine four nine three zero five eight,
zero five nine, and we will pick up the phone
and help you right away.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Fantastic, Kelly, I think thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I promised our listeners that I would not only be
explaining the vulnerability of their home and explaining the rat
sane way to fire harden it, but also handing out
resources and everybody who's listening to me Kelly at brand
Guard Vents here in southern California, this is your number
one house whisper recommended resource, so call them. Go to
(08:15):
brand Guardvents dot com. Kelly, thank you so much for
your time this morning, and good luck with everything that
lies ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Thank you, Dean, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
All Right, y'all, we're going to move on to the
next phase of fire hardening your home. We've talked about
when the fire is near and the threat of embers.
Now let's turn our attention towards when the flames are here,
and what part or parts of your home do we
really need to focus on and why we'll discuss all
(08:48):
of that.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
I don't take our show very seriously, thank goodness, but
I take you in your home very seriously, and today,
because everybody is still in the place where you're thinking
about the LA wildfires, I am taking yet another weekend
to talk to you very honestly, very forthrightly about how
(09:16):
to properly assess your home so you can figure out
how to harden it. There's all sorts of stuff. Please
don't lead out, lead with what you and I are
talking about right now. Don't lead out with stuff you're
seeing randomly on social media or even in mainstream traditional
media formats on TV. And so there's a certain amount
(09:37):
of sensationalism that tends to win the day in those places,
and with it comes lack of attention to what's actually
actually on the ground happening. Okay, So I'm here to
tell you that when it comes to assessing your home
for fireheartening, we're using a very very simple formula. Two
(09:59):
phases when the fire is near, and then phase two
when the flames are here. Okay, Now we've spent the
first part of the show talking with my very special guest,
Kelly Bercompas from Brand Guard Events, about when the fire
is near and how that is statistically actually the greatest
(10:19):
threat to your home because that's what ninety percent of
homes actually ignite in a wildfire event. But but let's
not ignore the fact that flames reach homes. Okay, that's simply,
you know, against all of our wishes. That's the truth.
So now let's turn and spend a little time talking
(10:40):
about when the fire is here. Now, what is the
first thing that I want to explain to you. Let's
talk about Class A fire rating exterior surfaces. Okay, A
Class A fire rated surface is anything that has been
approved by the California Building Code cal Fire and the
(11:07):
Uniform Building Code as a material and or a surface
that can resist direct contact with heat and flame for
an hour one hour burn through time. Okay, it is.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
It is not.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
It's not exactly the same as a one hour fire rating.
And I'm not going to get into the differential details there,
but just kind of go with that. Now you're like, well, great,
that's the best. Yes, that's the best. Okay, so we're
all toast. No, No, you're not, okay, And here's why.
If you know how fires burn and how they move,
(11:45):
especially how they move through neighborhoods, you know, a fire
moves past your home or could move it theoretically past
your home relatively quickly. The idea of a flame just
there burning for an hour on one location, on one
(12:06):
bit of fuel, on one surface. There's a reason why
Class A fire rating is in fact a Class A
fire rating. It's because that is an unlikely event. So
now the big question is this, how much of this
Class A fire rating do you have on your home already? Okay, well,
(12:26):
let me tell you. If you've got wood siding on
your home, you do not have a Class A fire
rated wall, okay, And I'm not going to tell you
to tear off your wood siding. I am going to
tell you that we need to make that a Class
A fire rated surface by using a Class A fire
(12:48):
rated coating on top of that wood siding.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
There are paints out there that will take the undersides
of decks, structures, decking material wood decking materials themselves, and
wood sighting, all exterior kinds of woods and protect them
with a Class A fire rated protection service. Now, it
(13:13):
will require maintenance as the years roll on, but they
are there and they actually work. If though you live
in a typical southern California home and with a typical
southern California stucco exterior and a typical southern California asphalt
(13:34):
composition roof. And I say typical because about eighty percent
of the homes in Southern California fall into those categories.
Then you are living in a structure that is covered
in a class A fire rated surface. All right, one
inch thick stucco is concrete on the outside of your wall.
