Finally have a home in the Mountains

[James]

Fireproofing or reducing risk near home is what may make a difference in a wildfire. I heard several stories from experts on NPR a few years back where ensuring cut back brush, roofing and eaves/building being spark proof/resistant made the difference for many homes in wildfires of recent years. Doesn't guarantee it but helps move the odds cheaper and less risky than a water system as they can be very pricey and may need someone to man it. Since folks may be evacuated, the home is typically on it's own.

Main item was clearing out large combustibles from near the home out some 50 or so feet and detached garage or shed where fuels/flammables are kept. I thought is funny in respects that a friend's neighborhood in San Diego had the yearly goat farmer visit to clear shrubs.

Lots of articles out there but I suspect folks here have hands on experience and reference material. One I heard was from a fire expert who has a vacation home of his own, but I don't recall any specifics for a link.



BTW, nice looking home, Bronze Elk is pretty cool, you can decorate him up for holidays.

Yeah. Don’t know if 50 feet would be enough but it’s something. Certainly don’t want trees next to the house. Is one allowed to build a pond? In CA I believe you don’t have the right to collect runoff from your roof unless you own the water rights in that area.
One has to be careful of just putting heavy ceramics on a roof without the structure being designed for it. Many years ago I worked on a house built up in the mountain in Boulder. Strange house, built maybe mid 70’s, spectacular setting. Real estate hadn’t yet gone completely nuts or this place would’ve been scooped up and the house torn down and something new built there. Even with the exorbitant cost of engineering and building on/in the foothills. That’s how valuable, I thought anyway, this property was. It was amazing to watch lightning storms come across the flat land from the deck. We were there to install the engineered system to strengthen the roof structure. It had cathedral ceiling. Over the years I think it had concrete squares and spanish stile tiles. Don’t remember, but it was way too heavy for the structure.

 

[pete]

Yeah. Don’t know if 50 feet would be enough but it’s something. ..... ceiling. Over the years I think it had concrete squares and spanish stile tiles. Don’t remember, but it was way too heavy for the structure.

yeah, the 50 was simply tossed out, quick check and several orgs suggest zones of protection.

There's lots of info out there, one quick find below but I'm sure the local fire dept. may even offer a review.

Too, some folks save on insurance if the home has measures enacted to help protect it.

Preparing Your Home - Fire in California

ucanr.edu

 

[Eric@ict]

After doing things we thought needed to be done and many of the suggestions from all of you, the place is now live. Thank you all for the input.

'Indian Mountain' Como Cabin w/ Mountain Views! - Indian Mountain

Cabin - $190 avg/night - Indian Mountain - Bedrooms: 3 ✓ Sleeps: 6 ✓ Minimum stay from 2 night(s) ✓ Bookable directly online - Book vacation rental 9606139 with Vrbo.

www.vrbo.com

 

[scott43]

Yeah. Don’t know if 50 feet would be enough but it’s something. Certainly don’t want trees next to the house. Is one allowed to build a pond? In CA I believe you don’t have the right to collect runoff from your roof unless you own the water rights in that area.

Interesting..we charge people if they dump rainwater into our storm sewer system and CA is charging you if you don't. Tale of two extremes..

 

[Nancy Hummel]

After doing things we thought needed to be done and many of the suggestions from all of you, the place is now live. Thank you all for the input.

'Indian Mountain' Como Cabin w/ Mountain Views! - Indian Mountain

Cabin - $190 avg/night - Indian Mountain - Bedrooms: 3 ✓ Sleeps: 6 ✓ Minimum stay from 2 night(s) ✓ Bookable directly online - Book vacation rental 9606139 with Vrbo.

www.vrbo.com

Looks great!

 

[JFB]

We will have a small one up there for the deck for when we are there. In July, I’ll be reworking all the heat cables on the house. North side has ice dam issues and 1week before closing had to repair the deck due to one dam coming loose. There aren’t any cables on the south side so toying with adding but with the south exposure it might be an over kill.

First - Congratulations. That's beautiful. Next, my solution to roof snow is a Polar Made Snow Peeler. I wasn't keen on the electrical heating solution and it is far superior to a roof rake, easy to use with fresh snow. The Avalanche Wheeled Snow Roof Rake is a similar option. I got mine then I replaced the gutters......

 

[James]

I got mine then I replaced the gutters......

So what’s the take on gutters? In VT seems nearly everyone is ant-gutter. But some areas really need them, but there’s the ice buildup which seems worse.

 

[Tricia]

Very nice Eric!

 

[JFB]

So what’s the take on gutters? In VT seems nearly everyone is ant-gutter. But some areas really need them, but there’s the ice buildup which seems worse.

My take is that the house has gutters and I think that the fascia would suffer water damage without them. They are fine as long as I use the Peeler, which I need to use to protect my AC units from falling/sliding snow anyway. As for ice, I would expect the water produced from heating would produce much more ice.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Has anyone used the Peeler or Avalanche on lower pitch roofs? My greatest need for removal is on 3/12 pitch porch roofs. I can also get ice built up before I can get to the raking, so how do they work with ice?

 

[slowrider]

Christmas lights on the Elk. Nice location.

 

[James]

Interesting..we charge people if they dump rainwater into our storm sewer system and CA is charging you if you don't. Tale of two extremes..

It’s not really the State gov’t, it’s the law of water rights in the State. Someone owns the rights to the water where you live. So collecting rain water that falls on your land is essentially taking something that doesn’t belong to you. Weird.

 

[Doug Briggs]

It’s not really the State gov’t, it’s the law of water rights in the State. Someone owns the rights to the water where you live. So collecting rain water that falls on your land is essentially taking something that doesn’t belong to you. Weird.

Or in a city they don't want you to mix your rainwater with the sewer as storm drains may be separate from sewer and thus not need the same treatment. In CO in some locations, you can't fill outdoor spas, pools or water your property if you use well water from your own well. Water law, especially in the west is very complex. We (locally at least) only recently got the right to collect rainwater to use outdoors and there are limits to how much you can store.

 

[JFB]

Has anyone used the Peeler or Avalanche on lower pitch roofs? My greatest need for removal is on 3/12 pitch porch roofs. I can also get ice built up before I can get to the raking, so how do they work with ice?

My roof is not high-pitch. I would guess around 1:4 like yours. And ice, per se, is a no-go but crusty/layered snow, maybe even with a thin ice layer, is do-able, but takes time and effort. A after doing it once, I now make the time to do it when it's fresh while it's quick and easy.

 

[Eric@ict]

First - Congratulations. That's beautiful. Next, my solution to roof snow is a Polar Made Snow Peeler. I wasn't keen on the electrical heating solution and it is far superior to a roof rake, easy to use with fresh snow. The Avalanche Wheeled Snow Roof Rake is a similar option. I got mine then I replaced the gutters......

Thank you. Currently we live about 600 miles from it and if I told my wife I needed to go to the house to pull snow off the roof every week during the winter, I might end up single. We do have a guy who will plow the drive and clear the deck for us.

 

[JFB]

Maybe see if the driveway/deck guy will do it for an extra nickel or two? It's not a big job with the Peeler..... It might even be cheaper than the electricity to run the heating.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

It is a gorgeous property! Congratulations!