Log home owners choose metal roofing more often than you might think for fire protection – as well as a great look that fits right in.
It’s important to understand that during a fire, a home can catch fire in many different ways, but protecting the roof is absolutely essential to protecting a home from falling embers. Another important fire prevention task is making sidewalls as fire resistant as possible to protect your home from blowing firestorms. Additionally, removing shrubbery and even grass from near the house to prevent fires from spreading across the ground to your home is essential.
A Metal Roof Is Your Top Choice
While a number of things must be done to protect a log home from the very real risk of fire, nothing is more important than installing the right roof. When burning embers land on a metal roof, they usually simply go out, causing no damage. Asphalt shingles, popular on many home types, provide some fire resistance but will burn when bombarded with embers.
Wooden roofs are very popular on log home for reasons that are perhaps aesthetically obvious, but they don’t provide protection from fire. In fact, you’ll probably have to pay higher insurance premiums if you choose a fragile wood roof.
You might think that a tile roof is a good choice, but this isn’t the case. While tile is fire resistant, the weight of a tile roof creates a cave-in risk during an interior fire (or an earthquake). In some places, firefighters are trained not to enter tile-roofed building during a fire to prevent injury from cave-in.
Metal Is Environmentally Responsible Too
If you’ve chosen to build or purchase a log home because of your connection to the environment or a responsible way of life, you should know that metal roofing is also environmentally responsible. Many metal roofing products are made from 95 percent recycled material. Plus, metal roofing usually lasts the lifetime of the structure, so it doesn’t need to be replaced. And it can be installed over other materials, eliminating the need to take the old roofing material to a landfill.
If you have a log home or are considering building one, do the right thing and go with a fire-safe, aesthetically pleasing metal roof. It’s the smart choice for a beautiful, durable home that will survive flying embers and other fire conditions. Why not contact us about your metal roofing choices today?