Can fire burn through it?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Absolutely right. If you take a look at the power
and the eaten fire destruction, you don't see stucco walls
standing in place when everything else is gone. But does
it burn through quickly?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
No? No, it does not.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Will it withstand flame in a you know, in an
ideal situation while the fuel that it's using on the
ground is exhausted.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Yes? Likely?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Okay, So do I need you to go to heroic
measures to wet the surface of your house when it's
a stucco house painted in exterior weather proof paint, which
by definition precludes the stucco getting soaked with moisture. It's
not a really the most important thing for you to do.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
So the stucco is an adequate surface, fire hardened surface,
you're roofing material. I know you've seen countless, countless video
of roofs burning. Let me tell you how that happens.
Roofs burn from the attic out, just like we were
talking with Kelly Bercompass at Brand Guard Vents about. They
(15:12):
burn most likely from the underside of those rafters up
through the roofing material, not usually the other way around. Okay,
an asphalt composition roof, any asphalt composition roof that you
have purchased or has been purchased and installed on your
roof in the last thirty plus years, is a class
(15:36):
A fire rated roof simply unless you bought it off
the black market somewhere in Indonesia and smuggled it into
the United States illegally.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
The fact of the matter is the manufacturers of these
roofs are required to produce this roofing material in this way.
If you've got a Spanish tile roof or a lightweight
concrete roof, all the more so. Okay, you have a
roof that is already ember protected in that sense and
flame protected as reasonably as possible. All right, So think
(16:06):
of the outside of your house, the envelope of your house.
What's left if the walls are Class A. If the
roof is Class A number one, we don't have to
go to heroic measures to keep them all wet. Okay,
number two, what's left? What's left is any exposed wood
sticking out from the side of your house aka your
(16:29):
roof eves, the underneath side of your roof eves. You
look underneath your eaves, it's wood up there. Now, if
you've got enclosed eves, meaning that the stucco runs up
and closes over the then great, fantastic, Okay, But most
people don't. Most people have exposed rafters. And I say rafters.
Those tails sticking out of your house, those are the
(16:51):
rafters that are holding up your roof. They are a
and when they ignite, they climb right into your attic space.
So the roof eve area is a highly vulnerable area.
It's vulnerable for embers to get up in there. That's
why we're changing out the vents. But if the flame
has arrived at your house, it's vulnerable because the flame
is right down at the base of your wall, burning
(17:14):
up heat, embers, sparks and flame. And guess what's right
directly above it the roof eve catching it all. Okay,
this is how these areas catch on fire. So now
the question is if that's a vulnerable area, then we
should give that attention. We should give that attention before
(17:35):
we spend money with limited funds, as we all have,
on areas that are already Class A fire rated. I'm
not saying if you've got an unlimited budget that you
shouldn't just coat your dip your whole house in fireproof substances. Great,
But if you are like me and you have a
limited budget, then we have to address the holes in
(17:58):
the boat. Okay, not just it's thick in the hole,
but we have to actually patch the holes in the
boat if we don't want to sink.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
All right, you're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Dean Sharp the house whisper. That's me.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
We're talking about fire hardening your home, sanely, affordably, rationally,
fire hardening your home. For everyone who is listening to me,
I don't care if you don't live right next to
an open space, if you don't consider your home as
a threat from wildfires. Here's the fact that we've already
established earlier today, after these mega expensive wildfires. Insurance fire
(18:43):
insurance for any home anywhere in the state of California,
it's up for grabs right now. It really, truly is
a big question mark. I know a lot of people
are saying a lot of things, but it is a thing.
