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I read an article about this house immediately after the fires ripped through. Not mentioned in TFA is that the owner saturated everything with water prior to

I read an article about this house immediately after the fires ripped through. Not mentioned in TFA is that the owner saturated everything with water prior to evacuating. Note his large yard full of vegetation didn't catch fire, that alone put a huge buffer zone on that side of his house. Also I'll never understand why asphalt shingles are so popular, metal is better in every way.

peter422 3y ago
Metal is much more expensive as an upfront cost. It may pay off in the long term but most homeowners don't think in a 50 year time horizon.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Metal can also be excessively loud unless the house was designed for it.
  - leesalminen 3y ago
    Where I currently live, tin roofs are the norm. And yes, it can be extremely loud in the rainy reason. My wife & I quite like it actually, like a white noise generator. Also, I can easily get out of phone/video calls I don’t want to be on.
    - swader999 3y ago
      Me too, it's a special day when we hear it.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      Hail really brings out a different drum solo.
  - porkbeer 3y ago
    Not that bad, it is underlayed by thick felt.
  - IG_Semmelweiss 3y ago
    very curious, is it an AC noise, white noise, or the kind of noise you can't sleep thru ? Rainy season lasts 4-5 months where our house is and its the kind of rains that make you fear the wrath of God.
leesalminen 3y ago
> that the owner saturated everything with water prior to evacuating. Used to live in rural Colorado and have had our house threatened by wildfires multiple times. We did the same thing and set up large volume pivot sprinklers that formed both a perimeter and kept the roof+deck wet when the fires got within a mile of us. Glad to hear it worked for this person. Wildfires are scary.
- SV_BubbleTime 3y ago
  We had the forest service roll up and spray gell on our roof. If I was still there I would buy some.
  - porkbeer 3y ago
    Most of it is pretty toxic, so might not be my first defense, depending.
    - SV_BubbleTime 3y ago
      Cool story, but the at least this USFS-approved product is not all that toxic at all. https://firegel.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Barricade-GHS-SDS-Revised-June-1-2015.pdf https://firegel.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Barricade-GHS...
mhb 3y ago
Slate is also nice.
- twothamendment 3y ago
  Slate is nice, but you've got to make sure your roof can support the weight. In the USA, most homes can't handle it unless they were built with that in mind. I wish I had a slate roof!
- scheme271 3y ago
  Also, really expensive and requires special expertise to install and repair.
tspike 3y ago
My house has asphalt, my garage has metal. I prefer the metal overall, but it’s very difficult to walk on to sweep the chimney, and it’s a hazard during winter when sheets of ice and snow slide off of it.
- sliken 3y ago
  In Colorado metal roofs are relatively common, typically there's little dams near the gutter to keep large amounts of snow/ice from sliding down and hurting people/property. Even just something that's 2"x2" per panel seems to really help.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
twothamendment 3y ago
"Also I'll never understand why asphalt shingles are so popular, metal is better in every way." I generally agree that metal is better, but want to point out that there are fire rated asphalt shingles, but they are rarely used unless required.
graton 3y ago
> Not mentioned in TFA is that the owner saturated everything with water prior to evacuating. Note his large yard full of vegetation didn't catch fire, that alone put a huge buffer zone on that side of his house. The article says the owner was was in Massachusetts during the fire. So not sure how the owner saturated everything??
- pengaru 3y ago
  See my other comment, it probably wasn't the owner. A guy rents a workshop in the bottom level and had evacuated to the Millikins' house. It was probably him who was interviewed at the time and did the watering.
toast0 3y ago
This article claims "Millikin, who was on a trip to Massachusetts during the Lahaina fire", not that he evacuated. Perhaps a different fire? (Edit: thanks for the other article link; misunderstanding that someone who evacuated from the home wasn't the owner makes sense) From the wider angle shot[1], there's some other nearby land with small greenery and no structures that also appears mostly unburnt. (On the left hand side, on the other side of what looks like a major road). Perhaps the other land was also saturated with water, or perhaps the absence of large trees made it hard to catch or some other reason. > Also I'll never understand why asphalt shingles are so popular, metal is better in every way. Metal roofs cost more, can be more dangerous to work on (making anything else that happens on the roof more expensive), significantly louder in rain and hail. They certainly have the potential of lasting longer and they're more difficult to ignite. [1] https://d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net/wp-content/2023/08/11173014/230810-kf-Maui-Fire-132-1188x792.jpg https://d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net/wp-content/2023/08/111...
- pengaru 3y ago
  It might not have been Millikin who was interviewed and did the watering, my mistake: > They first heard about the fire from a man who lives in > Lahainaluna, a neighborhood about three and a half miles away, and > uses two rooms beneath the house as a workshop. His home burned > first, so he evacuated to the Millikins'. Then he had to evacuate > from there, too, she said. [0] The article used the phrase "blessed house"... failing to find it though. Was definitely about this fire. [0] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-18/how-did-the-red-house-survive-the-lahaina-fire https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-18/how-did-...
- sliken 3y ago
  Sort of, it's common to mount metal roofs on wood. Leaves, pine cones, pine needles, and even just tree dandruf/pollen/cottonwood strands tend to collect in corners, in gutters, and any other ledges. Even an ounce can be enough to start a fire and embers from major fires can easily go a mile. So even a metal roof isn't good protection unless you remove anything that can ignite from anywhere near wood. Embers don't typically light asphalt shingles ... unless the fire gets under it on a gutter or similar.
SV_BubbleTime 3y ago
>Note his large yard full of vegetation didn't catch fire, that alone put a huge buffer zone on that side of his house. I kept waiting for someone else to notice this. There is clearly more to the story here.
AngryData 3y ago
Asphalt shingles are/were popular because they they are super cheap, pretty hard to fuck up the installation since they soften and half meld together in the sun, and isn't usually that big of a deal if they are damaged by hail or tornadoes again because they are cheap to replace or shingle over. Also easy enough for any random joe blow to install. Steel is becoming more popular these days though because it has gotten way cheaper while asphalt shingles have gotten a bit more expensive. But like 30+ years a steel versus asphalt roof was a huge step up in cost, and 50 years ago the paint on steel wasn't as good as it is today and could fail and start rusting within the time frame that a quality shingle roof would. You don't see rusted steel roofing very often any more though because most of that failed and was replaced 20 years ago or so. If you can afford it though steel is definitely the way better deal today, provided you aren't doing your own roof and are tearing it down to the wood instead of just shingling over the old stuff.

