08/27/2026
PSA on fire-resistant construction!
We've been getting calls on it, and we'd like to share a few tips and resources worth discussing if you're building with concerns of future fires.
Fire ratings on a building often come in half hour, 1 hour, 2 hour ratings (etc.) for assemblies, or parts of the house. We often see these in multi-family/duplexes, like the Type X drywall on our duplex build below. This one, rated for 1 hour of burn.
But what else can be done?
Ask your builder about Class A metal siding, and metal roofs. Often, it's the embers from fast-moving fires like the ones we just had in Spokane that can ignite buildings, rather than direct flamefront.
Tempered glass, while not fire proof, is 4 times stronger than your regular windows.
Another one gaining traction in the residential world is intumescent paint, which chars and swells upon heating, slowing fire spread.
Lastly, as many of us have seen (Thanks tik tok) the roof mounted sprinkler systems. We'll leave that to the irrigation pros for now!
Our point is, there are many options that can be deployed. Of course, there are pros and cons, but the sum of these assemblies can often mean a real difference on a structure subjected to fire, and it's always worth a conversation when building in a fire-prone area.