If by some miracle we push through and may the
right to have fire coverage on your home, you can
(19:04):
be guaranteed that those insurance companies are going to be
requiring certain things be in place for a home to
get and receive fire insurance. So hardening and the steps
that we're talking about today, not the heroic kind of
crazy stuff that you see on DIY and social media
right now, but the stuff we're talking about this is
the stuff that will enable you to move down that
(19:27):
pathway for the future. So we are at this place
now where we're talking about when the fire is here,
and I'm talking about plugging holes, Okay, metaphorically and literally,
what we're about to talk about holes in the boat
as it were. In other words, your roof with Class
A fire rated material on it is not a hole
(19:48):
in your boat. Neither is the stucco on the outside
of your house. But the roof eves the over lap
the overhang of exposed wood. That's a hole. It can
be treated, doesn't have to be all just cut off.
It doesn't have to be covered in stucco. It can
be treated with a fire resistant fireproof coatings like fireproof paints. Now,
(20:13):
should I just paint the whole house, Dean, Well, you shouldn't,
certainly could. But the stuff that I'm recommending that you
use that has again to use this word again into
messin qualities to it, Okay, into messin properties. The stuff
I recommend you're going to find it from reputable companies
(20:34):
at about four hundred dollars for a five gallon jug.
Yeah you heard me right. I didn't say forty. I
said four hundred dollars. So here's the thing. Very few
of us feel comfortable buying enough to cover our entire
home in that material. And what I'm pointing out to
(20:56):
you today is the stucco is okay as it is,
so is the roof, But the eve. I would encourage
you to invest in enough of that material to treat
your eve because it's the hole in the boat, okay,
that will bring you at least up to snuff on
that that class a fire resistance on the outside of
(21:19):
the house. So don't think about the whole house. Think
about the eves, think about those vulnerable wood overhangs, think
about your wood decks, and and so on. You get me,
You feel me? All right, let's talk about the other holes.
Doors and windows. Doors are not an issue if you
have a legal house in southern California. Exterior doors, by definition,
(21:40):
are class A fire rated exterior doors. Excuse me, Sliding
glass doors are by definition class A fire rated doors.
They have tempered glass in them, not just because they
were done that way for fire purposes. They have tempered
glass in them a sliding glass door, or because the
(22:01):
Building Code states universally across the planet that any glass
that occurs in your house, glazed surfaces below eighteen inches
off the floor are in the kick zone, right, I
mean where your feet are running around smashing into things,
and so that glass can't be standard annealed glass. It
(22:21):
has to be tempered glass strong enough to withstand you
kicking it with your foot and it not shattering. So
sliding glass doors not a problem. Standard exterior doors not
a problem. The problem is windows. Windows are standard annealed
glass unless otherwise specified. What do we want from our windows. Ideally,
(22:46):
this is the most expensive way to go. But ideally
we want fire rated windows. Now, what is a fire
rated window. It's a big ugly thing. No, it's just
your window with tempered glass in it as a part
to standard annealed glass. Tempered glass is I explained this
last week. I'll do it really quick again. The problem
(23:08):
is that when the heat of a flame from a
fire gets on the outside of that window, it raises
the temperature to an extreme several hundred degrees, if not
over one thousand degrees, depending on the conditions on the
inside your seventy degree house.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The temperature differential from the outside of that glass to
the inside of that glass causes it to expand unevenly
and it shatters. And when it shatters, it falls out
of the window sash and leaves a hole. Now in
your home, an open door, an open window literally for
the flames to start intruding into the interior of the house. Okay,
(23:52):
so the tempered glass. Tempered glass is manufactured at five
thousand degrees fahrenheit. All right, Tempered glass does not get
about the heat of a wildfire brushing up against it
because it was manufactured at almost three and a half
times the temperature that that wildfire can produce. Therefore, fire
(24:14):
rated windows understood. Okay, Now, if you do not have
in your budget to replace all the windows of your
home or the side that faces the open, vulnerable space,
you've heard me say, there are some coatings, tinting films,
films like you know, tinting your windows on your car,
window films by very reputable corporation like three M. Three
(24:39):
M produces some fantastic fire rated window films. Now, let
me be clear on this. The windows are going to shatter.
