Home Hardening Products

This list is not conclusive, but shows some of the many products available that can help reduce a homes vulnerability to wind driven wildfire.

Ember Resistant Vents

  • An inexpensive solution is to get fine metal mesh from a building supply store and put it in front of or behind your existing vents. The L.A. County Fire Dept. recommends that "All vent openings should be covered with 1⁄8- inch or smaller metal mesh. Do not use fiberglass or plastic mesh because they can melt and burn". Home Depot, Lowe's and Amazon sell a product called Kwikmesh that is 1/8 inch metal. It is sold in in 20-25' foot rolls widths of 4, 6, 8 or 12 inches. As of September 2021, You can get it from Lowes online or in the West Hills Lowes: 8383 Topanga Canyon Blvd West Hills, CA. If you install it, be sure to use heavy gloves, it has very sharp edges!

    • Brandguard Vents trap the embers inside a metal baffle. If you can afford to retrofit with these, they are the best solution. They are also available at Lowes

    • Metal exhaust vents also are a good idea. The ones with a damper and a screen can be used to refit plastic bath exhaust fan and range hood vents (which melt when subjected to heat). For dryer vents use the metal ones with dampers only-no screens, as screens can cause combustible lint to build up.

Rain Gutter Filters: A rain gutter debris filter will eliminate the hazard of dry, ignitable leaves filling up your rain gutter. They should be made out of metal. Not plastic or foam.

    • EasyOn is a great long-lasting filter made of metal. You can buy it through the Costco website (of course, you have to be Costco member). Lowe's also sells one called Atlas . These metal filters are the best long-term solution.

    • Many Topangans have inexpensive plastic filters on their gutters (like these). We DO NOT recommend them, as they have openings that are too big, (so embers can get in) and they tend to disconnect easily from the gutters over time.

Rain Gutter Cleaning Tool

    • If you don't want to cover your gutters, here's a handy cleaning tool called GutterWhiz that can be purchased online.

Garage Door Weatherstrip

Fire Resistant Tarps

    • A fire retardant tarp is good for covering firewood, or other combustible material in your yard. Fire retardant tarps are often used for events or applications where the risk of fire is present. The tarps are treated with substances that lessen the flammability of items. While they are not necessarily fireproof, they can slow down or possibly stop the spread of fire.

Fire Resistant Siding

    • James Hardie makes a range of home siding materials that are fire resistant.

Fire Resistant Decking

    • Versadeck makes a modular aluminum Class A fire rated deck system. Remember, any deck that is attached to a home should be considered part of the home. If it ignites it can bring fire right to the structure. If you have a wood deck, make sure there is nothing combustible below it!

Stainless Steel Door Mats

    • Keeping the first 5 feet around your home free of combustable material is important. Door mats can catch embers and burn. Stainless steel door mats are a good fire-safe solution, like these sold by Garrett Wade. They can be slippery, so please install the rubber feet that are available!

Fireproof Fencing

Skylights