[eaves] How does lack of overhang "allow better protection from fire"?

Some info here :

Ken Blake:

It reduces the area that embers from the next building (or whatever) can fall onto. Doesn't seem like a significant degree of protection to me.

The area under the eaves is covered by the soffits, and soffits are usually plywood. There are often gaps in the soffit where embers enter and the soffits catch fire. Also, an overhang holds the embers in place because the embers rise with the updraft. Hot air rises and there is updraft when the wind blows the embers toward the residence.

Up here in Canada aluminum soffit and facia are pretty much standard today - and the soffits are horizontal, not sloped. Open soffits are not very common. Flame resistant shingles are pretty common, and steel roofs are getting more common. Wood shake roofing is EXTREMELY rare - I have seen a LOT of them on high end homes in the states including in the San Francisco area of Cali and south about 30 years ago when I was last there.

Eaves usually support the horizontal gutters that collect and channel rainfall from the roof. Gutters also collect dead leaves, small twigs, moss, seeds etc, dry tinder which easily ignite from a flying spark.

A whole roof surrounded by gutters burning highly flammable material, positioned just under the roof edge, could rapidly ignite the rest of the roof, the attic space etc.

I get my gutters cleaned out every year, it's amazing how much material accumulates in them from nearby trees.

Janet

When I moved to the Houston TX area in 1978 there were a lot of homes being built with wood shingles. The homeowners association required them. That of course made them much more susceptible to fire. Then somebody got a little bit smarter and the state passed a law to allow other types of roofing.

Bill

Many years ago, I saw firefighters working on a house. I wondered why they seemed to hit the eaves a lot.

I'm not in a fire-prone area but 20 years ago had ornamental junipers around the base of my house. An insurance underwriter offered a lower rate if they were removed. Being cheap and not wanting to lose my house to fire, the junipers were gone in 30 days.

I hate HOAs. I deliberately hung on to find a house outside of one and turned out I was totally right since now I see via NextDoor, all the complaints from the people in all the HOAs the realtors kept showing me despite telling them upfront, NO HOAs to be shown.

The area I am in went largely HOAs in the 1980s. Most are heartily sorry.

Slate and clay are nice but expensive. Metal roof has become more popular. In a fire prone area, that should be mandatory minimum.

About English language:

I know what you mean, and I know that your formulation is normal today, but strictly speaking you say that you are cheap. "Being cheap" and "not wanting" refer to the same subject.

My suggestion (a bit longer):

Since it was cheap and me not wanting to lose my house to fire, the junipers were gone in 30 days.

Funny, that interpretation didn't even occur to me.

The original sentence doesn't just say that the junipers are cheap. It also says the junipers don't want the house to be lost to fire.

As it happens, our house has vegetation close to the window of the main bedroom: three lilly pillies, surrounded by a cluster of different kinds of grevilleas. This is a relatively recent development. A year or two ago we ripped out everything in that garden, and replanted it with the goal of providing shade to that west-facing window.

I don't see this as a fire hazard. Fire is unlikely to approach us from that direction. If we do have a fire threat, it will be from the trees around the creek behind our back yard.

Jamaal's post tells me that if he removed the junipers the insurance premium would be cheaper. But cheaper may not mean inexpensive. Just..less extortionate.

As you say, there is just one subject of "being cheap" and "not wanting", and he means himself

"I'm cheap" (in this context) is a synonym of "I'm tight" , two slang terms which imply " I'm careful with money". It doesn't necessarily imply "hard up" (poor) and plenty of rich people are also famously and unashamedly tight.

Janet.

Well, a roof is a large collecting area. A previous house had the property of magically attracting ash seeds. All the seeds from all ash trees around found their way to my roof, in such quantity that they completely blocked the drain pipes,

Jan

I have gutter sheilds -perforated metal covers that keep lwaves etc out and let water through. Have not had to climb up and clean gitters for about 15 years

Here foundation plantings are seen more as asecurity issue thana fire issue particularly if they shield windows

The risk of fire is not just about the gutters. Vented soffits provide an excellent chimney for hot air to move into the attic space.

Is it more common in your area to call them eavestroughs?

On our current and previous houses, we installed gutter guards to prevent anything smaller than about 2mm from falling into the gutters. It has helped a lot. They still collect some leaves, but they stay on top of the gutter guards. We are in an area of many ash and elm trees, and twice per year we hae to deal with picking up after them; seeds in the spring, leaves in the fall.