Home Hardening: Roofing, Vents & Siding for Wildfire

Defensible space reduces the fire and heat that reaches your house. Home hardening addresses what happens when embers reach it anyway — which, in most wildfires, they do, often well ahead of any flame front. Ember storms can travel over a mile from an active fire, landing on and around homes that never see direct flame contact.

This is the structural counterpart to the defensible space guide — vegetation management and home hardening work together, and mitigation grants sometimes cover pieces of both (see grants and rebates).

Roofing

Roofing material and roof geometry are the highest-leverage hardening decisions, since roofs collect embers more than any other surface.

• Class A fire-rated roofing (metal, asphalt composite shingles rated Class A, or tile) is the standard to build or replace toward. Untreated wood shake roofs are the highest-risk roofing material and a common target of local defensible space ordinances.
• Clear debris from roof valleys and gutters regularly — a fire-rated roof with a needle-choked valley still gives embers somewhere to smolder.
• Gutter guards reduce how often this maintenance is needed, though they don’t eliminate it.

Vents

Vents are one of the most overlooked ember entry points, because they’re specifically designed to let air (and therefore embers) into attics, crawl spaces, and soffits.

• Ember-resistant vents (rated to keep out embers while maintaining airflow, commonly 1/8-inch or finer corrosion-resistant mesh at minimum) should replace standard vent screens, especially on attic, soffit, and foundation vents.
• Check vent condition annually — a torn or rusted-through screen negates the protection even if the vent was originally rated correctly.

Siding & exterior walls

• Non-combustible or ignition-resistant siding (stucco, fiber cement, or treated wood with appropriate ratings) reduces direct ignition risk, especially where siding meets the ground or a deck.
• Pay particular attention to where siding meets Zone 1 — this is the overlap between home hardening and defensible space, and it’s a common gap since it’s easy to landscape right up to a combustible wall.

Windows

• Dual-pane windows with at least one tempered pane perform meaningfully better under radiant heat than single-pane windows, which can crack and fail, creating an opening for embers and flame.
• Window failure during a wildfire is often what allows fire to move from “exterior exposure” to “structure is burning from the inside” — so this matters more than it might seem for a component that isn’t itself combustible.

Decks & attachments

• Decks are one of the most common ignition points precisely because they’re attached to the house, made of combustible material in many cases, and often collect debris underneath — the same problem as Zone 1 vegetation, but structural.
• Enclose the underside of decks or keep the space clear of stored items and debris, and treat the area under a deck as part of your Zone 1 maintenance, not separate from it.
• Fencing that attaches directly to the house (a common feature on in-town Steamboat Springs lots) can act as a wick, carrying fire from a property line fence to the structure — a non-combustible section near the house attachment point breaks that path.

Prioritizing hardening work

Home hardening projects range from near-free (clearing debris, patching vent screens) to substantial (roof replacement, re-siding). If you’re prioritizing:

1. Vent screens and gutter/valley debris — cheap, high-impact, and often DIY.
2. Deck underside clearing and any combustible material touching the house — same category as Zone 1 defensible space work.
3. Roofing and siding — plan these into a replacement cycle rather than an emergency retrofit, since they’re the largest expense.

Getting this done

Larger hardening projects (roofing, siding, window replacement) are typically handled by general contractors or specialty trades rather than the vegetation-focused crews who do defensible space clearing. If your project is mostly vegetation work with a few hardening items mixed in, mention that in the notes field on the lead form so it’s clear what kind of contractor fits.