But the point is this, the film will not dissipate
and fail you when the flame is licking up against
it and the film, despite the fact that your standard
window glass will shatter, the film holds the glass in
(25:02):
place and therefore the opening does not open. Okay, that's
the theory behind it. Is it ideal? No, the fire
raided window is better by far. But again we've been
talking about all sorts of levels of what you can do,
because I'd rather have you do something than nothing. Fire
raided window film doesn't have to darken the house, doesn't
(25:24):
have to tint the house or anything like that. It
can just simply be there, like safety glass is on
your car windshield. You know your car windshield. The safety glass,
if you've ever seen one get smashed in, it doesn't
shatter and just fall to bits all of a sudden,
It just kind of pushed in there. That's because there
is a film in between two layers of glass on
your car windshield that holds all the glass in place.
(25:46):
That's what we're talking about you. For these window films,
they can be applied by di wires and there are
plenty of companies out there that will tint and work
your windows for you. The point is there is some
price point where you can invest in your home and
increase its fire hardness. Okay, decking materials, I've already kind
(26:07):
of covered. That's where we're going with all these soap
Let me well, okay, I'm going to back up one
thing here. I don't want to jump over this. I've
heard a lot of talk this week about people who
are like, yeah, and what we've also decided to do
is zero escape our landscape. In other words, we're just
going to desertify our landscape like we did in the drought.
(26:30):
I'm going to cut all my trees down, I'm going
to just clear it all out because I don't want
anything fallen on my house. Well, that's a qualified no
on my part. I'll tell you why. Number One, Clearly,
I do not want palm trees, eucalyptus trees, and pine
trees sitting right next to your house and hanging over
(26:53):
your home because these trees, by definition, by the way,
non native to this area. Most of those trees full
of resins, highly flammable trees. If you've ever seen a
palm tree go up in a fire, it is nothing
but an ember hydrant, Okay, just blowing embers everywhere in
(27:13):
extreme So I don't want them right next to your house,
and I don't want them hanging over your roof. But
what about out on the perimeter of your property. So
here's the problem that I've heard commented on by several
fire experts and fire officials. Number One, the more, and
you've heard me talk about this on landscaping shows, the
more we remove green coverage from our cities, the hotter
(27:38):
our cities get, the drier they become, okay, and the
more fire prone they become. The second thing, just in
all practicality, is this clear out all the trees and
shrubs from your property. And you know what you've just created.
You've created a bowling alley for fire. Just you might
(28:01):
as well just invite everything in anything, because there's nothing
to stop anything. So I'll ask you this, would you
rather have your house being flooded with embers or a
tree that's sixty seventy feet away from your house catching
them as they come in, the fact of the matter
(28:21):
is that you don't. Now, we can argue about this
all day long, but I'm just saying that there are
just as many good arguments for keeping and I think
more for keeping the trees around your home than eliminating them.
So just don't automatically buy into that stuff. But if
you've got trees, highly flammable trees hanging over your roofline
(28:45):
where they could literally just fall upon your house and
deliver all sorts of flammable materials on your house, then yeah,
let's get serious about that. Otherwise, don't just clear your
yard out. Okay, we're only making the problem worse in
the in the long run. Okay, when we return before
some closing thoughts for you today, I'm going to run
(29:07):
down a ten point checklist for a sane fire hardened
home based on everything that we've talked about today. Now
that you understand the essential structure of your home and
how it reacts, I'm going to go down my list.
You're going to hear it all from me. We'll do
that right after.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Tina wanted me to make you aware that I was
on Fox eleven News earlier this week. The video of
that is up on our social media right now. What
is it on dabe, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok which has
had a reprieve from the moment, so you can go
(29:52):
check that out at Home with Dean on those and
what else? Did you want to remind me of what
else is going on up there?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Nothing? Something? Just that? Was it? Just that?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Catch this show again if they missed anything on.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
The oh the podcast? Yeah, yeah again, if you've yeah,
if you've forgotten any details or missed any details of
what we've been talking about today. Of course, about an
hour after we go off the air. Uh. This program
in all of our episodes are translated into podcast form
and live there in perpetuity wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
All right, let's finish up.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Uh. We have been talking about the sane rational ways
of fire hardening your home, approaching it in ways that
I that I want you to be encouraged you can
actually do. Okay, So I told you at the end
here I was going to leave you with a ten
point checklist for a sane fire hardened home.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Is this a.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Guarantee that your home will not be damaged or destroyed
in a fire?