peter422 3y ago

Metal is much more expensive as an upfront cost. It may pay off in the long term but most homeowners don't think in a 50 year time horizon.

bombcar 3y ago
Metal can also be excessively loud unless the house was designed for it.
- leesalminen 3y ago
  Where I currently live, tin roofs are the norm. And yes, it can be extremely loud in the rainy reason. My wife & I quite like it actually, like a white noise generator. Also, I can easily get out of phone/video calls I don’t want to be on.
  - swader999 3y ago
    Me too, it's a special day when we hear it.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Hail really brings out a different drum solo.
- porkbeer 3y ago
  Not that bad, it is underlayed by thick felt.
- IG_Semmelweiss 3y ago
  very curious, is it an AC noise, white noise, or the kind of noise you can't sleep thru ? Rainy season lasts 4-5 months where our house is and its the kind of rains that make you fear the wrath of God.

leesalminen 3y ago

> that the owner saturated everything with water prior to evacuating. Used to live in rural Colorado and have had our house threatened by wildfires multiple times. We did the same thing and set up large volume pivot sprinklers that formed both a perimeter and kept the roof+deck wet when the fires got within a mile of us. Glad to hear it worked for this person. Wildfires are scary.

SV_BubbleTime 3y ago
We had the forest service roll up and spray gell on our roof. If I was still there I would buy some.
- porkbeer 3y ago
  Most of it is pretty toxic, so might not be my first defense, depending.
  - SV_BubbleTime 3y ago
    Cool story, but the at least this USFS-approved product is not all that toxic at all. https://firegel.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Barricade-GHS-SDS-Revised-June-1-2015.pdf https://firegel.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Barricade-GHS...

mhb 3y ago

Slate is also nice.

twothamendment 3y ago
Slate is nice, but you've got to make sure your roof can support the weight. In the USA, most homes can't handle it unless they were built with that in mind. I wish I had a slate roof!
scheme271 3y ago
Also, really expensive and requires special expertise to install and repair.

