Home hardening: the 29-point checklist

Home hardening is the set of building and landscape changes that keep your house from igniting when a wildfire moves through. It's not about stopping the fire — it's about removing the small openings, materials, and debris that let embers turn a near-miss into a total loss.

Post-fire studies consistently show the same pattern: when neighbors lose their homes and one survives, the survivor almost always had a Class A roof, clean gutters, ember-resistant vents, and nothing flammable within 5 feet of the walls.

Class A fire-rated roof covering (composition shingle, metal, tile, or slate). No wood shake.

No gaps at the roof edge, ridge, or where two roof planes meet — birds, leaves, and embers all use the same gaps.

Gutters cleaned of needles and leaves; metal gutter guards installed where trees overhang.

Skylights are tempered or dual-pane and screened.

Soffited (boxed-in) eaves — open eaves catch embers in the rafter bays.

Every attic, crawlspace, gable, and dryer vent uses 1/8-inch noncombustible mesh or a WUI-listed ember-resistant vent. See our ember-resistant vents guide.

No stored cardboard, fabric, or solvents in the attic directly under a vent.

Noncombustible siding (fiber cement, stucco, metal, brick) — or at minimum ignition-resistant. Vinyl and untreated wood are the worst performers.

Dual-pane windows with at least one tempered pane. Single-pane glass cracks from radiant heat and lets embers in.

Solid-core or metal exterior doors with weatherstripping that closes gaps.

Garage door sealed at the bottom — embers blow under standard garage doors and find paint, gas cans, and cardboard.

Composite or noncombustible deck boards, or 1-inch-plus solid wood. No gaps where leaves can pack underneath.

The 5 feet of fence closest to the house is metal, not wood. A wood fence touching siding is a fuse.

Sheds and detached garages within 30 feet are hardened to the same standard as the house.

Zone 0 (0–5 ft): noncombustible only — gravel, pavers, hardscape. No mulch, no shrubs against siding, no firewood.

Zone 1 (5–30 ft): irrigated, well-spaced low plants. Trees pruned 6–10 ft up. No dead material.

Zone 2 (30–100 ft): thinned trees and shrubs, no ladder fuels, grass kept short.

Clean your roof and gutters. Walk your Zone 0. Replace 1/4-inch vent mesh with 1/8-inch. Those three Saturdays move your score more than any other single project.