Speaker 2 (30:56):
No?
Speaker 1 (30:57):
No reasonable honest person is with any kind of home
building or firefighting experience, is going to tell you that.
Zero zero people who are being honest with you are
going to tell you that. But does this give you
a fighting chance? Absolutely? No question. And as I've been
saying throughout the program, are these measures your best bet
(31:21):
of actually being able to obtain fire insurance from this
point forward?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Absolutely? Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So this is the doorway that you're going to need
to walk through no matter where you are in southern California.
If you want to ensure your house against fire, then
these are the things that you should seriously consider. So
here the ten point checklist for a sane fire hardened home.
Number one ember resistant vents. What is your resource for this?
(31:47):
I want you to go to brand guard Vents dot
com brand br a n D brand Guard like Guard
gu ar d Vents dot com brand guard vents dot
com for an ember resistant event.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
And I didn't.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
I'm just gonna say real quickly, I didn't talk today
about the OP. The other alternative, the far more expensive
alternative to getting fire resistant events, and that is if
you are doing a new construction build or a major remodel,
then you need to have a conversation with your designer,
your architect, or your builder about building the house with
(32:23):
a ventless conditioned attic space where the attic is a
part of the conditioned air in the home. Why is
that because in those conditions there are no events, zero
events in the house, nothing, no open doorways leading into
the attic space because technically it's part of the interior
of the house. So that's another discussion. I actually did
(32:45):
this as an episode last year. You can find in
last year's episodes. The New Attic I believe is the
name of that show. You should go and check it out.
Number two Class A fire rated sighting. Sighting is a
technical term that I'm using uh in the code. Sighting
means whatever is attached to the outside of your walls
of your house. Stucco is technically sighting, citing what you
(33:09):
think of as sighting as sighting siding siding the outside
of your house. Class A fire rated materials or codings
on top of vulnerable materials. Number three Class A fire
rated roofing. That's a given. It's a given. Uh, make
sure your roof is in good shape. Make sure it
doesn't need replacement, make sure there aren't holes, so on
(33:30):
and so forth. Number four Class A fire rated doors.
This is also a given if your house is built
to code, because exterior doors have by code fall into
those categories Class A. Number five Class A fire rated windows,
which we just discussed, or Class A fire rated window
films attached two standard windows and your resource for that,
(33:54):
I'm just going to send you to three M dot com.
Go there first, find the film films, the finest films.
Don't go for some off brand films claiming this or that.
The three end films have been they've been ul tested
and verified. Go there first, and then find installers who
are capable of installing those films for you. Number six
(34:19):
in two messent exterior codings for roof overhangs and eves
and so on. Here is a source firefree dot Com
fire free dot com for those code the best of
those codings. Number seven Class A fire rated decking materials
or fire retardant deck codings. I talk all the time
(34:42):
about fire resistant decking materials. Let's just talk about what
you've got, uh and putting a coding on it. Find
that at r d R Technologies dot Com. R d
R Technologies dot Com Number eight fire retardant coding for
ex exposed deck structures. Also RDR Technologies dot Com number
(35:05):
nine Clear your defensible space, Get flammable things away from
your home.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
That's what that means, okay.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
And number ten Interior sprinkler fire suppression systems by licensed
Cowfire approved Fire Marshal approved contractors. Interior fire sprinklers. Okay,
not the ones on the roof, not the claims of
you know, the ones out in the yard. Interior fire sprinklers.
(35:36):
They are code for all new construction and major remodels
in California now and they can be retrofit into your
home at not an unbelievably high cost. Take a look
at them, Get serious about them, because if fire does
penetrate into the interior of your home, those interior fire
sprinklers do an excellent job of suppressing if there's water
(35:59):
in this if there's water in the system. Okay, that's
the ten point checklist for a sane fire hardened home.