tspike 3y ago

My house has asphalt, my garage has metal. I prefer the metal overall, but it’s very difficult to walk on to sweep the chimney, and it’s a hazard during winter when sheets of ice and snow slide off of it.

sliken 3y ago
In Colorado metal roofs are relatively common, typically there's little dams near the gutter to keep large amounts of snow/ice from sliding down and hurting people/property. Even just something that's 2"x2" per panel seems to really help.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

twothamendment 3y ago

"Also I'll never understand why asphalt shingles are so popular, metal is better in every way." I generally agree that metal is better, but want to point out that there are fire rated asphalt shingles, but they are rarely used unless required.

graton 3y ago

> Not mentioned in TFA is that the owner saturated everything with water prior to evacuating. Note his large yard full of vegetation didn't catch fire, that alone put a huge buffer zone on that side of his house. The article says the owner was was in Massachusetts during the fire. So not sure how the owner saturated everything??

pengaru 3y ago
See my other comment, it probably wasn't the owner. A guy rents a workshop in the bottom level and had evacuated to the Millikins' house. It was probably him who was interviewed at the time and did the watering.

toast0 3y ago

This article claims "Millikin, who was on a trip to Massachusetts during the Lahaina fire", not that he evacuated. Perhaps a different fire? (Edit: thanks for the other article link; misunderstanding that someone who evacuated from the home wasn't the owner makes sense) From the wider angle shot[1], there's some other nearby land with small greenery and no structures that also appears mostly unburnt. (On the left hand side, on the other side of what looks like a major road). Perhaps the other land was also saturated with water, or perhaps the absence of large trees made it hard to catch or some other reason. > Also I'll never understand why asphalt shingles are so popular, metal is better in every way. Metal roofs cost more, can be more dangerous to work on (making anything else that happens on the roof more expensive), significantly louder in rain and hail. They certainly have the potential of lasting longer and they're more difficult to ignite. [1] https://d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net/wp-content/2023/08/11173014/230810-kf-Maui-Fire-132-1188x792.jpg https://d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net/wp-content/2023/08/111...

pengaru 3y ago
It might not have been Millikin who was interviewed and did the watering, my mistake: > They first heard about the fire from a man who lives in > Lahainaluna, a neighborhood about three and a half miles away, and > uses two rooms beneath the house as a workshop. His home burned > first, so he evacuated to the Millikins'. Then he had to evacuate > from there, too, she said. [0] The article used the phrase "blessed house"... failing to find it though. Was definitely about this fire. [0] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-18/how-did-the-red-house-survive-the-lahaina-fire https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-18/how-did-...
sliken 3y ago
Sort of, it's common to mount metal roofs on wood. Leaves, pine cones, pine needles, and even just tree dandruf/pollen/cottonwood strands tend to collect in corners, in gutters, and any other ledges. Even an ounce can be enough to start a fire and embers from major fires can easily go a mile. So even a metal roof isn't good protection unless you remove anything that can ignite from anywhere near wood. Embers don't typically light asphalt shingles ... unless the fire gets under it on a gutter or similar.

SV_BubbleTime 3y ago

>Note his large yard full of vegetation didn't catch fire, that alone put a huge buffer zone on that side of his house. I kept waiting for someone else to notice this. There is clearly more to the story here.

AngryData 3y ago

Asphalt shingles are/were popular because they they are super cheap, pretty hard to fuck up the installation since they soften and half meld together in the sun, and isn't usually that big of a deal if they are damaged by hail or tornadoes again because they are cheap to replace or shingle over. Also easy enough for any random joe blow to install. Steel is becoming more popular these days though because it has gotten way cheaper while asphalt shingles have gotten a bit more expensive. But like 30+ years a steel versus asphalt roof was a huge step up in cost, and 50 years ago the paint on steel wasn't as good as it is today and could fail and start rusting within the time frame that a quality shingle roof would. You don't see rusted steel roofing very often any more though because most of that failed and was replaced 20 years ago or so. If you can afford it though steel is definitely the way better deal today, provided you aren't doing your own roof and are tearing it down to the wood instead of just shingling over the old stuff.