I hope you can appreciate this approach.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Again.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Our approach is very simple, two phases. When the fire
is near, what are we doing? That's ember resistance? And
when the flames are here, what are we looking at.
We're looking at Class A fire rated surfaces. The outside walls,
the roof usually are handled. The eve overhangs those are vulnerable.
(36:34):
The windows, those are vulnerable. If you were to follow
through and button up these ten points on this checklist,
then you know what you would be, as fire hardened
as any home could rationally be expected to be, and
you've got a really good chance of doing well in
(36:55):
the next fire event. Let me also say, very quickly,
it was pointed out to me, I want to make
a delineation about vegetation in your yard. Dead vegetation needs
to go, period. Okay, live vegetation, good, live and green, good,
dead and dry gone.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Okay, all right.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
I'm actually shocked that we made it through all of
that and we've got just a couple of minutes left,
and I'm going to get myself sort of set up
here because we're going to make a little video of
this as well, which I didn't do ahead of time
on the break Tina to do this. So let me
(37:38):
raise this up and turn on the thing, do the
whole thing.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Here we go. I have sorry about that. I've got
a closing thought for you today.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
We like to make it available on social media after
the fact, so takes me a half second to.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Get it set up here. So let me do it.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
And are we going? I think we are. We're gonna
give it our best shot.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
All right. I ran a card. This is not me.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
This is not my thing today. This is something that
the team actually pointed out to me.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
This morning.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Gosh, dang it, hang on, you know, it's fine. It's fine.
It's live radio. It's what we do, okay. A beautiful
Instagram post from former Disney imagineer Joe Rhad who last
week this last week saw his old home burning. While
(38:53):
watching it on the news, he wrote this, and I
love this. He said, this was our first house from
night a bit after starting at Disney Imagineering. That big
window there is our bedroom and I was just writing
about this house in an essay about the origins of
the Adventures Club at Walt Disney World. This is where
(39:15):
it started in this house. The Quirky Immersive Theater Club
is gone, of course, and now so is its birthplace.
So what are we to do? Well, he writes, we
don't just live at the tail end of history. We
live within history. Right now people are looking back at
(39:35):
all that has been lost a lot. But in the
future people will look back at all that was done
in the aftermath of this disaster. This point in time
will be subsumed in other points to come, just as
creative work is subsumed into later newer works of art.
San Francisco was destroyed in an earthquake, and yet San
(39:55):
Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Tokyo, Berlin,
Mexico City, Chicago, Rome, Deli, all built back from the
ashes of some other version of themselves that is gone.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
Now.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Critics can say what they will about Los Angeles, but
it is a creative city, dynamic, diverse, open minded, always changing.
This is the city that invented the modern city and
in everything from the Internet. Yes, at UCLA's Arpinnet to
Barbie and hip hop, to electric guitars, to the modern
film industry, to the Mars Rover and the Space shuttle.
(40:35):
This is a city full of people who move here
from somewhere else so they can invent themselves, and they
are not going to do nothing as time moves forward.
As a creative person, one cannot help but think that
everything is always raw material. Creation is intimately tied to
the destruction of the status quo. Nothing has ever finished
(40:58):
as long as there is imagination in the world, and
what lies before us now is not nothing. It is
the raw material for what the people of Los Angeles
are going to do next. No one should minimize the
suffering that has been created. It is profound. Our children
lost the entire world they grew up in. Dozens of
(41:19):
friends lost everything. We all mourn for what we have lost,
and we understand that it will never return in the
form that it once had. But it is not the end.
It is the middle. It is always the middle, and
then it all burnt down. Is never the end of
(41:41):
a story. It is typically the end of just act one.
And to that I say true, Joe, very very true,
and thank you. And with that I'm going to send
you forward into the middle of your story, the middle,
and use it and get out there and get yourself busy,
build yourself.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
A beautiful life. We'll see you're right back here next week.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
This has been Home with Dean Sharp, the House Whisper.
Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty
every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time, and
every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Home with Dean Sharp News
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